The City of Mandurah plans to transform its economy with a new taskforce appointed to deliver its Transform Mandurah plan.
The local group of volunteers will be tasked with guiding the Mandurah council in relation to the city's economy.
Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams said the taskforce would be a step forward in creating a more diverse and resilient local economy.
"This impressive group of local leaders have relevant expertise and networks, and are acutely aware of the current economic challenges faced by Mandurah," he said.
"Importantly, each of the taskforce members are passionate about Mandurah and for that reason have volunteered their time to help us identify and act on those initiatives that will give us the best chance of a strong restart post COVID-19 and for future economic transformation."
Read more on the Transform Mandurah plan:
The chair of the economic development taskforce is Professor Lyn Beazley, who was WA former chief scientist, and was the 2015 West Australian of the Year.
The group also includes deputy chair of the Peel Development Commision Alan Cransberg, experienced company director Bill Hames, and Mandurah tourism operator Myri Riddy.
In an interview with the Mandurah Mail, Mr Williams said parts of the Transform Mandurah plan were already underway.
"Phase one of the Transform Mandurah agenda is underway as we speak with the delivery of the waterfront redevelopment," he said.
"We're already getting enquiries from professional service companies who are hearing about our agenda and want to talk about how they might be involved, and we're getting some real traction on the national park eco-tourism activation and attracting funding for new technology to help in the water-science industry formation.
"Re-structuring an economy is not a quick fix, but if Mandurah's economy was going to diversify itself, it would have happened already.
"We're going to need all levels of government working off the same page and a community pushing for change if we're going to achieve this important long term goal, and the taskforce will play a key role in helping us to achieve this level of commitment."
Read more on the Transform Mandurah plan:
Despite the mayor calling on all levels of government to push the Transform Mandurah agenda there was no funding announced for the plan in the latest state and federal budgets.
The Mandurah Mail will continue to explore the four components of the Transform Mandurah plan in more detail over the coming weeks.
The next article will look into the third key part of the agenda - a tourism precinct linking the Mandurah Ocean Marina to the city centre, including an "international standard" hotel and convention centre.