Wheatbelt Shire of Pingelly ‘punching above its weight’ with 2024 Most Accessible Communities in WA Award win

A small Wheatbelt community has taken out a top State award for accessibility thanks to a suite of improvements to its council buildings and facilities, including a 5km accessible path around town.

Shire of Pingelly chief executive Andrew Dover said the decision to improve the shire’s accessibility kickstarted an audit of the town’s infrastructure.

“And then we decided ‘let’s just knuckle down and do something about it’ and took each problem area one by one,” he said.

Within six months, the shire had begun adding new ramps, automatic sliding doors, lifts, accessible toilet facilities, additional ACROD parking and wider doorways to its council infrastructure, as well as installing new handrails at the bowling green and swimming pool.

It was rewarded for its efforts this week when it received the top award at the 2024 Most Accessible Communities in WA Awards run by Regional Capitals Alliance WA.

“We’re really proud to have won the award, especially when there were quite a number of finalists and many of which were larger metropolitan cities, so we’re proud to really punch above our weight,” Mr Dover said.

The awards on December 5 celebrated local governments committed to building access and inclusion across their communities through improvements to infrastructure, public open spaces, services, events, and employment.

Mr Dover said the shire was particularly proud of its new 5km accessible path, which is within 200m of 80 per cent of the town’s population and links up key services and infrastructure such as the school, town centre and parks.

But the work is not over, with the shire implementing a policy to ensure accessibility remains “to the forefront of our minds” and starting work on a disability access and inclusion plan.

Disability Services Minister Don Punch said it was “particularly pleasing” to see regional local governments “leading the way” in supporting inclusive communities.

“This year’s winners have delivered some incredible projects and programs to demonstrate their strong commitment to building accessible communities ... Everyone has the right to live meaningful, connected lives, free from barriers,” he said.

Mr Punch thanked the judging panel, particularly MACWA ambassador Melissa Northcott and RCAWA’s Paul Rosair and Jane Lewis.

2024 MACWA Awards category winners:

• Major infrastructure over $1 million award — Shire of Augusta-Margaret River for the Margaret River Recreation Centre, Nala Waabi Mia (Our Playhouse)
• Minor infrastructure less than $1 million award — Shire of Pingelly for accessibility improvements to council buildings and facilities
• Public open spaces award — City of Kalamunda for the Stirk Park and Magnolia Way reserve developments
• Services and events award — City of Swan for the Accessible Swan Businesses initiative to help local businesses increase their accessibility
• Employment ward — City of Greater Geraldton Passport 2 Employment program to support students with disability transitioning to the workforce
• Highly commended — the cities of Armadale, Albany, Subiaco, Perth, Melville, and Karatha, and the Shire of Mt Magnet