THE City of Belmont was one of two Western Australian winners at the recent national Property Council of Australia innovation and excellence awards. The city won its award for local governance leadership, while Bassett Consulting Engineers associate director Sven De Jonghe won the future leader award. Mr De Jonghe was the youngest associate director ever appointed by Bassett when he assumed the role at age 26, and was the first green-star accredited professional in WA, which he received in 2004. He also led the design and green-star submission for the 167 Westralia Plaza office building – the first green-star rated project in WA. Property Council of Australia WA executive director Joe Lenzo said the awards showcased the finest development projects from around the country. “This year’s winners, including the City of Belmont, continue to raise the bar for the industry in setting new benchmarks in excellence, particularly in the area of building better communities,” he said. The City of Belmont’s submission included the results of its 2007 community and business perceptions survey, which showed that 86 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the city’s performance and 72 per cent were satisfied with value for money from rates. Of the business respondents, 73 per cent were satisfied with the city’s performance.