We believe Cockburn is the best place in Australia to live, work and play, so we pay close attention to making sure we live up to that promise for our residents and businesses. Satisfaction with the City of Cockburn among residents is high, mainly because:
- We keep our rates low
- We work hard to keep our communities looking great
- We maintain a strong financial position and give generously to local organisations
- We are compassionate, community-focused, accountable and progressive
- We deliver services directly to the community.
In a year where the nation is facing high inflation, rising interest rates, high construction costs, and a tight labour market the City’s 2022-23 rates will be some of the lowest in Perth.
2022-23 is the 13th year the City will deliver a balanced budget with an operating surplus. This means we collect enough funds to cover our costs, while also saving for future asset renewal. Cockburn is a low debt Council and one of the few Councils in the Perth metro area with an operating surplus. This responsible management of funds is one of the main reasons Cockburn has continually been able to offer lower rates than other councils.
Not only does Cockburn have some of the lowest rates in Perth, but it delivers ratepayers value for money through high-quality local services and facilities for residents and businesses.
The City maintains 330 parks, 28 sporting reserves, and 214 playgrounds to a very high standard; looks after 38,500 park and verge trees, 921km of road, 845km of footpaths, and maintains 140 City owned facilities/centres and Port Coogee Marina.
The City provides one of the best waste collection services in WA with weekly general waste and recycling bin collections, fortnightly green waste collections, verge collections and six trailer passes for the Henderson Waste Recovery Park.
Our community services are free or heavily subsidised and second to none in terms of the service they provide. These include Cockburn ARC, one of the best recreation centres in Australia, Cockburn Health and Community facility, three libraries, Seniors Centre, Youth Centre, family and parenting services, a frail aged care service, a volunteer centre and family day care.
The City-run community response service Co-Safe will continue to prioritise its patrols to hotspot areas, and, with the addition of mobile CCTV cameras, CoSafe's their quick response and reach throughout the community will only continue to improve.
In addition, the City provides more than $1.4m to the community through grants and donations and runs many free community events such as the vibrant and very Cockburn Coogee Live.
The City also provides its residents and ratepayers with several unique services that most other councils do not provide, including:
- Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre (ARC)
- Port Coogee Marina
- Henderson Waste Recovery Park
- Cockburn Integrated Health Centre with GP Super Clinic
- The Wetlands Centre and WA Wildlife
- Marine infrastructure – Omeo Dive Trail, public jetties, shark barrier
- Waste and environmental education programs
- Financial counselling services
- Commercial waste collection for businesses
As a sensible response to the prevailing market conditions of high inflation, high construction costs, and a tight labour market, the City has delayed or deferred several capital works projects.
Costs for capital works projects are coming in at between 25%-50% higher than previous estimates, substantially increasing the total cost of the project. Delaying or deferring projects until market conditions become more favourable is financially prudent when managing ratepayer funded projects.
Despite these delays, the City will still spend $50.8m on improvement projects across the City including:
- Hammond Road, Success duplication (between Branch Circus & Bartram Road) - $11.2m
- Smart LED streetlight replacement - $12.06m
- Roadworks - $2.81m
- Park upgrades - $1.32m
- 14 playground renewals - $0.49m
- Urban Forest Plan (shade cover in Cockburn) & streetscapes - $1.1m
- New & upgraded bike and walking paths - $1.21m
- Parking upgrades at Cockburn ARC - $0.48m
- Resident group projects - $0.44m
The City will also be going out for tender for the Malabar Park BMX facility in 2022 and will refer back to Council for consideration of funding once the cost is known.
The City's strategic plans set the goals and direction for the City's future activities. They include the Strategic Community Plan, Corporate Business Plan, Long Term Financial Plan, Workforce Plan, Annual Budget and Report, Asset Management Plan and the Integrated Planning Framework.
The Strategic Community Plan guides the direction of the City for the next ten years while the Corporate Business Plan provides a four year view of the projects and initiatives the City will undertake. Find out more about the City's
strategic plans.