Water Corporation Drain

By Leederville Connect | August 17, 2023

The Water Corp drain could become a new, living public space and green spine through the heart of Leederville.

A Walking Link through Leederville

There is the potential to turn the Water Corp drain into a living access route and greenspace spine through the heart of the new developments in Leederville, including – 40 Frame Court, City Carparks, etc.

A Green Walkway

By creating an arboretum/green cover walkway between the heart of Leederville and Water Corporation building Leederville will get a new axis of operation without the need for cars.

This walkway will allows the developments that occur alongside it to leverage off, and contribute to, its living green space.

Image: Fish Lane Development in Brisbane. Image credit Scott Burrows Photography.

Tell the Story and Purify the Water

The drain was once a life-giving connection across the wetlands along the Swan River important to the Whadjuk Noongar people.

Then Perth was built on top of the wetlands and the stream was buried in a drain. Sadly the design of the drain, and ownership of the surrounding land, makes it impossible to restore the stream back to what it was.

However, in consultation with the Whadjuk people to determine what is an appropriate response to this injustice, it may be possible to bring some of the water from the drain to the surface using renewable energy pumping, and channel it through sculptural features and green spaces along the walkway, to partially purify it for reintroduction into the Swan River. Retaining existing underground drain will allow for peak flood flow in winter.

Leederville Microgrid

To support the Renewable Energy Zone the Drain easement may be able to be used as a cable location to connect the various buildings into the Leederville microgrid.

Who We Are

Leederville Connect is a civil society organisation, where everything is done by community, for community.

We have a really broad idea of community; for us it’s about bringing together residents, businesses, property owners and visitors. Our bottom line is – “it’s about ‘we’, not me”. We support each other and the rest of the community to make Leederville amazing. We are proud to be one of the pioneering Town Teams that Western Australia is now famous for in place-based planning and community practices.

Our mandate is ‘the Commons’ – those places and things in our cities from which everybody benefits but traditionally nobody takes responsibility. The Commons are where we meet in the street, the culture we create between us, the vibe of our place, the blurred lines between public spaces and private places.

We provide the opportunity for people to shape Leederville and draw on its history of innovation and creativity to continue exploring, experimenting, and inventing the future of this place. As a vibrant, connected, inner-city urban village, Leederville offers us a platform to test ideas for the future of society; one that is sustainable, resilient, and thriving. Our community works with developers, local government, businesses, and other citizens to co-create this future. You can read about our Vision here.

Want to know more about Leederville, the place? Discover Leederville here.

What We Do

We PROMOTE Leederville and what’s happening, so everyone in the community (including visitors) can make the most of our inner city urban village, and our unique and independent local businesses are supported to thrive.
We ACTIVATE Leederville, it’s village square, streets, laneways and other spaces so people can connect and have fun.
We DESIGN and innovate solutions to urban challenges, and bring as many people along on the journey as we can.
We ADVOCATE by using our collective voice to champion positive changes, including influencing key external parties like local government to support our work in realising our vision for Leederville.

How We Work

As a town team, we are aligned to the Town Team Movement charter: “Town Teams are proactive, non-profit organisations that include businesses, landowners, residents and others working collaboratively with their local government (or equivalent) to improve their local place or area. The Town Team approach is innovative, creative and fun!”

Our actions are guided by the following principles.
DOING IT TOGETHER – We enable projects and events that allow people to connect, knowing that the best way to do that is to do stuff together.
INNOVATIVE – We experiment with new ideas and solutions to issues, to get us closer to our vision for Leederville.
POSITIVE – We don’t whinge – we are positive about development that makes Leederville more Leederville. Supporting urban innovation. We are excited about the possibilities that come with the unexpected use and repurposing of urban space.
BIPARTISAN – we are about residents, businesses and all those that love Leederville no matter where they live. And that makes us diverse and with diversity can come conflicting interests. We believe that if we can work through these different interests and find a place of agreement from which to continue to work then amazing things and innovative solutions will emerge. We don’t identify with any political party or particular ideology, and we are not a stepping stone for political or commercial aspirants.
INCLUSIVE – We advocate for all of Leederville, not just our members. This includes people who might otherwise face exclusion.
INFORMED – As we influence the development of Leederville, we make sure that we educate ourselves first.

How We’re Organised

Technically, we are a not-for-profit community organisation. In reality, we are people who just get in there and ‘get s**t done’.

The management committee is a clearing house where we talk to each other about what we (and others) are working on, generate new ideas, and find support. We operate through a handful of sub-committees, but there is no reason why we can’t diversify if a member has a good idea and the drive to make it happen.

We make the most of our community’s assets by resourcing our activities through collaborations and brokering deals. Funds are typically generated through membership fees, sponsorships, and grants from the City of Vincent and other organisations.

The 2022 management committee members are: Trent Durward (Chair), Anna Kelderman (Vice Chair), Ali Jensen (Secretary), Brendan Barbour (Treasurer), Bess Chetkovitch, Kat Popp, Nate Sturcke, Sarah Bennett, Justin Bell, Jenny Lam, Sean Lee, Phil Crocker, Claire Dodd, Ella Chambers, Monica Sacroug, David Galloway, Julianna Hough, Michael Audrian, Paul Clements Membership, and Brooke O’Donnell.