Business View Oceania | February 2021

43 44 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2021 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2021 SHI RE OF DARDANUP , WESTERN AUSTRAL I A Eaton-Millbridge, Ferguson, Wellington Mills and Crooked Brook. Not only will these communities benefit from the latest technology and proximity to the new city infrastructure, they will retain their charm, character and country lifestyle. It’s a win-win situation for all involved. “We’re trying to build a new city from scratch,” says Bennett. “It’s across a major highway from the Eaton-Millbridge area, so it’s got some distance between it and everything else. It’s an ideal plot of grazing land that’s going to be rezoned into urban development. We’re trying to design it as an off-the-grid type city where you can have your own power supply for residences, to a degree. Because technology is advancing so fast, we feel we could really design and build a City of the future – something that’s not only different but would be acceptable to the community.” The streets will be in a grid formation with houses taking advantage of the sun. The preference is for lightweight housing using different structural materials to decrease the carbon footprint and there will be a lot of walking areas. “And we would love to have a university come in,” adds Bennett. “It’s a great opportunity to implement and explore advanced technology and students could live very close. I think if we design the houses in the right manner, with more high-rises, we can probably fit more than 60,000 people. It’s a matter of getting them attuned to apartment-style living. We’re also speaking with developers about a possible hospital in the area, which would be a great thing. We’ll be increasing the regional population by about 50 percent with Wanju alone and there are other developments taking place in other shires. So it’s going to have a magnificent benefit for the Shire of Dardanup and the region. I’m already hearing people ask how long before they can move in because they want to be part of a visionary, environmentally-friendly city. With the right developer it could be quite magnificent, and so I’d like to say to everyone: We’re open for business and ready to go!” The Wonderful City of Wanju Thanks to all the great regional assets and amenities, the shire and the Bunbury Geographe Region are seeing an ever-increasing demand for new places to live from a population that is growing at a whirlwind pace. The planned new City of Wanju, set on 1,200 hectares of farmland in the north-west corner of the Shire of Dardanup, is the answer to fostering and managing that growth in a sustainable way. Designed to accommodate 60,000 people and almost 20,000 homes, Wanju is a testament to modern urban planning and design in Western Australia, supported and driven economically by a nearby area of identified industrial expansion –Waterloo Industrial Park – which has the potential to create thousands of jobs in a variety of sectors. Bennett notes, “We’re doing Wanju and alongside is Waterloo, our general industry area, which is a 1400 hectare greenfield site. We have aspirations for all of that becoming manufacturing as we advance with the project. Wanju and Waterloo together will be about 4,000 jobs, so it’s a considerable amount of industry we’re hoping to promote. My main purpose on Council is to be the visionary for the future and that’s what Wanju and Waterloo are – part of the vision for our shire to step up and become a manufacturing and export enterprise. Our Waterloo industrial area is only seven minutes from the Port of Bunbury, so great access for people to come here and start a manufacturing business that can be exporting without the transport issue that most cities have. We would welcome a battery manufacturer as we have all the ingredients within close proximity, with a Agri precinct planned to accommodate our fruit and vegetable down stream products.” Also on the drawing board are plans for a vibrant Town Centre featuring 70,000 sqm of retail space and 70,000 sqm of commercial space. In essence, Wanju will become a regional hub for commercial, retail, servicing, community, entertainment, health, recreation and residential – the possibilities are endless. By 2050, Wanju will co-exist with the historical areas of the shire – Dardanup, Burekup,