Restaurants, tavern on Dalyellup wish list

Beachside development, restaurants and a tavern are high on the wish list for Dalyellup residents who had the opportunity to voice their opinions during community consultation sessions last week.

For three days, community and economic development consultancy group Bank of I.D.E.A.S sat down with a number of residents at the Dalyellup Shopping Centre to discover the aspects in which Dalyellup was thriving and lacking, with the aim of compiling the information for the Department of Communities for future development of the locality.

Executive officer Maria D’Souza said the purpose of the exercise was to help the community recognise their assets and discover what residents value.

“A huge part of it is to find out what is missing here in Dalyellup and how the department can support the community to grow by providing what they need to become stronger and more connected,” she said.

Ms D’Souza said they had also undertaken interviews with clubs, organisations, service providers and schools.

“Once you start delving into a community and really talking to people, some very strong themes start coming through about who that community is, what they need and what they value,” she said.

She said many of the residents were on the same page, with many hoping for more opportunities to connect with each other through community events.

“They would really love for someone to come and build them a tavern and also somewhere to go out and eat without having to go out to Bunbury,” she said.

“They would love some restaurants, some of that social amenity — maybe some development along the beach and cafes.

“Other strong themes coming through are activities for young people and more community space for people to connect and run things from so they can start establishing a sense of community themselves — what is lacking is the physical space to do that.”

Residents also identified a need for signage promoting the area to draw attention from people travelling along the highway.

Department of Communities project manager Ben Ozanne said consultation was the first step in determining where to invest.

“We want to make sure whatever money we can invest into the community goes into things valued by the community and the people in it,” he said. “We can then work out how we can work with the community to design a solution which is going to support that instead of jumping to a solution which might miss the mark.”

An online survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/dalyellupresidentsurvey.