The 2020 Infrastructure Priority List has uncovered the scale of the challenge for Australian governments in addressing emerging and enduring infrastructure needs.

“Australia’s infrastructure task is getting bigger and more complex across our fast-growing cities as well as regional areas,” said Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia.

“The Infrastructure Priority List is a huge call to action for our governments to support the city-shaping and nation-building projects that are needed for a growing population, to boost productivity and sustain our standard of living.

At a Glance:

The Infrastructure Priority List new focus areas are on water, waster, coastal inundation and road maintenance
There are 147 infrastructure proposal on the list, the largest since its inception
37 new proposals were added this year

…with one of the key Priority Initiatives being the South Creek integrated land use and water cycle management scheme which is scheduled for assessment by the NSW Government within the next 5 years.

south creek integrated land use and water cycle management.png

The South Creek catchment covers an enormous area of Western Sydney which includes the Aerotropolis extends from where it reaches the Hawkesbury River to the north and runs almost as far south as Narellan and is bounded by Blacktown to the east and almost to Penrith to the west.

As part of the Western Sydney City Deal, the commitment is to Restore and Protect South Creek

The South Creek corridor from Narellan to Hawkesbury has been identified as an important environmental spine and organising landscape element for the Western Parkland City. The NSW Government will develop a strategy for South Creek that will investigate its restoration and protection as part of the broader strategy of integrating land use and water management within the 63,000 hectare catchment.

The Western Sydney Aerotropolis is going to be where most of the development and infrastructure focus will be in this next decade.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how Infrastructure NSW are going to minimise the downstream impacts to the Hawkesbury River and avoid large scale ecological impacts as Western Sydney keeps developing over the next decade and beyond.

Our population is growing rapidly and as Ken Morrison Chief Executive, Property Council of Australia outlined

“This is the ‘new normal’ for Australia’s infrastructure challenge, not just a short-term boom,”

“We need to plan for, fund and deliver new infrastructure on a much bigger scale and over a longer period of time than we have experienced previously.

“This will require a new mindset from our governments and the community – one which is always focused on constantly planning and building for the future."

Mr Morrison said that as the Infrastructure Priority List continued to grow, only seven projects had ‘graduated’ from the list to project delivery stage.

“We need to see more projects moving into delivery stage if we are going to keep with the demands of a growing nation,” said Mr Morrison.

Regards

Greg Vincent