DevelopmentWA Boss Retires After Adding Decentralisation to Agenda

The boss of Western Australia’s urban renewal agency has retired after putting decentralisation of the nation’s most capital-centric state squarely on the development agenda.

During his four-year tenure as DevelopmentWA chief executive, Dean Mudford oversaw delivery of major land, housing and renewal projects.

These included Subi East, the Ocean Reef marina, a 29-storey build-to-rent tower in inner Perth and a 1000-home redevelopment of the much-maligned Brownlie public housing towers in suburban Bentley.

DevelopmentWA Chair Darren Cooper said Mudford had guided the agency as its remit expanded from land development into built form to support housing delivery and urban renewal.

At The Urban Developer’s inaugural Perth developer symposium in March, Mudford said there had been some “amazing” investment in infrastructure in the WA capital that had “unlocked” areas close to transport corridors for development.

“That’s in a Perth context, but I think also you can’t forget the regions,” he said.

“Bunbury is so well located to Perth.

“It’s got the natural attributes, a port and agriculture around it.”

Mudford said the “next wave” of critical infrastructure likely to unlock development in WA would include a high-speed rail line from Perth to Bunbury, 170km to the south.

“Whether that’s a 20-year horizon, 50-year horizon, I’m not sure, but it will happen at some point,” he said.

“Port and export locations will get constructed in various parts of Western Australia to help industry in those locations [and] to support a population base.

“Geraldton, Karratha, Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie and Albany; those six [including Bunbury] regional centres have got the capacity to take hundreds of thousands of people over the next 20 to 50 years.”

With 80 per cent of sandgropers located in metropolitan Perth, WA has the most concentrated population of any state in the nation, narrowly pipping South Australia where 78 per cent of crow-eaters call Adelaide home.

Mudford said WA could not take its eye off the ball in making sure its regional cities had capacity to increase their populations.

▲ The Urban Developer managing editor Taryn Paris spoke to Dean Mudford during the inaugural Perth developer symposium in March this year.

Six weeks after Mudford spoke at the symposium, WA Premier Roger Cook on April 28 revealed his Seven Cities plan to “unlock the next wave of regional economic development and deliver quality infrastructure and services throughout the state”.

Cook said the regions had been central to WA becoming Australia’s strongest state economy.

“While traditional industries like mining, agriculture, and tourism will continue to thrive, the seven regional cities of Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Port Hedland, Karratha, Broome, Geraldton, and Albany have been identified as critical to the government's vision for WA to become a renewable energy powerhouse and make more things in WA,” he said in a statement reminiscent of Mudford’s earlier reflections.

Taking the reins at DevelopmentWA for at least the time being is executive general manager of strategy, engagement and business development Lorissa Kelly. Her elevation to acting chief executive is effective immediately while a process to appoint a new chief executive is undertaken.

Mudford started with DevelopmentWA 11 years ago.