Message from the Lord Mayor

This week we received the excellent news Perth has risen a phenomenal 21 places in the last 12 months to come in at number 12 on the list of the world’s most liveable cities.

Hello again,

This week we received the excellent news Perth has risen a phenomenal 21 places in the last 12 months to come in at number 12 on the list of the world’s most liveable cities.

HUGE RISE LIVEABILITY RANKINGS RISE FOR PERTH
The Global Liveability Index compiled annually by Economist Intelligence (EIU) considers a number of factors to determine a city’s liveability score.

Stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure and culture & environment are considered for each city to determine the index score and ranking.
Perth’s score of 95.9 out of 100 has us just 0.1 point away from the global top 10.

Perth recorded the third highest jump up the rankings, largely due to an improved score in the culture and environment category.
This is particularly pleasing for the City of Perth, previous rankings told us this was a growth opportunity for our city and for that reason my Council has placed a particular emphasis on events and attractions.

In the last 12 months alone new events like Van Gogh Alive, Strange Festival (on again now) and Lightscape at King’s Park have been added to our program while support for existing favourites like Perth Festival, Fringe, the City of Light Summer Series at Elizabeth Quay, Heritage Month and PrideFEST has increased.

A ranking of 12th out of 173 cities globally is a wonderful reward for our teams efforts. Next stop, the top ten!

SEE IT, SAY IT COMMUNITY SAFETY CAMPAIGN
This week I launched a new community safety initiative on behalf of the City of Perth in partnership with WA Police.

Our ‘See it, Say it” campaign encourages people to report anti-social behaviour direct to our nation-leading surveillance centre.

The centre is staffed 24 hours a day 7 days a week by a dedicated team of City security professionals who monitor our network of more than 700 CCTV cameras.

And in an Australian-first, two WA Police officers sit alongside our team 24/7 in the surveillance centre to escalate the response immediately when required.

It’s a service we’re particularly proud of – and I want to thank the members of our local communities who told us more information about who to call was needed.

If you see something you’re not sure about, See it. Say it. Call 9461 3333 at any time to get “eyes” on your concern straight away.

AS PROMISED, THE PARKING PAYMENT APP IS COMING!
I’m delighted to announce after a thorough process to ensure maximum effectiveness, the City of Perth has engaged EasyPark to give our visitors and ratepayers the convenience to pay for parking with a payment app.

Easier, more convenient parking has always been a priority for this Council and beginning July 1 the staged roll out of the app will begin to allow you to pay for parking direct from your mobile phone.

Initially you’ll be able to use the EasyPark app to pay for parking at all of the City’s 17 non-boom gated CPP car parks (2,794 bays) and by September the app can be used for on-street parking across in every bay across our City (6,314 bays).

We are excited to be able to deliver the parking convenience you’ve asked for. You can find out more information here or the EasyPark website.

LIGHTSCAPE – POWERED BY THE CITY OF PERTH
Our team is so proud to be able to be able to bring Lightscape – Powered by the City of Perth – City of Light, to Kings Park this winter.

The first week has seen enormous crowds visit the internationally renowned festival of light, colour and sound which is in Perth for the very first time.

Presented in association with Sony and Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, Lightscape is a magical 1.8km night-time trail through one of the jewels in City’s crown.

The six-week festival is on until July 30. Remaining tickets are selling extremely fast.

REPRESENTING THE CITY OF PERTH IN CANBERRA
Last week I was in Canberra to represent the City of Perth at the invitation of the Prime Minister at the Australian Council of Local Government Forum.

The PM hosted local government representatives from Australia’s 537 Councils and Shires and committed to strengthening the working relationship between the Federal Government and local leadership.

The Canberra visit began with attendance at the Australian Local Government Association National Assembly – where delegates celebrated the enormous importance of the role LGA’s play in providing a direct link between community and their elected members.

In my three years as Lord Mayor, this is something I have come to value dearly, the ability we have at a local government level to interact directly with our ratepayers and residents. It’s so important.

THE GREEN MACHINE
As we continue to focus our sustainability efforts, this week the City of Perth operations team has been trialling a new hybrid truck.

This truck saves an average of 40% more fuel compared to a normal diesel truck.

Sustainable vehicles are the way of the future, and this trail gave us a great opportunity to get behind the wheel and see how hybrid vehicles fair in our operational environments.

This trial comes off the back of Tree Month where we highlighted the importance of preserving and growing the City's tree canopy.

Residents and workers were invited to take part in activities such as community planting days, and attend Greening our City workshops to learn about the importance of native vegetation, balcony gardening and growing food.

During the month of May we planted 317 trees, 124 of them by 60 community volunteers. Our team also planted 1,950 Western Australian plant species.

Remember, the City of Perth has doubled its efforts to increase our tree canopy and this year we have committed to planting 1000 trees. And we will!

ENROL TO VOTE
Whether you’re a resident of the City of Perth or a business owner or operator, with Local Government elections coming up in October, it’s time to make sure you are enrolled to vote.

Follow the link here to make sure you’re up to date so you can have your say on the future direction of your City of Perth Council.

As always, I value your direct feedback, please feel free to contact me at basil.zempilas@cityofperth.wa.gov.au.