A WA MP says some government departments should move to regional areas.

Liberal country MP Ian Blayney, the Member for Geraldton, believes several government departments should be decentralised, so that their services are closer to the people that use them most.

The call comes alongside a suggestion by the Opposition to move the the Department of Local Government and Communities to Albany.

“Similarly, we should shift a government department to both Kalgoorlie, I'd suggest Mines and Petroleum, and to Geraldton, Fisheries,” Blayney said.

“Country people are always being told that they can rely on electronic communications to replace face-to-face contact and it is time to recognise some degree of decentralisation can be achieved by placing departments in regional cities.”

He said the Department of Parks of Wildlife’s transfer to a Bunbury office and the move of some Department of Agriculture staff to Northam were a good start.

“I acknowledge a reasonable number of staff have been moved from Perth to Northam, and I would like to see this continue. It would be a useful step in the development of Northam as a new regional city,” Mr Blayney said.

He suggested the Royal Agricultural Society could be moved from the Claremont Showgrounds to Midland; “a part of Perth that still has a significant rural connection”.

This would free up valuable land for a future sale.

“The Claremont site can be redeveloped, probably mostly for housing,” he said.

“This is not a land grab, it is simply asking the Royal Agricultural Society to move to a more appropriate location and use the Claremont site for a more appropriate purpose.”