OVERALL the City of Swan’s services and operating projects are on track for the six months to December 3, according to the city’s mid-year performance report.

The report said resourcing challenges due to skills shortages in the current workforce market were a key issue impacting the progress of multiple services and projects.

The two projects on hold – an arts and culture plan and a business attraction and investment plan – are awaiting the approval of other documents before they proceed.

An example of a project which is not progressing as intended is the delivery of waste education through school visits and bin-tagging, which will be prioritised after staff shortages were addressed.

But the city said it was on track for diversion of waste to the East Rockingham Waste to Energy power station and the East Metropolitan Regional Council is ready to start receiving waste at its Hazelmere Transfer Station.

The food organics and garden organics (FOGO)  project is due to commence in July 2024 with a communications plan under development and an education team established.

According to the report the city is supporting 58 friends groups to provide maintenance to natural assets, with significant interest in The Vines, Ellenbrook and Bushmead to date.

Maintenance programs have been completed as required, with a reduction in reactive maintenance requests.

The city has increased bin tagging recently and a new recycling contract has been in place with Clean-a-way since December.

Malaga and Bullsbrook Recycling Centres have received 5274 tonnes of recycling material, with an overall average of 67 per cent diversion from landfill.

More than 2 million containers were collected at the Cash for Cans in Bullsbrook during the past six months, with a recorded contamination rate of less than 1 per cent.

New Junction planning is on track with Western Australia Planning Commission conditional approval received for multiple lots and titling for lots in progress.

Among the key achievements for the six-month period were the launch of new websites for the city and the Swan Valley, the slashing of fast-track planning application processing by more than half and significant progress towards the reopening of Swan Active Midland.

Mayor Tanya Richardson said the council put a lot of effort into setting the city’s strategic direction and it was pleasing to see good progress in most of the key areas.

“There is some room for improvement, though, and I think it’s fantastic that our ratepayers can see that,’’ she said.

“Our ratepayers should be able to see how we’re performing as a local government, whether it’s good, bad or in-between.

“There’s no doubt the results of this review are positive, but I’m especially proud of the focus we’re putting on increasing transparency.”

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