Annual Budget designed to deliver on community priorities

The adoption of a Council Budget represents months of hard work and numerous forums with City Officers and elected members – it also represents a myriad of tough decisions being made during this time. The City of South Perth’s 2017/18 Budget is a fair budget and it will bring some great initiatives and programs to compliment the work already commenced in our City over the past few years. 

Economically we face a test. The WA Government is implementing tough measures to repair the state’s finances and this only adds to the financial pressure faced by those who live and work in the City. 

Only a week ago we were in in these chambers endorsing our Draft Strategic Community Plan – our roadmap and vision for the next 10 years, which will go out to the community for further. This Draft Plan is made up of thousands of separate pieces of feedback through surveys, stakeholder and community workshops with the following community priorities and aspirations:

• Connected communities
• Authentic local amenity
• Active use of natural assets
• Protecting the environment
• Vibrant hubs and neighbourhoods
• Local transport networks
• Supportive leadership

This budget delivered today is designed to achieve these community priorities and aspirations. It delivers tangible benefits to our community through the provision of services, as well as new and refurbishment of City infrastructure, community buildings and parklands.

Some projects that I would like to highlight are:

• Stage 1 of the Ernest Johnson Reserve redevelopment ($8.885M) is the construction of the pavilions and additional car parking, is well underway and scheduled to be completed by Christmas. Once finalised work will commence of Stage 2, including demolition of the old pavilions, toilet block and Rotary hall, plus a series of park upgrades.
• The Connect South project ($864,520 carried forward) is to work with the local traders, Perth Zoo and wider community to upgrade the river foreshore in the vicinity of the Mends Street jetty and the street itself.  The project will also be taking into account outcomes of the recent South Perth Station Precinct planning forum.  The City wants to provide a gateway to the City of South Perth from the river and Elizabeth Quay and to create a more vibrant and economically sustainable precinct.  The project has a total budget of $7.5 million including a $2.5 million grant from the Federal Government under the National Stronger Regions Fund and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
• Salter Point Waterford masterplan & Lagoon study ($120,000 and $21,000) is funding for two important planning and investigative projects along our southern foreshore. The aim of the Salter Point Waterford Masterplan is to involve the local and wider community to review and build on previous work undertaken on the foreshore to create a framework which will guide management decisions taken by the City on the foreshore reserves between Redmond Reserve (next to Aquinas College) and Cygnia Cove. The aim of the Lagoon study is to review and collate previous studies and carry out the necessary investigations to gain a greater understanding of what is occurring in the Lagoon that is leading to the nuisance algal blooms experienced in recent years. 
• Catchment 106 - (Ley St & Downey Drive) ($500,000) - This is an infill project undertaken by the City to improve the drainage system's ability to cope with storm events. The aim of this project is to increase the capacity of the existing drainage network within Catchment 106 to mitigate frequent localised flooding on the north east corner of the intersection of Ley Street and Downey Drive in Manning. 
• $350,000 has been budgeted for the implementation of the recommendations from the recent South Perth Peninsula Place and Design report (undertaken by Roberts Day), most importantly the preparation of an Activity Centre Plan. Other strategic Planning projects include the Local Planning Strategy development , which will include community engagement and the review of the Retail Needs Assessment. The Local Heritage Inventory Review is also funded and about to commence with consultants Hocking Heritage appointed last month.

This is only a small taste of what the 2017/2018 Budget will deliver. It’s with great pride we table this budget. 

A budget that would not be as efficient if not for the efforts of my fellow councillors, the CEO and Executive, and all the staff at the City who worked tirelessly to find smarter, better and cheaper ways to do business.

This is a budget that acknowledges how far we have come and commits to going even further.