Unlocking value. Reducing risk. Enabling better communities.

Across New Zealand, councils are under increasing pressure to deliver more for less. Ratepayers expect value, central government demands discipline, and ageing assets continue to carry rising operational, seismic, and climate-related risks.

Align’s Portfolio Optimisation Framework gives councils a structured, defensible way to understand what you own, determine what you should own, and release land and property to support stronger community outcomes.

Why Portfolio Optimisation Matters

Councils face three persistent challenges:

1. Return value to ratepayers

  • Reduce maintenance and renewal costs

  • Identify underperforming assets

  • Release capital from surplus or non-strategic property

  • Improve service delivery by repurposing, co-locating, or consolidating assets

2. Remove risk

  • Tackle seismic, flood, and climate vulnerabilities

  • Clarify asset obligations and remove unnecessary exposure

  • Support transparent, defensible decisions for audit and governance

  • Strengthen long-term planning and compliance

3. Reuse land for better community outcomes

  • Enable housing and mixed-use development

  • Unlock land for iwi and Crown partnerships

  • Create space for open areas, resilience infrastructure, or community facilities

  • Align with local spatial plans, future growth, and long-term strategies

How Align Supports Council

We bring an integrated team across property, planning, statutory navigation, GIS, and community engagement, giving councils a holistic approach from diagnostic to delivery.

 

Our capabilities include:

  • Portfolio mapping, categorisation, and strategic assessment

  • Planning pathways, constraints analysis, and development potential

  • Site rationalisation, co-location, and reuse strategies

  • Commercialisation, disposal and divestment planning

  • Survey and Legalisation

  • Acquisition and land requirements support

  • Community and stakeholder engagement

  • GIS platforms, dashboards, and land intelligence

  • Implementation support through AoG PPS and direct engagement

 

Where other firms produce reports, Align delivers change.

Our advice is practical, defensible, and immediately usable by councils.

Our Approach

A proven four-step optimisation process:

1. Diagnose

Understand what the council owns, how it performs, and its long-term obligations.


2. Strategise

Categorise assets and identify opportunities for release, reuse, co-location, or investment.


3. Enable

Confirm planning feasibility, development pathways, land requirements, and risk implications.


4. Deliver

Support disposal, acquisition, engagement, and implementation so councils realise the benefits — not just read about them.


Why Councils Choose Align

  • Deep experience across local government property, planning, and infrastructure

  • Trusted to manage sensitive political and community environments

  • Specialists in land-use, statutory process, PWA/LGA pathways, and GIS-driven analysis

  • Practical delivery experience across flood resilience, 3 Waters, civic accommodation, and strategic asset programmes

  • Tools and methods built for scale, from individual parcels to full portfolios

Discover How We Can Help Councils Navigate Change

Want to learn more about our services? Click the options below.

Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Don’t let poor engagement trigger penalties or delays. Get ahead now.

Reduce Compliance Risk

Flood Protection Improvements

Facing the risk before it rises?

Let’s secure your land requirements now.

Secure Land Requirements Today

Road & Slip Repairs / Infrastructure Resilience

Want to get access sorted and keep the roads flowing long after the next event?

Unlock Access & Resilience

Category 3 Buy-Outs

Don’t wait for tragedy to force action.

Buy the risk of danger to life from landowners today.

Explore Strategic Buy-Outs Here

Align’s Portfolio Optimisation Framework

Ready to return value to your ratepayers?

Let's Talk About Your Portfolio

Ready to return value to your ratepayers?

Align can help you reimagine your portfolio, reduce long-term risk, and unlock land for communities.

Let’s talk about your portfolio and where we can add value.