Vibrant and diverse
The Town of Victoria Park is a truly fantastic place to live, work and play. People are what make places great, and the Town is committed to delivering community benefits that strengthen our relationships and contribute to our vibrant lifestyle.
There are currently 38,135 people living in the Town of Victoria Park. 40.5 percent of the Town’s residents were born overseas with 27 percent coming from backgrounds where English is not spoken as a first language.
I love everything about the Town but top of mind are the Albany Highway restaurant strip; our valued partner, Crown; the new Perth Stadium which is developing before our eyes and the Lathlain Precinct Redevelopment Project where we are partnering with West Coast Eagles, Perth Football Club, and Wirrpanda Foundation – supporting Aboriginal youth, and others to build a wonderful sporting and community precinct.
We also think we have the longest main street in Australia with the longest stretch of uninterrupted free Wi-Fi! The people in our community make it a special place to live, work and visit. Our community is very diverse and multicultural.
Three terms and counting
I have spent 12 years on Council, eight of those years as Mayor. I got involved because I wanted to do more for the community. I love the Town of Victoria Park where I live and have a real passion for seeing it improve and develop.
I retired last year from being a Principal of a primary school. As a Principal I had to use a great deal of conflict resolution and to negotiate through difficult situations. I also had lots experience doing public speaking. These experiences contributed greatly to my role as Mayor.
I take pride in being voted Mayor for three terms and having the opportunity to witness and lead the transformation of the Town into the vibrant, bustling, ‘place to go’ that it is today.
A proud moment during my time as Mayor was when ‘Welcome to Country’ protocols were introduced at Council citizenship ceremonies and in one early instance a new citizen personally thanked the Elder for giving them a much clearer understanding of Aboriginal culture.
Another memorable moment was when I attended the very first meeting with the Chairman and CEO of the West Coast Eagles, which started the process towards their movement to Lathlain Park.
Planning for an engaged community
We have commenced one of the largest projects the Town has ever undertaken, ‘Evolve’. In order to put together our new Strategic Community Plan we are engaging like never before and involving our community from the start of the process. It will be a two-year project with the overall aim of developing a Plan that best services the needs of our community.
Key challenges for our Council are finding ways to increase community engagement in council work; building the credibility of the sector; and matters typical for an inner city council area like transport and increases in population.
During my terms as Mayor I have lead the Council to becoming a more enabling and easy-to-do-business-with entity. We have cut a lot of red tape and will continue to look for opportunities to do more of this.
Other things I wish to continue are building on the vibrancy of the community; ensuring that the community has a continued role in decision-making and continued and improved engagement of Aboriginal people and supporting their needs.
I would like to see the successful completion of the Lathlain Precinct Redevelopment Project, which includes the smooth transition of the AFL Club – West Coast Eagles moving to Lathlain in our local area and the community realising all the social and economic benefits of the project.
I hope to continue fostering and leading the positive relationships and teamwork of the elected members group. I look forward to playing a leadership role in the development of the Strategic Community Plan and seeing it roll out. Overall, I hope to be remembered as a Mayor who made significant and positive changes for the betterment of the community.
