Fast train to power regional growth

Fast train to power regional growth?Former premiers and federal ministers, together with property industry heavyweights, are lining up to support a fast train between Sydney and Melbourne and the construction of six new smart cities.Last week, the Property Council hosted a forum in Sydney to explore the property industry’s role in developing a $-$70 billion high speed rail network that would connect Sydney and Melbourne to series of smart, satellite cities.Speaking to a large audience, chairman of Consolidated Land and Rail Australia (CLARA) Nick Cleary said the high speed rail offered a solution to overcrowding in Australia’s biggest cities.”We’re jamming a lot of people in, we’re moving people further out, congestion is at an all-time high, and moveability is certainly reducing on a daily basis,” Cleary said.CLARA can “open up the potential and the opportunity that exists within regional Australia”. Announced in July, CLARA plans to build new regional, compact, sustainable, smart-cities and connect them by most advanced high speed rail in the world. Each smart city would be home to around 400,000 people, as well as jobs, services and vibrant communities.Phase One of the CLARA plan, for example, is the proposed leg from Melbourne to the Greater Shepparton region. This would involve a $13bn high speed rail into northern Victoria and the development of two new cities over 30 years. The project is still at concept stage, with formal applications for government assessments yet to be lodged.Cleary’s vision is for a “thriving network of cities that act as a bridge between Sydney and Melbourne creating an absolute world powerhouse”.Former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell also attended the forum, arguing that the high speed rail system was a by-product of the need to engage in “proper regional development”.”This proposal is a development proposal, a cities proposal, but also pays for a high speed rail system which is long overdue,” he said.Other political leaders are also lending their support to the plan, including former Victorian premier Steve Bracks and recently retired trade minister Andrew Robb who both sit on the company’s advisory board.Cleary revealed that CLARA has already “been able to secure around 40 per cent of the sites” that it needs to build its regional cities.”There is no reason, with political will, that we can’t have this proposal under construction by 2021, and depending on when we start, that will mean bringing cities online within five years.”Cleary says the property industry’s support is essential.”We cannot build high speed rail and smart cities without the cooperation and collaboration of the property industry,” he said.