Priority funding for Illawarra transport infrastructure

Priority funding for Illawarra transport infrastructureThe Property Council is supporting a combined Illawarra stakeholder submission to the NSW Government seeking infrastructure priority funding support for three key transport projects as part of the Rebuild NSW proposal.Under the proposal, the State Government is seeking support for its proposal to recycle capital from the partial lease of its electricity networks as the best means to advance the next generation of infrastructure required across NSW.The Illawarra chapter contributed to the submission Advancing Infrastructure in the Illawarra coordinated by Regional Development Australia Illawarra. It also supported the Government’s mandate in its separate submission.”The Government’s preferred approach of recycling capital through the partial lease of its transmissions network is sound,” said the Property Council’s Illawarra Regional Director Amanda Kunkler. “We understand the State does not have the ‘headroom’ to take on substantial extra debt or raise the funds for infrastructure through higher taxes. This is the wise approach. And with a sensible approach to infrastructure planning, funding and delivery, the State can access private capital to help deliver major projects.”In allocating the funds, we’ve always lobbied for Infrastructure NSW’s assessment of projects to ensure they have a sound business case and a considered economic dividend.”As the State’s third largest economy, the Illawarra contributed $16.5 billion State-wide in 2012-13, building an historic precedent for how it wants to compete.The three transport projects highlighted as priorities in the submission are: Infrastructure Project 1 Make the M1 Princes Motorway a continuous motorway between St Peters and Albion Park:a. Commence construction of the M1 (F6) from Waterfall to St Peters by 2020b. Commence construction of the Albion Park Rail Bypass by 2017c. Complete construction of ramps on M1 between Gwynneville and Albion Park. Infrastructure Project 2 Resolve the structural problems of the South Coast railway between Wollongong and Sydney: a. Commit $100 million for completing the (mainline acceleration program) targeted works on speed restriction and pinch points by 2019b. Commit $1 billion as soon as possible to ensure capital works are completed by 2024 to reduce travel time to 60 minutes between Wollongong and Sydney. Infrastructure Project 3 Complete the construction of the Maldon to Dombarton railway as a dedicated freight rail corridor by 2020: a. Commit $200 million towards the construction, to be matched by at least $0 million in private sector funding immediatelyb. Expedite the Registration of Interest process and call for tenders from private sector investors immediately. For more information and a copy of the combined submission click here.