Bunbury mayor plans funding bid

Mayor Gary Brennan wants the Bunbury City Council to lobby the State Government for an injection of Royalties for Regions funding for facilities based in Bunbury.

While the council has not yet compiled a list of projects, Mr Brennan said the money could be used for infrastructure used by residents in the region, including the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, the South West Sports Centre and the Bunbury Regional Art Galleries.

The funding request would be made for next year’s State Budget and could run into the millions of dollars.

Mr Brennan told the South Western Times that he would make a “robust” case with the Government for a package of funding over a number of financial years.

He said one of the arguments for the funding was it could be used to ease growth pressures on Perth.

“You cannot have Perth continuing to grow the way it has been growing because it becomes hugely expensive, ” Mr Brennan said.

“Here we have got world-class health, education and recreation and it is a great place to live.”

He said the region, including Dalyellup, Harvey, Dardanup and Capel, could cope with an increase in population but there needed to be funding for regional facilities based in Bunbury.

Chief executive officer Andrew Brien will present an item at a future meeting for councillors to formally endorse the plan.

Following this council staff will compile a list of projects and then work on business cases.

“We have a nine-month window of opportunity to do this work, ” Mr Brennan said.

“During this process we take our politicians with us, we take our Government agencies with us, and we go to Government on the same page.”

Neighbouring local governments in the South West have been mostly positive about Mr Brennan’s plan.

Capel shire president Murray Scott said his council could support Bunbury’s plan but wanted to be included in the discussions.

Dardanup shire president Mick Bennett said his council would support the proposal if the projects were the same as those listed as priorities in South West Development Commission planning.

The local governments are part of the Bunbury Wellington Group of Councils and work together on the regional priorities for the Regional Grants Scheme.