Wyndham councillor Susan McIntyre says the municipality looks “terrible” due to overgrown nature strips, vacant blocks and “out of control” residential gardens.
Speaking at a council meeting pn Tuesday (November 30), Cr McIntyre said the council “need to own that and we need to get it back on track”.
Cr McIntyre made the comments in response to a report which stated that between July and September, the council made progress on 84.2 per cent of the 21 major initiatives listed in its 2021-22 annual plan and budget.
The report stated that the council was on track to deliver $174m worth of capital works by the end of the financial year “despite unavoidable delays due to the COVID-19 restrictions”.
“My concern here with this this report is that too rosy a picture is portrayed,” Cr McIntyre said.
She said the council was “struggling” to deliver on key issues including building neighbourhood and city pride; responding to dumped rubbish; and maintaining green spaces.
“We want people to be proud they live here in Wyndham,” she said.
“Owning the poor presentation in parts of our municipality, and what we are going to do to turn it around, is crucial.”
Cr Heather Marcus suggested recent heavy rain could be causing overgrown nature-strips and median strips.
The report showed that between July and September, the council constructed 18 kilometres of new footpaths, responded to 163 graffiti requests, repaired and maintained 434 playgrounds, planted 2556 trees and conducted 15,017 hard waste collections.
In addition, the council inspected 553 building sites and 1374 properties.
