Infrastructure WA Needed to Keep WA Growing and Moving

Infrastructure WA Needed to Keep WA Growing and MovingWestern Australia urgently needs an independent agency to coordinate major transport and other growth infrastructure investments that will support the property sector in generating new development projects.”This week’s State of the States report by CommSec which scored WA lowest for economic performance is a timely reminder to all the parties contesting the upcoming state election that policies to grow WA must be their priority”, Property Council WA Executive Director Lino Iacomella said.”Establishing an independent infrastructure agency like Infrastructure WA, is at the top of the Property Council’s election campaign agenda, which includes 17 policy initiatives to create jobs, prosperity and strong communities.”The current approach to infrastructure delivery in WA can only be described as a dark art where there is little transparency around how major infrastructure projects, including transport projects are planned, assessed, prioritized or funded. This lack of clarity creates uncertainty for communities, developers and investors.””Properly planned transport infrastructure is critical if Perth is to achieve the infill targets set out in Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million – currently we are significantly underperforming by only hitting 30% infill which much of this being ‘backyard’ density.””While the recently released draft Transport @ 3.5 Million strategyis a good first step in developing some form of a plan, it still lacks the detail such as project prioritization which is necessary to provide greater confidence to private sector investors and federal stakeholders like Infrastructure Australia. “What WA needs is a clearly articulated transport plan which supports the strategic objectives of Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million and is accompanied by a list of priority projects determined through a transparent assessment framework.””An independent infrastructure body would be responsible for developing a short, medium and long term plan which would identify what transport projects will be delivered, when they will be delivered and how they will be funded.””The Property Council is calling on all parties contesting next year’s election to commit to creating an independent infrastructure body tasked with the planning, prioritization and delivery of key infrastructure needed to keep WA Growing.”