Interview: Mayor of the City of Stirling

Mayor Giovanni Italiano shares his plans for development.

Tell us about your city.

The City of Stirling is the largest Local Government in Western Australia by population, with over 30 suburbs and over 227,000 residents. My vision for the City involves inward investment, job creation and service delivery.

How can technology help?

Improved technology will help to create a connected community within the City of Stirling, enabling us to gather, store, access and analyse vital information more effectively.

The City is working hard to increase the quality and range of services we can offer online and ensure that they are user friendly and straight forward for our ratepayers and customers.

The City is always looking at ways for continuous improvement and technology is front and centre of this role.

How will you develop your digital services?

The City will continue to produce significant changes by way of electronic lodgement of building and development applications.

A new system was introduced late last year and since the introduction of the electronic lodgement service, 46 per cent of what was previously lodged manually over the counter by our business customers is now being electronically lodged.

It is fair to say this technological change has been embraced by the sector and we expect to see an increase in these statistics over time.

More broadly, what has been the greatest innovation from the city's civil service?

I would have to say our partnering with our indigenous community in the development of a cultural tour program called the Mooroo Tours where residents can take a personal tour with a guide to various culturally significant sites across the City of Stirling and learn about our indigenous culture.

This tour has since won a Premiers Award.

What has been the biggest challenge that the city overcame in 2016?

I would probably say post Local Government Reform, the rising expectations of the community for service delivery and balancing that with financial continuity.

What is your top priority for 2017?

My top priority is to work on securing Stirling City Centre Infrastructure funding from multiple stakeholders to alleviate traffic gridlock and unlock development opportunities in the area as a result.

And of course, the ongoing redevelopment of Scarborough Beach in partnership with the State Government.

What is the biggest area of spending for the city?

Capital projects including roads.

If I were to visit your city, what one place would you recommend?

The City of Stirling is a very diverse City but significant change and progress can be seen right now at Scarborough Beach which is currently undergoing a massive make-over in the order of just over $100 M, including the City’s $26 Million, 50 metre outdoor heated beach-side pool.

This redevelopment of the area will continue to change the streetscape of the area over the next three years but by all means – significant change can already be seen.

Photo shows: The Mayor and Councillors attending the recent sod turning event for the City’s $26M outdoor heated beach-side pool at Scarborough Beach. L to R Deputy Mayor Cr Keith Sargent, Cr Mark Irwin, Mayor, Giovanni Italiano JP, Cr Karen Caddy and Cr Rod Willox.