Seniors Plan 2007 - City of Stirling - The Western Australian ...

Housing, transport and the design and availability of footpaths, shopping centres and parks can
play a big part in maintaining people’s physical and mental health. If people are able to age in a
neighbourhood with which they are familiar, where they can walk to local shops and services and
catch public transport to other important destinations, they are more likely to stay in touch with the
community and so keep mentally and physically active. This in turn assists them to stay mentally and
physically healthy – and thus more likely to be happy - and delays the need for support services,
which may become more difficult to provide in the future.
THE CITY’S STRATEGIC ROLE
When considering the enhancement of services, programs and facilities, the City can select from a
range of roles. For instance, in some cases, the City may directly provide a service. In other cases,
the City may encourage and facilitate another provider to offer the service. Consultation has shown
that the older residents in the community see the City’s most important roles as planning, facilitation
and information provision. Other roles include service provision, where the City is best placed to
do this, and advocacy with other levels of government and with the private sector.
Key Roles
In implementing this Plan, the key roles for the City are the following:
• understand and plan for future changes in community structure;
• understand community needs and the services, programs and facilities that are available from all
providers;
• connect members of the community with the services or facilities that meet their needs. In most
cases, this will occur through the provision of information; and
• facilitate the development of or form partnerships to develop services and infrastructure to meet
community needs.
Implementation
This plan commits the whole of the City of Stirling to take measures that will result in Stirling becoming
a community in which people can age successfully. However in order to ensure that the plan is
carried out it is necessary to allocate responsibility for its implementation. As the business unit most
directly concerned with the development of this plan, Community Services is best placed to take on
this responsibility on behalf of the City.
The plan will be reviewed and updated every two years.
Feedback
The City of Stirling is always pleased to receive comments and suggestions about any of its
services and facilities. Where appropriate suggestions may be incorporated into future updates of
this plan. City of Stirling contact details are shown on the back cover of this plan.
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