Seawall on City agenda

The City of Albany will discuss funding for a sea wall at Middleton Beach and 2018 Anzac centenary commemorations with Malcolm Turnbull tomorrow.

The City will host a civic reception for the Prime Minister at Centennial Stadium.

It will be Mr Turnbull’s first visit to Albany as PM.

City Deputy Mayor Greg Stocks said a multimillion-dollar seawall at Middleton Beach, which must be built before any hotel development, would be the first item on the agenda for the City.

“We’ve got a number (of) regional funding applications in with the Federal Government at the moment,” he said.

“One of them is the (Middleton Beach) seawall and that’s priority one for the city.”

“So front and centre is the (Middleton Beach) seawall and Middleton Beach beautification project.”

Mr Stocks said the City would also discuss the 2018 Anzac centenary commemorations.

“We have an application in there for a series of smaller events, not on the (scale) of the commemoration of the departure but certainly around $350,000 worth of applications in with the Federal Government to fund a number of different events,” he said.

“They are probably our two major issues we would talk about given we only have limited time.”

Mr Turnbull will visit several Government-funded projects in the region including Centennial Stadium.

Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Russ Clark said communication technology upgrades would also be raised with the Prime Minister.

“I’d like to see improvement in the communications throughout the region ... a reduction of the mobile black spots and improved NBN rollout,” Mr Clark said. “I would also like to see tertiary education opportunities increased, as well as policy to create and sustain employment in the region.”

Mr Turnbull said he was looking forward to making the trip to Albany. “It’s wonderful to be visiting O’Connor with Rick Wilson again,” he said.

“It’s critically important for me to get out into vibrant regional communities like Albany to hear people’s concerns and to understand what drives them.”