New city in the hills

On 27 June the Shire of Kalamunda officially received City status.

The now City of Kalamunda Mayor Andrew Waddell said, “The move to City Status has been a long time coming, and we thank the State Government for its support.”

“A local government area is eligible for City Status when it has more than 30,000 residents, with more than half living in an urban area.

“In Kalamunda we have over 60,000 people and 75% of those live in an urban environment.”

Mayor Andrew Waddell said: “Based on community feedback during our Strategic Community Plan Review, our focuses moving forward will be the delivery of our commitment to connecting communities, preserving our unique environment, advocating to different levels of government, and delivering high quality value for money services to the community.”

“Kalamunda has seen incredible change over the past couple of decades. We are no longer a quiet town on the edge of Perth, but have evolved to become a vibrant collection of many communities living varied lifestyles.

“I believe this plan is the main catalyst for helping the City manage the ongoing evolution of our community. It will assist us to take advantage of and preserve the many aspects of the area that make us a unique part of metropolitan Perth.

“We will certainly need a unique approach to attract investment, especially in the current market to stand out from developments in the north and south coastal growth corridors. By actively driving investment, we can be more confident in getting the best outcomes rather than a carbon copy suburb. This may even need to include a new name for the suburb, specific branding and a focus on the values and objectives the community wants to see there.

“Even as a City, I can assure residents the change in status for the local government body will not change the friendly, close-knit community vibe and lifestyles we enjoy across our unique suburbs. Nor will it have any effect on the zoning of land in the City,” Mayor Waddell said.

Benefits to being a City include:

• better reflecting, and potentially improving our standing with those involved in future development, both private and government, as our projected housing growth and infrastructure projects like the Forrestfield Airport Link take shape;
• making us more competitive and attractive to investors, signalling we are progressive;
• accurately reflecting the urban growth where most of the future population and land use changes will be;
• showing we are an intrinsic and important part of the Perth metropolitan area, and part of the new Perth metropolis that is emerging;
• indicating we want to be autonomous and a sustainable local government in its our own right