President's Report

Beverley Airshow 11 April 2026 – what an incredible day of activity in the air, displays on the ground and beautiful wheatbelt weather. With 8003 ticket holders and many hundreds more volunteers, stall holders, staff, pilots, media etc, there was a huge crowd at the Beverley airfield. Almost 3 years in the planning, the successful Shire lead event was achieved through partnership with the Beverley Soaring Society, engagement of the Paul Bennett Airshow team, many very willing community contributors, Councils’ confidence to underwrite the event should it be needed, and a committed team of shire staff, not the least a dynamic duo in Stefan de Beer and Jacinta Murray. The resulting event was truly amazing, and comments flowing have been positive, highly complementary, and many visitors, vendors and sponsors are asking when the next show is scheduled. At the time of writing an event debrief is yet to be held, following which there may be more feedback for the community.

Office of Auditor General – financial auditing for local government is now overseen by the Office of Auditor General (OAG), and for a third year the Shire of Beverley has been recognised as one of Local Government’s best practice entities for financial reporting and controls. Our best practice status has been included in the OAG’s Local Government 2025 – Financial Audit Results tabled to Parliament in April. Congratulations to the Shire’s Finance & Governance team lead by Deputy CEO Simon Marshall on this achievement.

Independent Presiding Member – State Government review of the Local Government Act requires all Local Governments to appoint an Independent Chair to their Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee by 30 June 2026. Council has endorsed the Officers Recommendation to appoint Katrina Crute as the Independent Presiding Member. Cr Sattler previously chaired the ARIC and remains on the Committee along with Councillors Maxwell and Ridgway.

Solid Yellow Line – it has become apparent some motorists may not be aware that a solid yellow line along the edge of a street indicates not to park there. A particularly relevant location in Beverley is on the eastern side of Queen St between the Vines and Hotel Beverley. The road is not overly wide and vehicles parking too close to the Vincent St entry make it difficult for some vehicles to egress onto the main street, particularly larger vehicles and those towing trailers or caravans. Vehicles parked in the yellow lined area also run the risk of being damaged, likely with no access to insurance due to doing so.

Swimming Pool – Thankyou to the community for your challenged patience over the summer months which saw the pool open for a very short 25/26 season. It was terrific to have it well used over Easter for the extended days agreed to by Council. Western Power are now completing the power upgrade. The Shire has “shovel ready” plans to build realigned modern facilities for Stage 2 when external co-funding can be achieved.

Easter in Beverley – Congratulations to the Beverley Station Arts on another successful Beverley Art Prize exhibition and the Beverley Lawn Tennis Club on another bumper event with maximum registrations. The staging of both events requires much preparation in the lead up and a huge effort during and after on the part of their members and supporters, adding to successful Easter weekends in Beverley which attracts many former residents and visitors.

Dee Ridgway

Beverley Shire President