Revised state government model a "big win" for Perth

The Cities of Fremantle, Kwinana and Melville, following last week's state government proposal for reform in Perth's metropolitan area, have called this a "big win" for the southern suburbs.

Noting that the plan is for the extension of the boundaries of Fremantle, Melville and Kwinana to encompass Cockburn and East Fremantle, Fremantle Mayor, Brad Pettitt, said that rates will not be artificially inflated, and services would not be adversely affected.

“There’s been a lot of debate throughout the process, but I think it’s important to reflect back on why we’re doing this in the first place, and that is to ensure local government is efficient and capable of serving the Perth metropolitan area’s growing population now and into the future,” said Pettitt.

“We see the recently released state government boundaries as being practical by grouping together similar communities and using major activity centres as the central hub. It is the best possible outcome not only for people in Fremantle, but those in the current Melville, East Fremantle, Cockburn and Kwinana council areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, City of Kwinana Mayor, Carol Adams, was also happy with the proposed changes.

“The more we look at this collaboratively, the more we all agree that the proposed model is not only fair and equitable, but will also increase the capacity of the new councils to meet the growing needs of our community. This means that everyone in the southern suburbs will have access to the quality of services they demand and deserve,” Adams said.