Annual Budget

The Margaret River Recreation Centre roof is is due to be completed towards the end of the year, with the Shire excited to deliver a refreshed, durable and low maintenance building with refurbished changerooms, new toilets, seating spaces and public art, as well as a new café and outdoor play space. Grant funding has been secured to incorporate a Changing Places facility to meet the needs of people with complex disabilities and their carers.

Introduced in 2021-22, the Shire’s successful $0.865 million grant program will be continued, with a number of different funding streams open to support community organisations, businesses and individuals. 

The grant policy was reviewed in 2023-24 to ensure it was still meeting the needs of the Shire and community, with the introduction of community development ‘easy grants’ to fund smaller community projects, programs, events or activities that benefit the wider community.

Grants support community development, the local economy, environmental management, environmental stewardship, community halls, organisations and events, and also includes a Community Sports and Recreation stream.

The Community Sport and Recreation grants program is aimed at supporting the physical and mental health of our younger community, by offering financial assistance to lower income households. This funding stream builds on the State-run KidSport program, but opens the door to participation in activities which aren’t registered under the KidSport program.

In line with the Shire’s commitment to protecting and enhancing the region’s unique natural environment and biodiversity, a range of programs and projects are planned to help maintain our natural assets, through foreshore and coastal management activities, bushland preservation and climate action. This includes the review and implementation of the Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Plan, implementation of various reserve management plans, continued implementation of the Climate Action Plan and provision of funding to local groups to support various environmental initiatives.

An additional priority of Council for 2023-24 is the development of a Biodiversity Strategy focused on prioritising the retention of natural vegetation and protecting the Shire’s natural areas now and into the future.
 

The Shire maintains a network of over 1,000km sealed and unsealed roads. The 2023-24 budget includes more than $4 million for road renewal projects, with costs of these works subsidised by over $3 million in grant funding. Major road rehabilitation projects include the continuation of works on Cowaramup Bay Road, Rosa Brook Road and Warner Glen Road. The Shire ‘Safer Speeds Trial’ with the RAC and City of Busselton will continue. The trial is aimed at taking a holistic and coordinated approach to planning and rolling out safer speed limits across the region. With the RAC providing $0.5 million in funding to each local government, this project will act as a pilot for an overall approach to be taken Statewide.