Perth Hills Strategic Visioning . A series of Meet and Greet forums , presentations to local groups and decision makers , ongoing RDA Perth run local government forums and a campaign to attract applications for the Board have all been designed to shape the direction of a broader Perth Hills strategy and Perth Hills Future specifically . Perth Hills Future has attracted 5000 individual and organisational members in its first few months , brought together to help shape a new vision for their area .
Part of this vision has been a clear preference for a particular kind of periurban development that is not suburban with its standardised project housing but instead the group were very keen to retain the village centres from its past and the housing that disappears into the surrounding Hills environment with significant variations in architecture .
3 : Building the Leadership – Creating a Citizen Army Perth Hills Future , as a strategically focussed community peak body , is a new type of community association for Western Australia . Confusion about how it fits with existing structures and the value it could add has required a series of iterative conversations with decision makers and the community . This was aided by providing information about a similar entity established to provide accountable community input to the strategic planning process for the City of Portland , Oregon in the United States .
The citizen army created around the future of the Hills was galvanised in recent years when a large-scale project-home builder proposed to develop a large area in the Hills . This process created significant social capital and a strong desire to create a different development model for the area that maintained the core reasons for bringing people to the Hills .
4 . Attracting Investment and Policy Commitments – Delivering in Steps Perth Hills Future has been in discussions from the outset with local , State and Federal government about how to best assist the process of developing an economic development strategy for the Perth Hills . As the establishment process concludes , this and ongoing community engagement will become the primary focus . Part of this is the creation of a new development model based on a tailored peri-urban fabric for the area to underpin the economic future of the area .
CONCLUSIONS Economic development and social capital formation are closely linked . The Driving Change process can guide the process of transforming social capital into economic development outcomes in diverse circumstances through harnessing the collective will and drive of grassroots stakeholders .
The four processes of Driving Change are now being applied to the Perth Hills showing that the natural advantages and community fabric of peri-urban areas offer a blue-print for economic development . The risks and challenges faced by regions with rural and suburban characteristics create obstacles until and unless community stakeholders assist government to develop a social licence that delivers economic development while enhancing the ecology and character of these unique areas .
The early stages of the Driving Change process are delivering results for the Perth Hills and need to now drive into the fourth stage of delivering the future on which they have begun to work .
IMAGE CREDIT Images provided by the local governments of Perth Hills .
WORKS CITED Hagan Everett H ( 1962 ) On the Theory of Social Change : How Economic Growth Begins ’, New York : The Dorsey Press .
Putnam , R . ( 2000 ). Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community . New York : Simon and Schuster .
Putnam , Robert D ., Robert Leonardi , and Raffaella Y . Nanetti . ( 1993 ) Making Democracy Work : Civic Traditions in Modern Italy . Princeton , N . J .: Princeton University Press .
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
COLLEEN YATES Colleen is an accomplished leader who motivates others to achieve what they previously thought to be unachievable . Her leadership style is inclusive , and she possesses stellar strategic thinking ability and down to earth communication skills with the capacity to deliver on outcomes . She is a firm believer that change is exciting when you successfully ‘ sell ’ the vision of the new future and gain buy-in of all affected stakeholders . She has worked and volunteered for the past 35 years in several multi-faceted , composite , and challenging roles within the private , government and not-for-profit sectors delivering outstanding cutting-edge outcomes . She has been the CEO with Regional Development Australia Perth since 2013 , having delivered several initiatives to drive new business investment and job growth for the Perth region . She holds an MBA from the University of Western Australia and is on the board of a number of organisations .
ERIK STANTON-CLEMENTS Erik has been an independent advisor to government , industry and not for profits for twenty years with an emphasis on industrial and regional development , business cases , governance , strategy and policy solutions . He has a strong track record in developing agreement across stakeholders through alignment of core values and priorities that unlocks intrinsic value for investors , supply chains , the environment and communities . This has included engagements with organisations in the resources , infrastructure , government policy , industrial and strategic planning , regional development , university and community sectors . Erik is a Director of Lithium Valley Incorporated , an industry peak body formed to facilitate local and international new energy growth opportunities . He is a past Chair and current member of the Sawyers Valley Primary School Board . Past service includes Boards and committees dedicated to sustainability and common good outcomes . Along with a small group , Erik was an early advocate for the development of Perth Hills Future to bring greater coherence and strategic relevance to the shared values of Perth Hills locals . .
PETER NEWMAN Peter Newman is the Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University . Peter has written 22 books and over 360 papers on sustainable cities and has worked to deliver his ideas in all levels of government having been an elected councilor , seconded to advise three Premiers and on the Board of Infrastructure Australia 2008-14 . He is the Co-ordinating Lead Author for the UN ’ s IPCC on Transport . In 2014 he was awarded an Order of Australia for his contributions to urban design and sustainable transport . In 2018 / 19 he was the WA Scientist of the Year .
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL VOL 14 NO 2 2021 53