City of Swan - Ballajura Local Area Plan

Priority	Update
Ensuring adequate amenities and infrastructure for public open space	The City’s plans for a new all ages and abilities playspace in Ballajura is underway with Lotterywest committing $2 million to the project. Works are expected to start in February 2024, with completion in 2025 Read more Following the $2 million Swan Active Ballajura project completed in 2021, the centre has had 478 membership sign ups and 217,017 attendees overall in 22/33 The City held consultation in June 2023 seeking community’s thoughts on a BMX Pump Track at Kingfisher Oval. After receiving feedback, Council have approved the project’s go ahead with an expected completion by the end of the 23/24 financial year. Read more
Improving movement and access networks	Metronet is building a new footbridge across Tonkin Highway to provide Ballajura residents with cycling and pedestrian access to Malaga Station and Whiteman Park. The City is working with Metronet to maximise the community benefit of this state project The City is planning a $2 million upgrade to the intersection at Hepburn Avenue and Marangaroo Drive to improve traffic congestion, reduce delays and improve overall safety. The City is seeking funding from Metropolitan Regional Road Group to upgrade the intersection to a roundabout in 2024. Read more
Streetscape maintenance and improvements	The City has a tree planting program where residents can request a free street tree for their verge. In 2022/2023, 37 new trees and 44 replacement trees were planted The City planted 839 new trees on Hepburn Avenue, and 60 new trees across Bayview, Hamelin, Jacana, Kakadu, Lassen, Lemongrass and Meadowview Parks in 2022/23. Read more
Improve access to local social spaces and services	The Ballajura Library continues to provide a variety of community social spaces, events and programs for groups of people to meet socially Read more The Ballajura Youth centre provides access to professional youth workers, recreation services, meals and refreshments three days a week for secondary students. Read more

Priority 1. Ensuring Adequate Amenities and Infrastructure for Public Open Space

A survey was undertaken in March 2022 to gauge community preference on a range of playspace related items. This will inform the further development of the Play Space Strategy.
The Swan Active Ballajura gym and family change rooms opened in September 2021. The $2 million project funded by the City of Swan saw the addition of a gym, dedicated fitness space and accessible family change rooms to the popular Swan Active facility.The new gym features more than 30 pieces of state-of-the-art exercise equipment and space for a range of fitness classes including Pilates and yoga to cater for all fitness levels and abilities.
The City has prepared a series of concept designs for a proposed Intergenerational Playspace in Ballajura at the Oxleigh Drive Public Open Space. Public engagement sessions were held in November 2021 seeking feedback from local residents to ensure their views and preferences are captured. Feedback will be taken to Council for decision making and funding options.

Priority 2. Improving movement and access networks

The City is working with METRONET to ensure suitable pedestrian and cycling infrastructure connect local communities to station precincts.
A City priority intersection to investigate in Ballajura was Bellefin Drive and Hepburn Avenue section due to the additional traffic from NorthLink. A $1.9 million roundabout has since been constructed in July 2021 improving traffic flow and road safety, funded by the State Government after community feedback and a City traffic assessment highlighted increasing congestion in the area and due to the impacts of NorthLink.

Priority 3. Streetscape maintenance and improvements

The City has a tree planting program, where every resident in the City of Swan can request a free street tree for their verge. A tree planting project on the intersection of Hepburn Avenue and Bellefin Drive resulted in three new street trees being planted as part of the new road construction.
The City will undertake a night audit of the street lighting in Ballajura and the results will be passed onto Western Power for action.

Priority 4. Improve access to Local Social Spaces and Services

The newly renovated Ballajura Library and social spaces and run events for people to meet others and get support socially. In 2022 the Library is running events and programs such as:
- ‘Ladies Let’s Talk’ a women’s only English-practice weekly event with activities and presenters.
- Storytime and Rhymetime
- Craft club
- Library lovers
- Creative writing workshops
- Thinking Green workshops
The City’s Youth Development team have continued to support Ballajura Public Library and have engaged in passive outreach and engagement strategies with young people within the library. This has resulted in weekly activities, for example, virtual reality, delivered by Youth Development, Library Services and the Ballajura leadership group.
The City supported the Ballajura by Twilight event with a community grant. The community event included food trucks, stalls, silent disco, photo booth and more, held at Ballajura Community Hub on December 3, 2021
After listening to community feedback about the first Paradise Quays Masterplan put forward, Council have initiated a Scheme Amendment to the current zoning, which will enshrine clear built form requirements to guide future development. The City is currently in the process of finalising the scheme amendment, which is expected to be complete in 2022. The site will then be advertised as an aged care development opportunity, with any expressions of interest to be carefully considered by Council.

The Ballajura local area is situated on the City of Swan’s western boundary, located approximately 14 kms north east of the Perth CBD. The local area comprises solely of the suburb of Ballajura which is bound by Cullacabardee to the north, Whiteman Park to the east and the Malaga industrial area to the south.

The 2016 Census counted 18,728 persons in the Ballajura local area with 30 per cent of residents aged less than 20 and 22 per cent aged 50 or more. Since the 2011 Census, the largest area of population growth occurred in the 50+ age groups and apart from the 30 to 34 year-olds, all other five year age groups experienced small declines. More than a third of residents were born overseas and of those 23 per cent came from non-English speaking backgrounds. Other than English, the most common language spoken at home is Vietnamese followed by Arabic and Persian/Dari.

Family households account for almost 80 per cent of all households, 56 per cent being households with children. Approximately 80 per cent of homes in the Ballajura local area are either being purchased or are owned outright and 13 per cent of homes are privately rented.

The Ballajura local area is well connected to other areas of Perth by regional transport links including Alexander Drive, Hepburn Avenue and the Reid and Tonkin Highways. It is less than 30 minutes from Perth’s international and domestic airport terminals and there are regular public transport links to the Morley and Perth bus depots which connect Ballajura with the rest of the metropolitan area.

The Ballajura area, particularly Emu Swamp and the surrounding wetlands, was used by Aboriginal people for thousands of years as a source of fresh water and a hunting ground. European settlement dates from 1829 when Ballajura was part of one of the original land grants along the Swan River. Initial development of the Ballajura area was restricted by infertile and sandy soils and was not cleared or cultivated until 1905. By 1970, the Ballajura area was part of a larger pastoral holding and remained leased as a cattle farm until 1977. Ballajura was developed as a residential suburb from 1978 and by 1981, a shopping centre, tavern and primary school complemented the area. The population increased rapidly during the early 1990s and then slowed in the early 2000s with the 2016 Census counting fewer people than the 2011 Census.

The Ballajura Local Area Plan is an important document for the City to plan for infrastructure and services, and manage change at a local level. It was developed with the involvement of local community members who worked with the City to identify specific issues affecting their community and to produce a plan providing solutions to meet the specific needs of their local area. The City appreciates the tremendous support and contribution made by community members and other stakeholders in developing this local area plan.

Major features and attractions of the Ballajura local area include: