0°C | Wednesday February 11, 2026 
10 February 2026
North Sydney Council has voted to place its draft Strategic Asset Management Plan on public exhibition, rejecting an amendment from councillor Efi Carr that sought to delay consultation until the document more clearly set out service impacts and asset risks under different funding scenarios.
The plan, presented by director open space and infrastructure Gary Parsons, estimates council’s infrastructure backlog at about $157m as at 30 June 2025, reflecting sustained renewal spending below depreciation and what the report describes as a structural funding challenge.
According to the report, deteriorating asset condition — particularly in buildings and stormwater assets — is increasing exposure to public safety issues, service disruption, compliance risk and unplanned expenditure. While short-term, risk-based reprioritisation of capital works has been an appropriate response to funding constraints and asset condition risk, the report warns that continued reliance on reactive decision-making creates inefficiencies and is inconsistent with best-practice asset management.
The draft plan proposes a shift to proactive, risk-informed asset management and sets out two possible pathways depending on council’s financial position. With additional revenue, council could transition to long-term, planned asset renewal. Without it, the plan envisages more explicit decisions around service prioritisation, risk acceptance and potential service level reductions.
Council resolved to endorse the draft plan for a 28-day public exhibition period in accordance with its community engagement strategy, with a further report to return to councillors following the consultation.
During debate, Carr moved an amendment to defer exhibition until the plan was revised to clearly show service delivery scenarios with and without approval of council’s special rate variation application, identify facilities at risk of failure within the next five years and disclose the full cost of fixing and upgrading assets to contemporary standards.
Without that information, Carr argued, residents would not be receiving the full picture needed to provide meaningful feedback.
Carr said in an email to the North Sydney Sun after the meeting that public consultation should not proceed if the underlying assumptions and trade-offs were not clearly presented.
“Public consultation should inform decisions and should not occur if the facts are not clear,” Carr said.
The amendment was seconded by councillor Jessica Keen, who told the meeting the document represented progress but remained incomplete without clearer information on which facilities might close, which services could be reduced and the true cost of asset renewal.
Other councillors opposed delaying exhibition, arguing the draft already contained sufficient information to justify public consultation and that exhibition itself was the appropriate mechanism for the community to seek additional detail.
Deputy mayor MaryAnn Beregi said the report clearly outlined scenarios both with and without additional revenue and warned that the level of detail sought by the amendment went beyond what was normally provided at the exhibition stage.
“This is an exhibition draft,” Beregi said. “If there is a need for more detail, the community can say so in their submissions.”
Mayor Zoë Baker also spoke against the amendment, describing the draft plan as the strongest asset management document ever presented to the council and a step change in governance.
Baker said the plan already contained the actions being sought through the amendment and argued that deferring exhibition risked further delaying engagement while asset condition continued to deteriorate.
Following rejection of the amendment, Carr said she respected the outcome of the vote but urged residents to closely examine the draft during exhibition.
“Residents deserve transparency about the assumptions and the trade-offs,” Carr said in her email to the North Sydney Sun. “I encourage people to read the draft, ask questions and make submissions, particularly on asset priorities, service impacts and long-term affordability.”
The motion to place the draft Strategic Asset Management Plan on public exhibition was carried, with council noting a further report would be presented after the consultation period.