West Coast Council last night adopted the West Coast Liveable Communities Strategy (the Strategy), created through a partnership with KMPG and following comprehensive community and stakeholder engagement and consultation on the issues and opportunities associated with an ageing population.

Mayor Vickers said: “Creating this Strategy was a real priority for Councillors. The community has made it loud and clear for many years that with a growing trend towards an ageing population and a range of shortfalls in service delivery for our residents and visitors continuing to be a problem, that a positive and achievable plan to improve things for our older citizens was critically needed. The project we implemented as a Council has delivered something capable of guiding Council and other stakeholders’ decisions and actions in the future; and it has highlighted a range of projects and even innovations, that can improve people’s lives in this region.”

The Strategy contains a comprehensive analysis of the current West Coast situation regarding health, ageing and access. It clearly identifies a series of short, medium and long-term solutions, that when implemented, will enhance the liveability of the West Coast community well into the future for an ageing population. It was created to help drive priorities such as improved medical services for the region and greater access to aged and respite care - needs that were identified by the community in the West Coast Community Plan 2025.

The Strategy not only provides up to date and detailed demographic information and analysis of the current regional situation, but it also outlines a ‘roadmap’ of the types of services required by an ageing population and explains these services in detail and where gaps might exist for service delivery on the West Coast.

Council’s General Manager David Midson said: “The development of the Strategy was a collaborative effort across a diverse and varied group of stakeholders, including the community. It’s a comprehensive document that identifies a range of important projects. The challenge for Council now is to identify suitable and willing partners in the public, private and non-profit sectors to assist with its implementation, and to therefore deliver these important initiatives for our community as soon as we can.”