Asset recycling favoured by NSW residents

Asset recycling favoured by NSW residentsA survey conducted following the recent Queensland state election shows that the majority of NSW voters favour paying for infrastructure through asset recycling over alternative options.The ReachTEL poll of 1591 NSW residents reveals that four out of five Sydney commuters are frustrated by congestion and a majority want asset recycling to pay for better transport infrastructure.Property Council NSW executive director Glenn Byres said the findings are no surprise.”Sydneysiders are tired of living in a congested city with neglected infrastructure and understand governments need to find sensible ways to pay for new projects,” he said.”They see the case for investing in new rail and road projects every time they’re stuck in a traffic jam, on an over-crowded train or late getting to and from work and home.”Creating a substantial pool of funds to underpin major projects gives Sydney a chance to enhance its standing as a global city – and connect new and emerging markets north, south and west.”The community knows proposals like leasing the residual energy assets make more sense than cutting services or raising taxes to pay for infrastructure.”Infrastructure Partnerships Australia Chief Executive Brendan Lyon said transport was “the highest priority for Sydney residents”.”Los Angeles is four times the size of Sydney, but our congestion is now at the same level, because we’ve not built the transport we need,” Lyon said.”Failure to lease the grid will mean projects like new mass transit rail, new motorways and hundreds of other projects will just not get built, a point that’s well understood in the community according to this poll.”Key findings of the poll included:· 70.8 per cent of Sydney voters want the proceeds from leasing the poles and wires to be invested in new infrastructure – with only a small number choosing services (14.7 per cent) and debt reduction (14.5 per cent).· Four out of five (8.36 per cent) of Sydney residents are ‘concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ by urban congestion· A clear majority (58.9 per cent) of Sydney voters support a lease or sale of existing assets to pay for new infrastructure· Transport is the number one priority (46.6 per cent), followed by hospitals (33.3 per cent).The poll was commissioned by the Property Council of Australia, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and Australian Industry Group.