Annual Report

MAYOR’S FOREWORD

The year 2015-2016 marked my tenth as Mayor of

our beautiful city and the second year our current and

dedicated team of Councillors has worked together to

represent the interests of our community. It has been a

delight to chair meetings lled with spirited and passionate

debate and to see our Elected Members embrace a range

of innovative initiatives. As a council we are dedicated

to celebrating deserving community organisations and

individuals, to championing cultural sensitivity, and to

helping our region and community reach its full potential.

This year we saw the naming of Anna Meares Way at the

entrance of the Adelaide Super-Drome at Gepps Cross;

a rst for the Council in honouring a living Australian

sportswoman with a street name.

Council’s trial of beach access mats at two points along

our coastline rolled out after overwhelming support from

our Elected Members and the community.The mats enable

those who rely on wheelchairs for mobility to enjoy our

beaches.They’ve been incredibly successful interstate

and we’ll be closely watching how the trial unfolds here,

particularly this Summer. You can read about this trial in

more detail in the pages of this Annual Report.

I have been privileged to of ciate at many citizenship

ceremonies over the past year. No matter how many times

I perform this duty, I’m always touched by the emotion of

the occasion. I always stop to think about how immense

a change of citizenship is for the individuals involved, and

how for many it represents the end of a long and arduous

journey and the beginning of an exciting new phase in life.

It is particularly warming to see the smiles on the faces of

children at these events.

The City of Port Adelaide En eld prides itself on

welcoming new arrivals and new residents. There are

a number of successful programs being run in our

community – through Council community centres, libraries

and other venues to ensure that everyone feels included in

our society - whether they are new arrivals or have lived

here their entire life.

During the past year, Council’s open-minded and inclusive

spirit shone through on a number of

occasions.We

staged

the only public vigil in South Australia following the tragic

terror attack in Brussels, and the former Honorary Belgian

Consul Heidi van Gerwen was in attendance.

She was based in our region at North Haven until later

this year, when she returned to Belgium.

As well, the Council ew the French ag after the Paris

attack and again to honour our relationship with France –

after French company DCNS was awarded the submarine

contract in April this year. We also ew the Rainbow

ag to honour the LGBTIQ community after the horri c

Florida nightclub shooting.

Our Council remains committed to maximising our

opportunities for growth into the future. Our Elected

Members work very hard to stay in touch with our

community to best represent the interests of our people

as we embark on a period of signi cant change.This great

community is not mine or anyone else’s for that matter, it is

well and truly “ours”.

Ours to make good, ours to strengthen and ours to be

proud of. Keep up the good work.

Mayor Gary Johanson

City of Port Adelaide En eld

The Council has undergone enormous transition during

the 2015-2016 nancial year, including a partial restructure

which I believe puts us in the best possible position

to serve our community. We’ve established strong

partnerships with various levels of Government and

business stakeholders to implement positive economic and

social change across the region.

In line with legislative requirements, we’ve developed

our new strategic “City Plan 2030” – a long-term

commitment to a speci c set of priorities and objectives.

Implementation is well underway.

The City Plan, with ve key goals, is well-timed to

accompany the Port Adelaide rejuvenation but is also

adaptable to every area within our region.The aim is for

service delivery, project development, administration, and

engagement to re ect best practice and target

key outcomes.

Our City Plan 2030 is a thoughtful plan, resulting from

extensive community and stakeholder consultation.

I believe it will maintain its relevance for many years to

come, taking into account projected future population and

industry changes and growth.

In the past nancial year our Council made speci c

investments in Economic Development. We are now

armed with a new strategy that puts us in an ideal space

to meet and adapt to change whilst helping our industry

leaders to maximise employment opportunities and

recognise the City of Port Adelaide En eld as a business

friendly organisation.

In the past year we have also made great strides in our

modes of communication, enabling us to more effectively

reach our community. Largely this is due to the Council

expanding its presence on social media – a must for any

current organisation to meet today’s expected standards

and speed of communication.

A number of signi cant recreation and infrastructure

projects have been undertaken in the 2015-2016 nancial

year. These not only stand to signi cantly bene t our

community’s sense of health and wellbeing, but which also

have a particular focus on environmental conservation and

sustainability.

For example, Ferryden Park Reserve has a brand new

irrigation system which improves water conservation and

cost by running on reclaimed water from the Barker Inlet.

We’re trialling LED lighting for the rst time as part of a

major upgrade of the George Crawford Reserve netball

facility at Windsor Gardens – LED lighting signi cantly

reduces our environmental footprint.There have been 5

playground upgrades at Windsor Gardens, Alberton, North

Haven and Taperoo.There has been fantastic work on the

new Roy Marten dog-park at Taperoo which is part of a

ve stage project and the Taperoo Reserve junior soccer

pitches are in progress, with a clubroom build scheduled

for this nancial year. Details of these projects can be found

in this Annual Report.

As CEO, I am committed to ensuring the City of Port

Adelaide En eld is in the best possible position to partner

various levels of Government, industry and the community

as our region undergoes remarkable change through

housing, industry and cultural development.

I am proud to lead our Council during these exciting times.

MarkWithers

Chief Executive Of cer

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S

FOREWORD