Corporate Strategic Planning

The City’s strategic plans set the goals and direction for the City's future activities.

The Strategic Community Plan

The Strategic Community Plan is an aspirational document that was developed following extensive community consultation. Engagement of the community helps define both what levels of service the community wants and what they are willing to pay for. Both of these elements are extremely important when defining asset management and the resulting costs.

The Plan has five broad strategic outcomes which will shape the City's development over the next ten years and beyond:

1. Local Economy – A sustainable and diverse local economy that attracts increased investment and provides local employment
2. Environmental Responsibility – A leader in environmental management that enhances and sustainably manages our local natural areas and resources
3. Community, Lifestyle and Security – A vibrant, healthy, safe, inclusive and connected community
4. City Growth and Moving Around – A growing City that is easy to move around and provides great places to live
5. Listening and Leading – A community focused, sustainable, accountable and progressive organisation.

The Strategic Community Plan guides the future direction of the City and every activity that the City undertakes.

The Plan is prepared in accordance with the Local Government Act, the Department of Local Government Integrated Planning Framework, and the City of Cockburn Community Engagement Framework. It is reviewed every two years, with a major review every four years.

Progress against the objectives is reported in the City's Annual Report.

The Strategic Community Plan is supported by the Corporate Business Plan, Long Term Financial Plan and Workforce Plan as well as many other strategies and action plans which provide detailed activities to enable the City to meet the strategic objectives in the Strategic Community Plan.

Corporate Business Plan

The Corporate Business Plan 2024-2025 to 2027-2028 is an internal business document that outlines the City’s key projects, corporate projects, plans and services over the next four years. It provides a clear line of sight to the delivery of the projects and services linking them to the Strategic Community Plan 2020-2030 objectives.
 
Relevant information from the Long Term Financial Plan, Asset Management Plans, Workforce Plan and key informing plans has been incorporated into the Corporate Business Plan. 

Annual Report

We are pleased to present the City of Cockburn’s Annual Report for 2023-2024. This comprehensive document provides a snapshot of our organisation’s performance against key performance indicators set by Council, our achievements, challenges and financial results in accordance with the Local Government Act.
• Leadership Insights: Our Mayor and CEO provide their perspectives on the year’s accomplishments and challenges
• Our City in Focus: Learn about Cockburn, our Council and the services we offer
• Progress Towards Strategic Community Plan Outcomes: An evaluation of our progress toward the goals and objectives outlined in our Corporate Business Plan, highlighting our successes, recognitions and challenges,
categorised by the Strategic Community Plan outcomes
• Governance, Legal and Community Inclusion: Information on governance practices, legal compliance, and development activity, and an update on our Disability Access and Inclusion Plan
• Financial Performance: A detailed analysis of our financial position and performance
• Looking Ahead: Discover our plans for the future and how we're working to address emerging challenges and opportunities.

Financial Year 2025 Service Plans and Project Plans

The City has undergone the process of developing Service Plans and Project Plans which form the framework for the Corporate Business Plan and Council’s budget decisions. They define service levels, increase transparency and improve accountability and reporting capabilities. Implementation of the plans over the financial year will assist the City to continue to deliver improvements in service and project delivery.

Long Term Financial Plan, Workforce Plan 

The Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) 2024-2025 to 2033-2034 is a ten year view of the financial position of the Council. The strategic objective of the LTFP is financial sustainability to ensure community assets and services can be maintained and provided by Council.  
 
The first year of the LTFP reflects the actual budget to be adopted for 2024-2025.
 
Years two to four have a high level of accuracy whereas years five to ten are estimates. The LTFP is based on a series of assumptions for revenue and expenditure (both operating and capital). The LTFP is subject to review every two years.

The Workforce Plan is the plan for staff employed by Council over the period 2022-2026. The aim of the Plan is to ensure Council has the correct skill and relevant numbers of staff to deliver services required by Council to meet the aspirations of the Strategic Community Plan and Corporate Business Plan.

Annual Budget

Between 1 June and 31 August each year, the City is required to adopt an annual budget for its municipal fund in accordance with Section 6.2 of the Local Government Act 1995 and the associated regulations.

The annual budget is a product of the City’s integrated planning framework and aims to deliver upon high level commitments contained within Council’s Strategic Community Plan and four year Corporate Business Plan.
 

Integrated Planning Framework

The Department of Local Government and Communities Strategic Integrated Planning Framework provides local governments with a framework for their corporate planning.

This framework starts with the development of the Strategic Community Plan and requires the development of Asset Management Plans to link with the corporate planning and budgeting process. These Asset Management Plans require reliable and up-to-date asset data to help the local government with reliable budget forecasting.

Asset Management Plans

The City of Cockburn currently manages over $1 billion of infrastructure assets. The Asset Management Plans are strategic informing strategies that assist the City in its yearly budgeting process and further strengthen the City's management of long term asset renewal planning and funding requirements.

The replacement cost (September 2014) for assets managed by the City was $1028 million. The plans are reviewed every two years to ensure that future iterations of the Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) use the most accurate asset information and financial projections.

PLACESCORE Liveability Survey

Every two years, we connect with residents through the Liveability Survey to hear what’s most important to you—your values, your experiences, and your vision for a better Cockburn. This survey has replaced the annual Community Scorecard and is a key part of our Corporate Strategic Planning.

Why this matters

Your feedback helps us shape decisions on services, programs, and infrastructure to ensure Cockburn continues to be a great place to live. By understanding what’s working and where we can improve, we’re building a better community together.

The latest survey, conducted in September 2024, offers valuable insights that guide the City and Council in making informed decisions, investing wisely, and tracking progress over time.

Key survey focus areas

The Liveability Survey covers four key categories to help us better understand community needs:

• Community Values – What do residents cherish most in an ideal neighborhood?
• Place Experience – How do residents rate their current lived experience in Cockburn?
• Strengths and Priorities – What’s working well, and where do we need to improve?
• Community Ideas – Big or small, what ideas do residents have to make their neighborhood better?

What we heard

Here’s a snapshot of what you shared with us:

• Cockburn is performing just below the WA average in terms of liveability, but our current focus areas align well with your priorities.
• Key priorities identified by the community include:
  • Improving the perception of safety
  • Enhancing access to active and public transport
  • Supporting locally owned businesses
  • Protecting our natural environment

What’s next?

Your feedback is helping shape our Strategic Community Plan, guiding investment decisions, and ensuring we continuously improve. Together, we’re working to make Cockburn an even better place to live, work, and play.

Where to find the results

The PLACESCORE Liveability Survey results are available in our Annual Report under the Community satisfaction headings.