Get Wyndham Moving Congestion Campaign Launch

In my current role as Wyndham Mayor it is an honour and privilege to serve the community for the 2013/2014 term.

As Wyndham is now one of the fastest growing cities in Australia I believe it is important when developing strategic plans for the future we should be conscious of our beginnings and some of the major milestones that have occurred over the past 150 years.
The City of Werribee, as it was known until 2005, started from humble beginnings as a staging post for travellers moving from Melbourne to Geelong and to South Australia. During the latter stages of the 19th century the Chirnside family established a dynasty in Werribee who owned large tracts of pastoral land in Werribee and surrounding areas.

An important milestone in Werribee’s history was the establishment of the State Research Farm in 1912 which was to become a world leader in agricultural research.

This initiative by the state government included the establishment of an experimental farm in Werribee, focusing on cropping irrigation and the production of quality livestock. More recently, research included the development of artificial insemination for cattle and sheep which lead to major advances in production efficiencies for livestock production.

Over the last 100 years the City of Wyndham has grown from a relatively quiet country town to a vibrant, exciting city of approximately 200,000 residents in 2014.

However as the result of the rapid growth of approximately 7,000 new residents each year Council has had a major challenge of providing the necessary infrastructure for our expanding population. Despite the formidable challenges, I have been pleased to lead a Council that has been able to fund a large number of community centres, kindergarten rooms and maternal and child health facilities. A major challenge has been to convince the state
government to provide funding for the duplication of key satellite roads, to construct level crossings at railway stations and to provide an efficient public transport system to reduce the huge traffic congestion in Wyndham. However, the construction of the $5.2 billion Regional Railway from Werribee to Sunshine and the Melbourne CBD will provide a major facility that will greatly assist us to address the public transport needs of our community for years to come.

It has also been a pleasure as Mayor to have been part of Council team who have made the bold step of allocating some $52 million to re-develop the Wyndham Leisure & Events Centre which will provide an exciting “state of the art” centre for aquatic activities, a community hub that provides space for community wellbeing, events, community learning, recreation and socialising.

Another major project has been the re-construction and development of the Werribee Sports and Fitness Centre which will, when completed, increase the number of indoor courts from 6 to 12 and provide a 2000 seat auditorium. This newly expanded centre will provide a regional facility with the capacity to provide major indoor amenities for attracting athletes from across Victoria.

Finally it has been an honour to lead a Council which has had the vision of contributing to Wyndham being one of the most liveable cities in Melbourne.

For more information on the Get Wyndham Moving campaign, visit www.getwyndhammoving.com.au

Images Below – Captions:
1) Wyndham City Mayor, Cr Bob Fairclough OAM
2)Wyndham City Councillors 2012-2016
3) Official Opening of the Quantin Binnah Kindergarten Extension
4) Chinese Delegation from Beijing Municipality
5) Wyndham Community Education Centre – ‘Why I Walk’
6) Opening of the Official Wyndham Vale South Reserve & Pavillion
7) Get Wyndham Moving Campaign – Race To The City