Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz

While Bay of Plenty's landscape shares little in common with Perth, dig beneath the surface and it's surprising how similar council issues are in Western Australia.

In between relaxing on holiday in Perth I have discovered its only real difference with the Bay of Plenty is one of scale. And when it comes to criticising council and the government everyone comes together.

New fully developed areas for suburbs are being planted all over the city, complete with roads and services ready for houses – and in many cases with drop-in town centres. Residents in these areas are still getting to know each other. Most areas have community centres that actively bring people together; and are developing their parks and facilities on the ground.

Issues are remarkably familiar. Freeways and railways are questioned over their capacity and speed of development. The environment with native flora and fauna is at risk from the new developments. Cockburn Sound is becoming more valued as a safe West Coast holiday destination. It is about the size of Tauranga Harbour and is being developed for water-based recreation and as a holiday destination. The Margaret River and the Swan Valley are given over to lifestylers who are developing major tourist destinations with wineries, breweries, artisan and produce projects. My research of these projects in the last few days was really tough going. Many of these ventures have door sales only, so there was a major commitment needed to get to grips with and understand our Australasian culture. The lifestyle development and tourism activity in the Katikati/Waihi Beach Ward has been stopped for the last few years – and has the same potential if and when councils and Priority One wake up.

Perth City runs a programme of forums for community consultation but this year's programme is yet to be developed. The forums are by topic and attendance varies from only about 40 attendees up to the hundreds. Last weekend the underground was closed while a new link, part of redesign of their city, was connected. Much of the detail of this project was helped by a council which is actively inviting public input. I used this new centre and never heard anything from locals other than a sense of pride in the project. There was a 'we did it” thread that is evidence of true leadership in the city. There was very little of the 'them up there” and no-one spoke of councils hiding information, secret meetings or of Perth Central taking over the region.

But Perth residents do have problems looming. Within a couple of years they will be on recycled water and will need more desalination plants. The changing weather seems to be responsible for the quality of water in Swan River deteriorating. Solar panels in so many houses mean that the cost of power infrastructure pricing is rising for residents in the rest of the city. There is an increased sensitivity over social and cultural obligations with the local Noongar aboriginal people; and the talk of full and final payment for claims seems a little optimistic. I walked the streets last night and talked with some of the homeless. I have heard stories of roaming gangs of kids during the holidays. With the high proportion of newcomers in the city with a population growing from 1 million to 2 million in the last few years, the people are very open to change. And with the good leadership, they are meeting all of their region's challenges. The Bay of Plenty has experienced similar growth and challenges, though on a smaller scale. The development of the Perth region is a model for our planning. But we have to start working together and be willing to think bigger in the Bay.