Public Open Space and Community Facility Strategy

The City of Swan engaged SGS Economics and Planning in August 2008 to begin work on a Strategy to guide the future location and development of public open space and community facilities in the City of Swan. This Strategy will help to determine the best location and facilities to meet the population’s needs now and into the future.

To keep you informed of the projects progress and for access to reports as they become available please click here.

Fund the Gap

The City of Swan is one of 30 fast-growing councils across Australia lobbying for better Federal Government Funding to provide essential infrastructure for our communities.

For this campaign to work, we need your help.

We’re asking you to get involved by writing to Federal politicians – including local members of parliament and the minister and shadow minister for local government.

Read below for more details, or visit www.fundthegap.org

How will the gap affect you?

The City of Swan’s population will increase by half before 2021 – from 100,000 people today to 150,000 – and at current funding levels the City will struggle to provide new infrastructure for growth areas at the same time as maintaining existing infrastructure and service levels for established suburbs.

The City is already responsible for a huge amount of existing infrastructure, including buildings worth $105 million, a road network worth $360 million, 390 kilometres of footpaths, $102 million of stormwater drainage, 56 bridges, 60 active reserves, 252 passive reserves, 174 car parks, 100 nature and foreshore reserves, six libraries, three swimming pools and more.

The Gap could affect this infrastructure along with other capital works to construct new facilities in growing areas, including:
• Strategic youth facilities – more than $4 million is needed to provide two support centres and at least three activity centres to engage young people in the community during the next 20 years.
• Community facility refurbishments – for halls, pavilions, swimming pools and other key infrastructure, costing more than $20 million during the next 10 to 20 years. Without this investment, existing infrastructure will fail to meet the community’s needs and our rapidly growing community will not be able to access quality facilities.
• A regional sport and community facility in Beechboro or Whiteman Park – costing more than $15 million. This facility is necessary to meet the increasing need to access sporting space for Ballajura and Beechboro residents and those in the urban growth corridor between Beechboro and Ellenbrook.
• Facilities for urban growth areas. Every 10,000 people in the City create demand for at least $5 million in basic community and recreation facilities.
• Significant road works to cater for an increase in traffic from our rapidly growing community. This includes the Lloyd Street extension and expansion costing $18.2 million, work to expand Gnangara Road costing more than $13.5 million within the next five years, the construction of Hepburn Avenue costing $15 million, $9 million for Henley Brook Drive between Reid Highway and Gnangara Road, and improvements to Roe and Reid highways.

This is infrastructure many of us use on a daily or weekly basis.

Get involved

More than 100,000 people live in the City of Swan, which equates to valuable votes come election time.

If we want to pressure the Federal Government to invest in our community, we must work together.

To register your support online, fill in the below online petition. The City of Swan will collate responses and send the final petition to the Federal Minister for Local Government Jim Lloyd.

Online Petition

Or you can fill in and email the following letter to your local Federal Member for Parliament.

Letter to Politians

Pre-prepared, addressed postcards are available at City of Swan libraries, leisure centres, place offices and the City’s administration office. All you need to do is fill in your name and pop it in the post.

And if that’s still not enough, write letters to the editors of local, state and national newspapers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the National Growth Areas Alliance?

The National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) is a collective of 30 fast-growing metropolitan councils from across Australia.

In WA, this includes the City of Swan, and the cities of Armadale, Cockburn, Gosnells, Mandurah, Rockingham and Wanneroo, the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale and the Town of Kwinana.

One in four Australians is represented by the NGAA – that’s more than 5 million people.

What is Fund the Gap?

The NGAA councils have identified a funding shortfall of $3.1 billion over the next 15 years and have set about raising the issue with Federal politicians. This lobby campaign is known as Fund the Gap.

$11.7 billion needs to be spent in the next 15 years. NGAA is seeking $3.1 billion from the Federal Government – that’s $206 million a year or $39 per NGAA resident per year. There is a Federal budget surplus of more than $17 billion, which should be invested in NGAA areas.

The NGAA has grave fears that if the funding shortfall continues current and future residents will be deprived of basic services, such as safe roads, recreation facilities and community facilities – to name but a few.

NGAA members simply can not raise rates to pay for infrastructure.

Find out more by visiting www.fundthegap.org

© City of Swan 2000-2010