Continuing to play to our strengths

After a successful election, I am pleased to report that the City has elected a new Deputy Mayor and a major review of our Strategic Community Plan is now underway.

Deputy Mayor Stephanie Proud brings significant experience to the role, having served on Council since 2007. Stephanie and I both extend our deepest thanks and appreciation to Cr Bianca Sandri for her service in the role over the last two years.

We are as a City continuing to play to our strengths, with upcoming celebrations of our culture and history through the Stirling Community Cookbook's showcase of our rich food heritage, and the 2021 Art Awards and Exhibition open to the public from today.

The City is investing in local jobs, with the Kaleidoscope Mentoring Program once again open to new mentees, and in the local economy with the new, free Sunset Coast Explorer bus service now running from Whitfords down to Scarborough Beach on weekends.

Pleasingly, we continue to be recognised as a leader in our sector, with Bina Parkland winning the 2021 National Landscape Architecture Award for Parks and Open Space, and the City winning the Local Government Award at the 2021 WA Tennis Industry Awards.

The City was also named a finalist for Change Maker of the Year awards for our efforts in the Containers for Change space.

As we draw nearer to summer, I also encourage everyone to enjoy our beautiful environment and coastline in a safe way. We recently invited Channel 7 to visit our Beach Services team and highlight the life-saving services we provide 365 days of the year.

We've come through a tough couple of years, so as we open up more and more to the rest of Australia and then the world, let's keep each other safe, and remember that this community is what it is because of the people, our families and the friends we cherish, who call this place home.