FAQ

As part the lease agreement between the Town of Victoria Park (Town) and the West Coast Eagles (WCE), the WCE is required to deliver a Community Benefits delivery program. The program is in lieu of a wholly commercial transaction. Under the terms of the lease agreement WCE must deliver benefits that enable local community development through lifelong learning, empowerment, increasing access and inclusion, leadership and collaboration. 

The program is being developed in conjunction with WCE, Wirrpanda Foundation and Perth Football Club. The design and delivery of the community benefits takes a collaborative approach between the Town and its project partners, taking into consideration each party’s strategic objectives.

The program must be:

• evidence based
• responsive to trend data
• locally responsive.

The community benefit programs will be resourced by:

• one full-time staff member (or equivalent) from the West Coast Eagles,
• one full-time staff member (or equivalent) from the Wirrpanda Foundation and
• 100 hours of West Coast Eagles player involvement, per annum.

The Community Benefits Strategy will be in place for the duration of the lease. The term of the lease is 50 years, within a further option to renew the lease for an additional 49 years (a 99 year lease). The inaugural Community Benefits Strategy focuses on the first five years from 2019 to 2024.

Design and delivery will be a collaborative approach between the West Coast Eagles and the Town of Victoria Park. This collaborative approach will ensure that:

• program design reflects the strategic objectives of both parties
• both parties jointly devise and agree on the response required to achieve program goals
• both parties jointly plan and implement the delivery of initiatives.

Following this process, sign-off and agreement is required by the CEO of the West Coast Eagles and the CEO of the Town of Victoria Park.

The strategy is planned to be completed by the project partners by mid-2019. An overview of the Community Benefits Strategy (draft) and the benefit programs planned to be delivered in the first five years is available to view in the document library.

Once finalised, the inaugural Community Benefits Strategy will be available to view on the project partner's websites and at the Town's Administration and library.

The first four programs planned to be delivered under the Community Benefits Strategy include:

1. Youth Engagement Program

2. Healthy Relationship Awareness

3. Supporting Local Community Organisations

4. Recreational Groups and Sports Club Development

A series of 16 programs, drafted by the project partners, were presented to the Community Panel members. 

The Community Panel worked through a structured process, incorporating feedback from the broad community, resulting in the prioritisation and recommendations of four programs to be developed and initiated for the the first five years of the strategy. 

Community Panel recommendations were assessed by the Project Partners and incorporated in the Draft Community Benefits Strategy Overview.

The partnership will result in many other benefits beyond the the first four community programs, which will include: 

• Utilising project partners' communication channels to expand reach of the Town of Victoria Park's visitor attraction marketing campaigns.
• Improved activation of Lathlain Park Precinct.
• Increased delivery of local West Coast Eagles community programs.
• Economic benefits for local businesses through increased visitation in the area.
• Cultural and mentoring support for community members.
• Education and employment opportunities and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• Increased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural awareness, guidance and event opportunities.
• Partner representation on the Town of Victoria Park Aboriginal Engagement Advisory Group.
• Infrastructure funds including West Coast Eagles $1 million – Lathlain Park Zone 2, Western Australian Government $10 million – Lathlain Precinct, West Coast Eagles - $1 million + additional Federal Government $4 million – Perth Demons facility upgrade.
• Community use of new amenities and facilities including two new elite AFL ovals, Wirrpanda Foundation Amphitheatre, running track, plyometric ramps and stairs, community classrooms and seasonal gardens. Community bookings of these facilities will be administered by the West Coast Eagles.

The Community Benefits Strategy will be reported on annually and reviewed at least every five years.

Outcomes of the strategy will be reported in the Town's annual report, as well as progress reports as the programs and initiatives are completed, through a variety of partners communication channels.

Community consultation has taken place in three distinct stages:

1. Broad engagement - Community consultation promoted to all Town community members with options for online and face-to-face engagement at pop-up events.Consultation sought feedback on how the community thought it might benefit the most from the partnership.
2. Community panel - A community panel was formed and involved three touch points, including two in-person all-day workshops that took place in November and early December, and via a closed online forum. 
3. Public comment - Broad consultation promoted to all Town community members seeking public comment on the community benefit programs planned for the first five years.

The community panel is a representative sample of 30 residents that reflect our community demographics. 

The community panel members were selected to form a group to prioritise the benefit programs and provide recommendations to the project partners on the Community Benefits Strategy programs for the first five years.

The remit of this community panel was to:

The community panel comprised of 30 Town of Vic Park residents who represented a variety of ages, genders and ethnicities. Community panel members were also recruited based on the suburb they reside, relationship status and housing arrangements. 

Key findings from the broad engagement include:

• Aligning to the Town's Strategic Community Plan outcomes, the social outcome had the highest number of votes as to where the Community Benefits Strategy should focus.
• Leadership, mentoring and sporting club development was of high importance.
• Emphasis on youth at risk and disadvantaged children.
• Safety and crime prevention was of high importance.

For further information, please refer to documents in the document library.

Any comments you wish to make on the Draft Community Benefits Strategy Overview are to be submitted by 5pm, Monday 13th May, by one of the following:

• Online, using the submission form below.
• By email: admin@vicpark.wa.gov.au, quoting reference CBSPC.
• By letter: Town of Victoria Park, Locked Bag No. 437, Victoria Park WA 6979, quoting reference CBSPC.
• By completing a hard copy submission form located at the Library or the Administration building.