The City of Gosnells runs various community programs to bring people out of their homes and come together in their neighbourhood. This gives people a chance to ‘own’ public spaces, to meet other people and, above all, have fun.
Manager Community Projects, Julie Francis, said the programs fit in with other aspects of Council’s vision for the City, such as SafeCity and revitalisation of the built and natural environment.
Events organised, coordinated or supported by Julie and her team include multicultural food fairs, walking groups and concerts, such as the increasingly popular, youth music event, Gozzy Rock.
The latter, running for 13 years, and the leading entry level music event in Western Australia, has gone from providing an outlet for bands from south eastern metropolitan Perth to attracting entrants from across the State.
“Gozzy Rock has launched many popular working bands now making a name for themselves,” Julie Francis said.
The competition attracts crowds of over 2,000 to Gosnells Pioneer Park.
“This venue is a great asset for Gosnells because it can cater for a diverse range of events and large number of people in an attractive setting,” Julie Francis said.
“A week after Gozzy Rock we might well be staging a symphony orchestra there.”
Another event highlighting the community spirit and diversity of Gosnells is the Multicultural Food Fair.
Julie Francis said this is highly successful because it is not a commercial exercise but really brings out the diverse multicultural mix of Gosnells.
At a more local level, the City also organises entertainment in its parks.
The provision of a couple of hours of free entertainment brings many people out to enjoy music, clowns and other activities.
These activities are aimed at bringing local community members to neighbourhood parks to enjoy the entertainment with each other.
This encourages local community interaction and ownership of the parks across the City.
“These have had a terrific spin off in that they have encouraged people to organise similar events themselves using their own talents and resources,” Julie Francis said.
“Above all, our community programs aim to provide affordable opportunities for local people to experience the wonderful things our City has to offer.
“We achieve this very effectively by focusing on partnerships with Community and Friends groups to make Gosnells a great place to live.”
