More than 1,700 residents and 150 local businesses have helped shape the future direction of the City of Swan through the 2026 Community and Business Perception Survey.
Conducted in March by independent consultancy CATALYSE, the survey provides important insights into the issues that matter most to the community and helps guide the City's planning, decision-making and service delivery.
Community strengths recognised
The results highlighted several areas where the City is performing strongly, with residents rating access to housing, access to public transport, tourism attractions and destination marketing, respect for First Nations peoples, and multiculturalism and cultural diversity among the City's highest-performing areas.
The survey also showed significant improvement in community perceptions of waste services, reflecting the positive impact of enhancements made through the Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) program.
Community priorities driving action
While recognising these strengths, residents also identified the issues they would most like the City to focus on in the future.
The top priorities were:
- Safety and crime prevention
- Streetscapes, street trees and verges
- Playgrounds, parks and reserves.
The City is already delivering a range of projects and initiatives that support these priorities.
This includes working with relevant authorities on crime prevention and intervention programs, progressing the Midland Forging Ahead project, expanding underground power infrastructure to boost streetscapes, renewing play spaces across the City, and increasing tree canopy through a city-wide greening and planting program.
Together, these projects are helping create safer neighbourhoods, greener streets and high-quality public spaces for a growing community.
Local businesses helping shape the future
Local businesses also shared their priorities for the future, identifying:
- Support for existing businesses
- Parking management
- Responsible growth and development.
The feedback will help guide the work of the City's Business and Tourism Services team as they continue to support local businesses, strengthen economic opportunities and respond to the needs of a growing local economy.