The Town Team Movement is making WA a better place to live

In the current state of world when locals feel disconnected from their neighbours and community, Town Team Movement is empowering people to regain a sense of social connection and belonging.

A Town Team is made up of local people and business owners who volunteer their time to refresh public spaces and inject vibrancy back into their local areas.

Currently, more than 100 Town Teams across Australia are working together to better connect their community and make it a better place to live.

100 Town Teams

Reaching as far south as Albany, and north to Port Hedland, the Town Team Movement marked a significant milestone in June, as their 100th Town Team joined the cohort. The occasion was marked with a limited edition ‘Book of Doing’ and community event on Beaufort Street where it all started four years ago, with only 20 Town Teams.

Town Team Movement Co-founder Dean Cracknell said the movement was born from a need to inspire, support and connect local people within their communities.

“A group of volunteers saw the need to better support and get funding to a loose collection of community groups in Perth that began to share a common approach and principles,” he said.

Town Team Movement Highlights

The Beaufort Street Festival

The very first Town Team in Australia (Beaufort Street Network) instigated the Beaufort Street Festival, which was WA’s biggest one day street event. It attracted up to 150,000 people to enjoy music, arts, food and street culture along Beaufort Street in Highgate and Mount Lawley.

“The festival helped to celebrate and promote the local business, culture and people of Beaufort Street in Highgate and Mount Lawley,” Mr Cracknell said.

“It grew to become one of the biggest street festivals in WA.”

Dunsborough Telstra Block Redevelopment

For over 20 years, a gravel carpark was unloved in the heart of Dunsborough. The Dunsborough Town Team advocated to the City of Busselton and negotiated with Telstra to beautify the space. The transformation of the area features native plants and benches, and is a beautiful place for locals to rest, and gather.

Scarborough Sunset Markets

What started as a concept to draw people back to the area during an extended development phase, has now become a ritual for residents, visitors, and tourists to celebrate the local lifestyle, profile local business and foster community connection. The Scarborough Beach Association worked with event agency KINN & Co to develop the now iconic weekly Scarborough Sunset Markets – a community, food, retail, and entertainment event held along the Scarborough Foreshore that attracts up to 15,000 people each week.

Inglewood Monday Night Markets

“The Inglewood Monday Night Markets have been an amazing success, driven by passionate local leaders and volunteers,” Mr Cracknell said.

“It’s a major reason behind Inglewood’s success over recent years.”

It provides a fantastic night out for the family, supports both local shop owners and mobile traders and generates revenue for the Town Team to put back into more community projects.

Wickepin Town Festival

Wickepin’s ‘Ignite Wicky’ Town Team revived the Wickepin Festival after a 30 year hiatus with a fun family event to put the town on display. The festival included a car rally, guided tours of historical sites, market stalls, children’s entertainment, live local music, an art competition, blade shearing demonstrations, and sheaf and boot tossing competitions. The team was overjoyed seeing 950 locals in attendance and will now hold a bi-annual festival.

Baysie Rollers Community Garden

A partnership with the Bendigo Bank, City of Bayswater, Department of Communities, Bayswater Landscapes, and Saltbush Landscapes, the Community Garden concept was a result of in-depth community consultation which saw a complimentary redesign to the entire park. It’s a vibrant native garden, with strong historical links through the bench made of limestone blocks from the old Bayswater Station, and red bricks donated by the community including secret messages hidden in the coloured glass bricks.

RAC is all in for a better WA supporting the Town Team Movement through a Principal Partnership since 2018. RAC’s annual Connecting Communities Fund has supported more than 40 individual Town Team placemaking projects helping turn blank spaces into wonderful places. Visit the website to find out more.