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Tell us a bit about your shire  

The Shire of Gingin is a peri-urban council that is located 80km from the heart of Perth and directly north of Wanneroo.  We have over 5600 permanent residents and this expands quickly to well over 10,000 during the summer months when the vacant holiday homes fill. The shire covers just over 3200km² and our organisation has a total staff of about 85.   

What achievements have you seen since you have been CEO?  

I have had the pleasure of being the CEO for the shire for just over three years and during this time the shire has continued to develop and grow. Some of our achievements during this time have been the completion of the Gingin Outdoor Activity Space Playground, which was an excellent project that was predominantly driven by a working party formed from local community members. This drove the outcome to be bigger and better with much more grant funding acquired than originally allocated. This was an excellent example of community partnering with council to achieve a positive outcome.  

Additionally, the Tonkin Highway development has been a big improvement for council as the shire is now more accessible to the city than ever. We’ve undertaken significant improvements to the Lancelin Off-road Vehicle Area and more substantial economic development through large scale businesses relocating into the shire. Last year Orange Springs Road (which forms part of the Agricultural Lime Network from Lancelin to the Wheatbelt) received a significant upgrade as part of the Wheatbelt Lime Strategy and Revitalising Agricultural Region Freight Strategy which was required to accommodate the current and increasing movement of B-doubles and pocket road trains transporting lime and other agricultural commodities.  

As many would be aware, the shire has suffered a number of severe bushfires over the past couple of seasons (Yanchep Bushfire in 2019 and Red Gully Bushfire in 2021) so we’ve also been working towards undertaking a large amount of mitigation work throughout the shire annually in order to better protect our communities. This has included vegetation and earth works in addition to other methods and collaboration with the community to update evacuation plans.      

What major projects do you have underway at the shire?

Certainly we’re never sitting idle — currently there are many projects underway or in the planning within the shire including the new DFES Incident Control Centre which is being built in Gingin. We also have large scale road works happening via funding received as part of the Secondary Freight Network initiative. In Lancelin we have the redevelopment of the Cunliffe Street foreshore and in Guilderton the renovation of the foreshore ablution block. One of the largest projects we are undertaking is that we are the first local government in WA to implement IT Vision’s full Altus suite as we change over from Synergy Soft.   

What issues and opportunities are on the horizon for the shire?  

Council has been working with the Department of Transport to progress the Ledge Point Marina project which will significantly change the upper coastal area of the shire. There is expected to be growth in intensive agriculture, tourism and from these increased population and residential development. We also expect to see increased pressure of the coastal areas due to erosion and inundation. Additionally due to new developments within the shire there will also be more expectations on services.  

How would you like to see the shire positioned in 10 or 15 years’ time?  

The Shire of Gingin is growing and developing and as such, over the next 10 to 15 years the shire will see strong population growth in conjunction with property developments and employment opportunities and the organisation will continue transitioning into a stronger more proactive entity. With the increases in ability of people to access the shire, we will see more people looking to relocate to the semi-rural lifestyle and enjoy our beautiful coastline.  

Is there anything you would like to add about the shire?  

The Shire of Gingin is a friendly welcoming community that has a lot of history, in fact the town of Gingin is celebrating its 150^th anniversary since its proclamation in October 2021.   

One of the lesser-known facts about our shire is that we also produce more of WA’s fruit and vegetables in combination with the Shires of Chittering and Dandaragan than any other region in WA. From lettuce to oranges to cheese to honey to olives — we’ve got a huge variety that comes out of our shire and ends up on the shelf at your local supermarket.   

We are very blessed to have a beautiful and accessible coastline and open green, clean areas that are available for opportunities.