The City of Mandurah has released its ambitious draft economic development strategy, which includes developing Mandurah as a hub for aged care worker training and super-charging housing options.
The city’s draft strategy focuses on local jobs, attracting skilled workers to the city, sustainable urban development, and supporting investment, entrepreneurship, education and training.
The strategy includes eight projects that would further develop local industry, including positioning Mandurah as a hub for mining and petroleum industry technology workers, dubbed “blue-collar tech”.
City of Mandurah chief executive Casey Mihovilovich said the strategy aimed to solve challenges currently facing the community.
“Mandurah has experienced huge population growth over the past three decades,” Ms Mihovilovich said.
“While this growth has spurred opportunities, a number of challenges relating to employment, housing, economy and education have also presented themselves, as they do for many growing cities.
“Mandurah has the foundations to achieve a strong and resilient economy for the future by building on the city’s economic strengths.”
One project seeks to establish a Statewide aged care training “centre of innovation” in Mandurah and to increase the number of professional workers by co-locating public sector staff in the city.
Ms Mihovilovich said Mandurah could “take a lead role in building the nation’s aged care workforce of the future” through the proposed centre.
“Mandurah’s high population of older residents, coupled with innovative existing aged care providers, means we have a unique opportunity in the aged care field and are well positioned to take a lead in helping solve an increasingly global problem,” she said.
Mayor Rhys Williams said Mandurah made sense as the location for a State centre.
“For us, it makes natural sense that Mandurah positions itself to be part of the solution in a WA and national context, and to this end we’re working with industry partners and training providers on establishing WA’s first aged care Centre of Innovation,” Mr Williams said.
“Our ambition is for this centre to be at the cutting edge of aged-care innovation and to train the aged-care workforce of the future here in WA.”
The economic plan also includes a commitment to increase housing for key workers, including by developing “cost-effective rental accommodation” and reviewing potential ways to increase housing density in the city’s centre.
Ms Mihovilovich said the city planned to increase housing density in central Mandurah, currently at 10 per cent of its capacity, to add 3750 new dwellings over the next 30 years.
She said it would be the “biggest single impact” of the proposed strategy and would add 6900 jobs and $2.3 billion to Mandurah’s economy.
Residents can share their thoughts on the draft strategy through a survey until August 23 at https://bit.ly/4bHCWxJ