PIP: Priority Infrastructure Project
Integral and RuleBurst create an Australian first in efficiency for the Gold Coast City Council.
Gold Coast City Coucil Raises The Benchmark For Best Practises
The Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) is the second largest Local Government Area (LGA) in Australia in terms of numbers. The current population is approximately 520,000 and this is expected to increase another 37% by the year 2021.
Queensland’s State Government Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA) came into effect in March 1998, bringing with it a new planning application process which must be followed by all local authorities, the development industry, and individuals. Under IPA, all Councils are required to prepare and implement a planning scheme to help guide growth and change in their areas.
The Planning Schemes are essential as they identify what level of assessment is applicable to different forms of development, and provide the policy information to guide planning decisions on development applications. Currently, 12% of GCCC’s revenue is derived from developer contributions.
Rapid growth in population, coupled with new legislation prompted the GCCC to plan an appropriate business solution for the future: a solution that required a high level of flexibility and ongoing efficiency.
Business Problem:
Within GCCC, the Developer Contributions Group (DCG) is a specialist group that is responsible for calculating infrastructure charges on a daily basis. Queensland State Government’s Integrated Planning Act (IPA) requires integration of land use and infrastructure planning to allow infrastructure to be supplied in a co-ordinated, efficient and orderly manner. This enables sustainable development and encourages urban growth in areas where adequate infrastructure exists or can be provided efficiently. Consequently, the calculation processes performed by the DCG were manually intensive and heavily reliant on the capabilities (speed, mathematical skills and long term concentration) of employees. With rapid growth in the Gold Coast City, this work was increasing and so was the level of human resources needed to complete it. GCCC had already implemented new processes on the adoption of IPA and IPA Infrastructure Guidelines 1/04 and 2/04, but in 2006 the GCCC acted on its decision to achieve the following goals:
- Better satisfy legislative requirements
- Reduce costs associated with the implementation of the new legislation and associated activities
- Develop a flexible business solution that will provide a framework for current systems and the easy introduction of future processes.
Outcomes / Benefits:
Integral built the framework and has integrated the RuleBurst software, and all of Gold Coast City Council’s AMS, PDC, and GIS systems to have currently completed ⅔ of the PIP Charge Calculator – a streamlined semi-automated process that has either already produced the following outcomes and benefits for GCCC or will do so on completion of this project:
- Cost reduction (automation saves on staff costs and their related activities)
- Reduction in the number of manual processes required to perform charge calculations - on completion of project;
- Increased rate of accuracy (automation reduces number of manual processes)
- Fewer manual processes decreases the probability of error - at current stage of project;
- Satisfaction of legislative requirements In accordance with Priority Infrastructure
- Plan (PIP) - at current stage of project;
- Allowing for extension of interfacing systems to facilitate future applications. For example... Building Applications and Operation Works - on completion of project.