10 Year Anniversary
On 1 July 2008, the City proudly celebrated its 10 year anniversary.
Since 1 July 1998, the City of Joondalup has grown steadily and blossomed in to the second largest Local Government in Western Australia, with approximately 160,000 residents.
There have been many dedicated people and groups, including the local community, who have played major roles in the success and development of our great City.
Over the past 10 years, the people of Joondalup have brought the City to life, with many varied voluntary groups, sporting and cultural organisations making it the vibrant and diverse place it is today. The City is striving for excellence, providing outstanding services and facilities to its community and is on an exciting journey to implement policies, strategies and initiatives that will see Joondalup continue to grow as a vibrant regional centre.
The City is dedicated to ensuring it continues as a strong leader and trendsetter in Local Government in WA over the next 10 years and in to the future.
The City’s 10th anniversary – 30 years in the making
Although the City of Joondalup is a relatively new local government authority, the region is rich in history. The City’s name is taken from Lake Joondalup, which is derived from the Aboriginal phrase “place of whiteness or glistening”.
The idea of creating the Joondalup City Centre was first mooted by the State Government of the day in the late 1970s, as part of its vision to create a satellite City in the northern corridor of Perth. The development of Joondalup really took off in the 1990s with the City Centre coming to life. The City of Joondalup has played a major role in helping establish the City Centre as a regional hub, lobbying to bring big business, the ECU campus and the WA Police Academy to the area. The City also recently redeveloped its Leisure Centre in Craigie, introducing an innovative and energy efficient geothermal heating system for its aquatic facilities. This unique heating system has made the City an industry leader and construction of the 50 metre outdoor pool to the centre is currently underway.
Over the past 10 years, the original vision for Joondalup as a City Centre in the northern corridor of Perth has become a reality.
Key figures in the first 10 years
On 1 July 1998, the State Government made the decision to split the former City of Wanneroo
in two to form the Cities of Joondalup and Wanneroo.
The government initially selected five Commissioners, led by Campbell Ansell, to run the new City of Joondalup for 18 months until John Bombak was elected inaugural Mayor of Joondalup in 1999. John Bombak and 14 other councillors became the first elected members of the new Joondalup Local Government Council.
In the years since, Don Carlos and Troy Pickard have also been elected to the position of Mayor of the City of Joondalup. Mayor Pickard and 12 new councillors were elected in May 2006.
The inaugural Chief Executive Officer, Lindsay Delahaunty, was instrumental in setting up the new City of Joondalup’s staff and organisational structure following the City’s split from Wanneroo. In 2003, the Government appointed a new set of five commissioners, led by Chairman John Paterson, to govern the City.
In January 2005 they appointed current CEO Garry Hunt, who has worked in partnership with the new Council to bring good governance to the community with special attention given to “focussing on the future”.
In late 2007, the City bestowed the Title of Freeman of the City on three of its most decorated and respected community members for their outstanding dedication and commitment to the community. Margaret Cockman, Bill Marwick and Nick Trandos were honoured with Freeman status for playing major roles in helping develop Joondalup into a successful district, long before it became an official Local Government. The trio have spent the majority of their lives serving others and helping to improve the quality of life for the people of the northern suburbs.
A City rich in cultural events and festivities
In the past 10 years, the City of Joondalup has built an enviable and comprehensive calendar of cultural events for its community.
The Sunset Markets, the Joondalup CBD concert series, the Valentine’s Day Concert and the Little Feet Festival for the City’s younger generations run every year during the summer months and are very popular events.
The annual Joondalup Festival and the Joondalup Eisteddfod are two of the City’s premier events, attracting thousands of people to the CBD to view the exciting entertainment line-up on offer each year.
Environment – the jewel in the crown
Shortly after establishing on 1 July 1998, the City demonstrated its commitment to leadership in environmental management by joining the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Program, designed to assist local governments and their communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Another major commitment by the City was its community partnership to manage natural areas to minimise the loss of biodiversity. The City has worked very closely to support and promote bushland friends’ groups and this partnership continues to be successful to this day.
The Council also endorsed the Environment Plan 2007 – 2011 that commits the City to achieving environmentally sustainable goals in keeping with its responsibilities as a progressive Local Government.
The Plan identifies five key areas of environmental action to be addressed by the City, including land; water; air quality; biodiversity; and waste management. The City’s commitment to maintaining these key areas has won it several environmental awards over the years including the ‘Government Leading by Example’ and ‘Community Energy Efficiency’ Awards.
A City’s art makes its mark
The City of Joondalup provides an impressive array of cultural and art experiences for the community, to help develop the region’s identity, diversity, heritage and tourism activity.
The City’s art collection and two annual art exhibitions help improve and enrich the cultural development of the local community.
Since the establishment of the City in 1998, the acquisition policy has been: “to build a broad, high quality, contemporary art collection that is of general interest, is free and accessible to the public and reflects the identity of Joondalup”.
The majority of the collection is permanently on display around the Civic Chambers, the administration building, libraries and leisure centres for the enjoyment of the whole community.
Two of the most popular events in the City’s cultural calendar are the Community Art Exhibition and the Invitation Art Award - events that help showcase the excellence and diversity of the local visual arts community and that of Perth in general.
