SW council looks beyond shores

Bunbury City Council is set to create a new committee to look at its overseas relationships.

The committee will reflect on existing relationships with Japan, China and potentially Vietnam - and seek out new international links.

The council will review its nine committees at next Tuesday's meeting and has been recommended to disband three, including the Bunbury-Setagaya Sister Cities Committee, the Withers Advisory Committee and the Art Collection Management Committee.

The council has been recommended to allow chief executive officer Andrew Brien to prepare a report by the end of August in support of a new International Relations Committee.

As well as a sister city link with Setagaya, Japan, the council is investigating a bid for a connection with Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Bunbury also has a business relationship with Jia Xing, China.

The new committee would support these relationships, according to a report to the council by governance manager Greg Golinksi.

"This new committee will have similar terms of reference based on the current committee's purpose and intent but be extended to include Bunbury's three established internal relationships and any new ones that may be formed into the future," Mr Golinksi said in his report.

Bunbury-Setagaya Sister Cities Committee chairwoman Cr Betty McCleary said she supported the proposal because it was "narrow-minded" to only acknowledge the Japan link.

She said it was a "new direction" that would create opportunities to form relationships with other countries.

"If Bunbury is to embrace multiculturalism then it has to embrace new friendships with other places," Cr McCleary said.

According to the report, the Withers Advisory Committee should continue until it has run out of council funding.

It will receive its final allocation of $300,000 this financial year as part of an agreement to spend $1.5 million in Withers over five years.

The proposed changes to the council's committee structure will come into effect after October's local government election.