Rocky Bay welcomes Planning Minister to headquarters

To coincide with our 85th anniversary celebrations, Rocky Bay welcomed the Hon. John Carey MLA, Minister for Planning; Lands; Housing; Homelessness for an exclusive tour of our Mosman Park headquarters.

During his visit, Minister Carey learnt more about services we offer, met some of our valued customers and discussed our exciting future, specifically our move to Belmont.

Rocky Bay Chief Executive Officer Michael Tait said the organisation’s strong vision for the future was to change and adapt under the NDIS to meet the evolving needs of people living with disability.

“From building specialist disability accommodation across Perth via our subsidiary, SHIFT Accessible Homes, to preparing our 60 McCabe Street site for sale and planning for the development at our new Belmont hub, there’s a lot happening at Rocky Bay,” Mr Tait said.

Mr Tait said he was particularly excited to introduce Minister Carey to the plans for a ‘game-changing’ new facility in Belmont.

“Our visionary project to enhance and extend our services by developing a State-leading facility in Belmont is a key response to the changing needs of people living with disability in Western Australia,” Mr Tait said.  

“When our customers come to us, we want them to be inspired, to feel comfortable and to be supported by world-class services to achieve all their goals. Our new hub in Belmont will do just that, offering an inclusive facility that supports and nurtures all abilities,” Mr Tait said.

Plans for the state-of-the-art facility were approved in May, with the four-storey campus-style facility providing therapy, rehabilitation, skills development, training, community access programs and a range of specialist paediatric services.  

“Belmont will become the centre of our growing footprint of hubs, ensuring our customers don’t have to travel more than 20 minutes to access their supports along the north and south corridors,” Mr Tait said.  

However, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop a WA-first integrated disability, health and community centre cannot be achieved without the proceeds from the sale of the 60 McCabe Street site.

“Our site at Mosman Park is no longer suitable – with tired buildings, many parts of the site not being accessible, and the geographic location in Mosman Park is not ideal for the vast majority of our customers and families,” Mr Tait said.

“We have been preparing for the sale of the site since announcing the relocation to Belmont in late 2022, spanning everything from addressing zoning challenges to communicating with customers and keeping them informed along the way,” Mr Tait said.

Minister Carey also received a commissioned artwork from Rocky Bay customer Hamish. The Minister first met Hamish when attending our art exhibition launch in the City at the beginning of the year. He wanted to buy a piece of art Hamish created, but it was already sold. During his visit Hamish kindly presented him with another similar art piece! 

Hamish’s 3D artwork captures the Minister’s love of coffee, with the question “Cup of Coffee?” and answer: “Is the Pope Catholic?”

Minister Carey definitely loved the cheeky piece, and you can read more on his LinkedIn post here.