City of Swan Mayor Mick Wainwright is urging the Western Australian Government to create a “growing suburbs fund” for infrastructure in Perth’s booming metropolitan fringe.
The Mayor is encouraging the opposition and current government to consider the fund proposal ahead of the Western Australian State Election in March 2017.
He said WA’s burgeoning outer suburbs councils had been locked out of key state and federal funding avenues, leaving many struggling to provide key community infrastructure in the face of enormous population growth.
“Outer metropolitan local governments, who are bearing the weight of the nation’s population growth, are left with few funding options,” he said.
“These urban fringe councils face significant pressures to construct new facilities in growth areas while maintaining older assets in established locations.
“The prospect of rates capping would also prevent much-needed new infrastructure projects.”
Access to the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund recently changed and is no longer available to the nation’s booming metropolitan fringe councils.
Meanwhile, the WA State Government’s Royalties for Regions scheme is only available to councils in remote and rural areas.
The City of Swan is one of several outer metropolitan councils around Perth who are experiencing an above average growth rate and demand for community facilities.
Swan’s 2011 population of 112,000 residents is forecast to more than double by 2036 with young families representing a large slice of the demographic.
Several suburbs in the City of Swan – including Ellenbrook, Aveley, Brabham, Caversham and Dayton – are growing two to three times faster than the national average.
Growth in the townships of Bullsbrook and Gidgegannup will be prominent in the near future.
Mayor Wainwright said the WA fund would ideally be similar to the Victorian Government’s Growing Suburbs Fund, which provides $50 million a year to projects in outer suburbs.
“The aim of the fund is to provide an opportunity for councils to access funding for infrastructure that is critical to the continuing growth of these communities,” he said.
“I would anticipate the fund would be spent on contributions towards community infrastructure projects that improve the facilities, liveability and flexibility of growth suburbs while enhancing services and providing jobs.”
The Mayor is calling on other WA local governments to speak up and join the campaign to secure funding opportunities for the state’s urban fringes.
