Budget Supporting Everyday Life Across Our Towns
Council has endorsed the Shire of Augusta Margaret River’s 2025/26 budget, which includes a $25.9 million capital works program, $875,000 in Shire grants to support the local community and environmental groups, and continued funding for essential services such as ranger operations, community health, libraries, and Nala Bardip Mia – Margaret River HEART.
Shire President Julia Meldrum said the 2025/26 budget was the result of rigorous and responsible planning that carefully considered the needs of current and future ratepayers.
“We want our Shire to be a great place to live, now and into the future, which means caring for our natural environment, managing our built environment and supporting the wellbeing of everyone who lives here,” she said.
“A big part of our role is looking after the infrastructure we already have, as well as ensuring our community can continue to access the services and facilities they expect and deserve”.
“In addition to providing ongoing essential services, we’ll be investing almost $26 million into capital works to support everyday life across our towns – maintaining and upgrading our roads, buildings, parks, paths and community facilities.”
To fund 73% of the capital works program, we’ll utilise $8.5m of grant funding and more than $10m of Shire savings, commonly referred to as reserves.
Some key projects for 2025/26 will include:
- Paths and boardwalks (including Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse Trail Extension) - $2.094m ($0.517m from grants and $0.234m from reserves)
- Road and bridges (including works to the Jindong Treeton and Carters Road bridges) -$8.012m ($5.065m from grants and $1.119m from reserves)
- Waste facilities - $4.28m (from reserves)
- Marine structures and foreshore walls (including Turner Street Jetty) - $1.063m ($0.820m from reserves)
- Drainage - $0.513m
- Parks and reserves (including playground renewals in Cowaramup, Margaret River, Witchcliffe and Alexandra Bridge) - $1.634m ($0.085m from grants and $0.620m from reserves)
- Community buildings - $1.446m ($0.100m from grants and $0.594m from reserves)
Several major capital and operating projects aimed at supporting the shire’s growing population will also begin in the next 12 months. This includes a $1.7 million upgrade to the Shire’s 20-year-old computer operating system, and a $4 million investment to commence capping of the Davis Road landfill and plan for a new recycling and waste transfer station.
“These projects have been on the drawing board for some time,” Cr Meldrum said. “So we’ve been setting aside funds into reserves – or saving accounts – for several years to ensure we can cover these costs.”
Shire President Meldrum said the Shire’s use of reserves reflects careful long-term planning and responsible use of public funds, helping to avoid sudden rate increases in later years.
“This is a responsible budget that reflects the needs of today’s ratepayers while planning for future generations - investing in what matters most to our community.”
Cr Meldrum also reaffirmed Council’s commitment to continued advocacy for increased State and Federal Government investment in the region to help meet community needs and protect natural assets.
“As we have said previously, advocacy is a long game. We need to keep knocking on doors to highlight the challenges faced by our community so we can secure more funding and greater investment in our shire,” she said.
Read more about major projects planned in 2025-2026 or get a budget breakdown by reading our Budget Q&As.