Our cities are the melting pots of our communities. Great cities create environments that enable multicultural activities to exist and thrive in collaboration. Fairness is underpinned by access, and access is achieved through economic investment and long-term strategic planning, often seeded generations earlier.

Our daily lives are enlivened by public parks, swimming pools, sports centers, and even animal shelters. To this end good public leadership is both about doing and agitating. Doing what you can with what you have and agitating for more leverage – for the benefit of your community. For too long the western suburbs of Sydney have played second fiddle to the those in the east. As the most populous local government area in NSW Blacktown Council is undergoing radical change. With innovative procurement models and a commitment to investing in keystone public projects, Blacktown Council under visionary elected officials and steady bureaucratic leadership is delivering on its promise of a built environment as interesting and diverse as the people who call Blacktown home. This year Council has delivered two buildings of incredible significance – the imaginatively named BARC – Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre designed by Sam Crawford Architects and built by AW Edwards, and the Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub (BEST), designed by ARM Architecture and built by Buildcorp. We congratulate Blacktown City Council and look forward to the continued growth of an urban fabric that is expressive and representative of its people while delivering on the promise of fairness and equity.