Research and community feedback tells us that community facilities help us to be happy, safe and healthy, to learn, and to enjoy life. A network of community facilities contributes to social identity, inclusion and cohesion and is used by all people at some point in their lives, often on a daily basis.

Community facilities are vital in emergency response and provide accessible places for people who may otherwise face barriers to accessing resources such as air conditioning, technology and Wi-Fi.

The City of Adelaide has a long history of providing community facilities for our residents, visitors and worker population. We want to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of our community facilities in the context of existing and emerging opportunities and challenges including climate change, cost of living and digital inclusion.

The City of Adelaide is responsible for an extensive and diverse asset portfolio valued at more than $2 billion, which represents a significant investment made over multiple generations. Council assets include everything from footpaths to trees.

The Buildings Asset Management Plan includes a range of important community facilities including:

• Libraries
• Community centres
• Public toilets
• Sporting clubs.

The Building Asset Management Plan outlines the Council’s high-level asset management priorities for the operation, maintenance and renewal of our assets over the next 10 years.

The draft Social Infrastructure (Assets) Policy guides investment decisions in new, upgraded or consolidated community facilities to meet current and future needs. Council has progressed investment in the Adelaide Park Lands through a new Adelaide Park Lands Community Buildings (Sport and Recreation) Policy.

The draft Social Infrastructure (Assets) Policy will assist Council to make decisions about and prioritise investment in community facilities.

Feedback from our City User Profile and Resident Survey, and condition audits of community facilities tell us that not all community facilities are meeting community expectations. Many of our community facilities are reaching the end of their asset life.

• Sport and Recreation Buildings in the Adelaide Park Lands – The 67 sport and recreation community buildings in the Adelaide Park Lands are included in another Council policy called the Adelaide Park Lands Community Buildings (Sport and Recreation) Policy and Priority Needs Analysis. Adelaide Park Lands planning is more broadly covered by the Adelaide Park Lands Management Strategy.
• Community facilities that are the responsibility of other levels of government - Early childhood education and care (e.g. childcare centres and kindergartens), education and training (e.g. schools, universities), primary and community health (e.g. health centres and pharmacies), state cultural institutions (e.g. South Australian Museum, State Library of South Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia).
• Adelaide Town Hall Complex – Commercial, cultural and civic spaces that include the Council Chambers and Mankurri-api Kuu / Reconciliation Room. The Adelaide Town Hall complex is subject to a Community Land Management Plan.

The City Plan – Adelaide 2036 identifies locations for community facilities based on factors such as population growth, accessibility, land availability, and integration with other land uses. It doesn’t discuss how facilities should be designed or delivered.

While it is important to have a sense of the kinds of services and programs that are currently hosted or could be hosted within our community facilities, this consultation is not about service planning or program delivery.

The Social Infrastructure (Assets) Policy aims to guide the planning and development of community facilities to better serve community needs and population growth. The Policy sets the foundations for planning and delivering community facilities in the right place, at the right time, in a way that means everyone can access them.

The proposed Policy Objectives include:

• Place-based planning: Take a place-based approach to planning and developing social infrastructure assets (community facilities) at the neighbourhood and city-wide scale to address community needs now and for future generations.
• Equitable access: Ensure users' access to social infrastructure assets (community facilities) is convenient, easy, and affordable, recognising that marginalised and vulnerable populations benefit most from equitable access.
• Coordination and delivery: Enable shared investment, programming, and timely delivery of social infrastructure assets (community facilities) to strengthen their community value and support sustainable city growth.

The proposed Policy Principles include:

• Responsive: Responsive to current and future community needs.
• Accessible: Well-located and designed for access and social inclusion.
• Adaptable: Designed to be flexible and adaptable to changing needs.
• Sustainable: Sustainable delivery and operation of facilities.

The Policy outlines the following roles for the City of Adelaide:

• Owner/Custodian/Direct Provider
• Leader
• Partner
• Facilitator
• Advocate

The proposed Community Facilities Investment Plan will be consulted on in a second stage of community engagement scheduled for later in 2025. It is proposed the Plan will:

• Prioritise investment in the development, upgrade or consolidation of community facilities to meet current and future needs.
• Include details on population and floorspace benchmarks and elaborate on design guidelines.
• based on the agreed objectives and principles.
• Discuss funding and investment mechanisms such as state or federal government funding, developer contributions, public/private partnerships and social impact investment.
• Inform the City of Adelaide’s Long-term Financial Plan.