annual report - City of Bayswater

Mayor’s Message
In 2008-09 the City worked hard to deliver good services,
offer an exciting program of events, and attract State and
Federal funding support for key community projects.
In May 2009, the Federal
Member for Perth, the Hon.
Stephen Smith, announced that
Council had been successful in
its bid to secure $10 million in
Federal funding for the Maylands
multipurpose centre. This funding
means that construction of
this exciting project, which will
provide important new community
facilities, can move ahead in the
2009-10 financial year. It will
also have the effect of releasing
Council funds for a number of
strategic projects.
Our diverse events program added
vibrancy to the City and helped
reinforce our sense of community
identity. These events included the
world renowned Avon Descent
Finish Line Event, which attracted
around 15,000 spectators to the
Bayswater Riverside Gardens, and
the popular Autumn River Festival
that brought a record crowd of
around 12,000 people to the
Swan River foreshore.
In November 2008, together
with the Maylands Business
Association, Council facilitated the
inaugural Maylands Spring Fling
street festival. The event proved
a great success and attracted
around 12,000 people to Eighth
Avenue. Street festivals help
promote a sense of community
spirit, add vitality to an area and
encourage residents to rediscover
the shopping facilities on offer in
their local town centres.
We maintained our ongoing
commitment to invest in community
sporting facilities and during the
year, the City officially opened
the $266,000 extension to the
Houghton Park Clubroom and
completed construction of the new
pavilion on RA Cook Reserve. Both
these facilities will serve the needs
of their local sporting clubs well into
the future.
In August 2008, the State
Government announced that
the City had been successful in
attracting $334,000 in grants to
upgrade local sporting facilities.
These grants included a $202,125
contribution towards the $1.3 million
cost of the RA Cook pavilion and
$64,185 towards the $250,000 cost
of upgrading the playing fields on
Beaufort Park.
Together with the City of Swan,
we also launched the Blue Ribbon
Clubs scheme designed to ensure
that the City’s 60 sporting clubs,
with their 6,000 plus members,
remain viable and continue to thrive
well into the future.
An important part of Council’s
program for last year was the
emphasis we placed on community
development. Council provided a
wide range of support services,
such as Meals on Wheels and also
developed new programs such
as Sportslink and Wellness in the
Kitchen. Sportslink is an innovative
initiative promoting inclusiveness.
Its purpose is to help children with
a disability learn the skills needed to
participate in mainstream sports at
school or in clubs.
Over the financial year, Council
continued its work to advocate
on issues that are important to
the community. In this regard,
Council lobbied hard in response
to the community’s desire to
see the State Government fund
underground power for our City.
We also lobbied on a range
of issues, including improving
regional transport links and
providing funding for the Swan
River foreshore.
We also developed a partnership
with the State Government and
the cities of Stirling and Wanneroo
to tackle the scourge of graffiti
vandalism that continues to
blight our society. As part of
the partnership with the City of
Stirling, with the support of the
WA Police, Council mounted
two joint anti-graffiti operations
that were successful in catching
a number of vandals in the
act and deterring anti-social
behaviour. We intend to build on
the experience gained as a result
of those operations to catch and
deter graffiti vandalism.
Each year, the City donates
around $60,000 to worthwhile
causes. During 2008-09, in
response to a number of natural
catastrophes, Council contributed
to a number of disaster relief
funds. These included $5,000
to World Vision to assist the
victims of the cyclone in Myanmar
and an earthquake in China,
plus a $20,000 donation to the
Australian Red Cross as part of
the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
2 city of bayswater annual report 2008-09