THE Swan community has made its priorities clear in an annual survey which shapes the city’s future.

The 2024 community and business perceptions survey was conducted in February with the support of independent consultancy Catalyse.

The survey measures how residents and business owners view the city’s performance and compares those results with previous years and other WA local governments.

It is delivered as two separate surveys – one for residents and one for businesses.

The city uses the results to track its progress against the five key result areas in its strategic community plan – natural environment, economic, social, built environment and governance.

More than 830 people had their say in this year’s community survey in February, with their overall rating putting Swan slightly above the WA local government industry average.

In natural environment, there were increases in satisfaction with the city’s management of public open spaces near waterways (up 6 to 84 per cent) and waste management (up 2 to 86 per cent).

Economic results included improvements for development and activation of town centres (up 5 to 70 per cent) and economic development and job creation (up 4 to 74 per cent).

In the social space, the community reported improvements in services for youths (up 9 to 74 per cent), families (up 3 to 85 per cent) and seniors (up 5 to 80 per cent).

Recognition of cultural diversity (up 3 to 91 per cent) and respect for First Nations peoples (up 2 to 90 per cent) continue to be among the city’s strengths.

For governance, the city improved its performance in advocacy (up 10 to 61 per cent), communication of decisions (up 5 to 65 per cent) and consultation (up 4 to 53 per cent).

Seven key priorities emerged from the community survey, with safety and crime prevention far and away the top priority followed by streetscapes, street trees and verges, playgrounds, parks and reserves, Swan Active leisure centres, lighting of streets and public places, waste management services, and climate/sustainable practices.

City of Swan Mayor Tanya Richardson said the city was already taking steps to address key safety issues raised in the survey, including strengthening its mobile CCTV program and rolling out major public lighting upgrades.

“We are working on keeping our community and businesses safer by developing our community safety plan, which outlines key actions to make you feel safer in Swan,” Mayor Richardson said.

The city has made a significant investment in greening Swan, including more than $2.3m in tree-planting in the 2023-24 budget.

Playground renewals and shade sail installations are ongoing, with a $6.5 million play space coming soon to Ballajura.

Swan Active Midland has reopened after its $30m refurbishment and Swan Active Ellenbrook is in the design phase.

FOGO is on its way to Swan, with the rollout of the city’s new three-bin kerbside collection system to start in July.

Mayor Richardson said parking improvements were planned during 2024-25 for Ellenbrook and Midland. More than 150 businesses took part.