local communities and to longer term national strategic goals. The paper clarified many of the issues faced by councils in managing high value assets: “There are a number of critical issues that each council must confront in planning and managing its infrastructure assets, including: What level of infrastructure investment, if any, is necessary to provide for growth in the community; How to manage the timing of investment for growth, to avoid constraints on growth from limited infrastructure capacity while minimising the costs to the community of under- utilised infrastructure capacity; What level of investment is needed to maintain, renew and replace existing assets; How to balance service level expectations with affordability in the context of demographic changes such as depopulation and ageing; and What level of investment, if any, is needed to improve the level of service provided by those assets.” The final strategy is shaped through a number of distinct environments that influence the services and the management of the assets required to deliver the service: Legislative and Regulatory Environment – Stormwater services must be delivered in compliance with legislation for land drainage, flood control and environmental protection. The purpose of which is to provide a safe and sanitary living conditions whilst protecting the natural environment from contaminated urban drainage. The main regulation of stormwater services is through the Building Act (2004), the Resource Management Act (1991) and the Local Government Act (2002.) Health and safety and financial control legislation is also influential Commercial Environment – Local authorities funding and spending mechanisms are important considerations for the delivery of community services. Councils have a moral responsibility to their ratepayers for financial prudence and are scrutinised and regulated by central government. A number of funding sources are available to Council – general rates, targeted rates, development levies, volumetric charges, loans, enterprise income, grants, charges etc. The allocation of costs must have due consideration to customer affordability and also be equitable and fairly distributed between business/domestic users; inter- generations, socio-economic groupings, etc. Economic Environment – Council must consider its strategic approach to economic development – the amount and type of businesses to be encouraged to the region along with the subsequent development of service industries and related commerce. Land must be identified and zoned for development accordingly. The prosperity of the area will contribute to population growth and urban development. The management of surface water drainage can be a significant cost or restraint to land availability. The determination of development zones and the apportionment of costs is an important Council function. Social Environment – Social responsibility requires fair and equitable business practices across the whole community; balancing the benefits and impacts of its service provision across socio-demographic groups. Stormwater services must be delivered fairly to urban communities of dwellings, businesses, utilities and community facilities. Natural Environment – Environmental sustainability is becoming a pressing imperative. Councils are looked upon to set high standards of environmental stewardship. Policies and strategies must be adopted to protect the environment from the negative effects of urban drainage and the service delivered to comply with those standards. Cultural Environment – Council has to pay due consideration to the cultural sensitivity and heritage of the community. The relationship of man to the environment is significantly different Page 3