New South Wales Major Projects Conference embraces increasing construction activity

4th December 2015, Sydney, NSW: New South Wales is home to the largest number of cranes of any state within the nation. With more 200 cranes across the Sydney skyline, this presents a 30% increase of construction activity since the last state election.

With prime developments in the way of road and urban renewal infrastructure, the existing wave of construction has provided opportunity and growth for the New South Wales economy, with an expected 4,600 projects planned for the coming year within the state.

The New South Wales government has strongly committed towards upgrading road infrastructure, dedicating an expected $8.4 billion of funding till 2017. This figure is more than the combined expenditure of roads in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.

The Pacific Highway, Princes Highway, Great Western Highway, Oxley Highway, Kings Highway, Mitchell Highway, Cobb Highway and Silver City Highways, all continue to experience gradual upgrades and improvements, ensuring the state’s infrastructure future.

In discussion of the latest infrastructure projects taking place across the state, the 7^th annual New South Wales Major Projects Conference was held last week to exchange ideas amongst industry representatives tackling these challenges.

Developments such as the Sydney Metro, Australia’s largest public transport project, the West Connex, the state’s largest transport and urban renewal project and the Northern Beaches Hospital, a major investment in health infrastructure, were discussed at the conference.

The two day conference featured department heads and the Hon. Duncan Gay, New South Wales Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, gave a ministerial address to an audience of more than 250 delegates.

New South Wales is one of Australia’s fastest growing state economies, not only maintaining an AAA credit rating, however the state also ranks highly with low unemployment and high population growth, retail trade and equipment investment.

Edward J. Blakely, Chair, Future Cities Collaborative, and Honorary Professor in Urban Policy, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney, gave a presentation at the conference on the Parramatta North Urban Renewal Program which proposes to redevelop the precinct into a vibrant, modern city.

“The most important thing is getting the transport infrastructure right. Not just to the city, but around the city, without them having to get into their car and out of their car and move through traffic, you’re going to have much more productivity. Transportation is the key,” said Blakely.

A large focus has been placed on the development of Western Sydney into a prominent economic region for the future. By 2031, it is expected that an additional one million people will live in Western Sydney.

The state government is expected to dedicate $3.6 billion towards the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan, in addition to an announced $200 million local roads package and another $1.9 billion dedicated towards priority growth roads.

This includes the widening of the M4 via the West Connex which aims to revitalise Parramatta Road and create opportunities for better public transport. The project is expected to remove 10,000 trucks and 40,000 cars.

Western Sydney Airport has also gained approval for construction, which is expected to accommodate for 10 million passengers by 2030 and 37 million passengers by 2050. A total of 170 major projects are expected to take place over the coming years in Western Sydney.

Other expert presenters included Craig van der Laan from the NSW Barangaroo Delivery Authority, Brendon Baker from the Sydney Metro Delivery Office, Dale Budd from ARTC to discuss the Inland Rail connection, Deborah Latta from the Northern Beaches Hospital.

The 7th Annual New South Wales Major Projects Conference was held at Doltone House in Hyde Park on the 24^th & 25^thof November. 

Source: Expotrade Global News