The month in review: Wollongong
By Herron Todd White
November, 2009
The Illawarra is well placed in terms of infrastructure
projects at the present time. These will bolster the local
economy at a time of uncertainty and prospects of
increasing unemployment.
One of the most significant on-going infrastructure
projects in the Illawarra region has been the upgrade of the
Princes Highway in the southern Wollongong area. In late
October the new road between Oak Flats and Dunmore
was officially opened to traffic. The project, costing
$120M, is a 5.5km link from the Oak Flats interchange to
the north Kiama by-pass. Its completion now provides a
4 lane highway from Sydney to Kiama, and commenced
in June 2007. The upgrade will also provide much better
access from the north to south, to the benefit of suburbs
in the Shellharbour and Kiama LGAs.
Another significant project has been the extension of the
Northern Distributor and the upgrade of the Bulli Pass
intersection. Fully funded by the NSW Government, the
$101 million extension project is fast taking shape. The
extension will improve motorists’ access to the north of
Wollongong and take traffic pressures off the Princes
Hwy around Woonona. The extension is scheduled for
completion later this year.
The Intersection upgrade of the Princes Highway and
Lawrence Hargrave Drive, at the bottom of Bulli Pass is
a $30 million project. Construction commenced in the
second half of 2009 and will be completed by mid 2011.
South of Wollongong, the $151 million South Coast
Correctional Centre site at Nowra is well underway. The
new jail, despite being initially unwanted by the local
council is buoying the Nowra economy in the midst of
an economic downturn. At present there are around 180
workers on site, which will grow to over 300 at its peak
next year. On completion, the facility is likely to employ
more than 200 permanent employees and input $10
million per annum into the local economy. The original
tender was to construct a $130 million 500-bed centre,
but in late 2008 the inmate capacity was increased to
600 beds, increasing the project cost to just over $150
million.
Still in the Shoalhaven, a new project involves the
Manildra Group’s ethanol plant in Bomaderry. The plant,
which produces ethanol from grain and starch waste,
employs 250 people. A $200 million plus expansion now
underway will provide another 25 permanent jobs and
150 construction jobs.
A project that is set to increase the student population
in Wollongong is the proposed Nan Tien Institute, a
university campus to be built at Nan Tien Temple in
Unanderra. The Buddhist university will cater for 3000
students and a development application has been
lodged. The project will have a positive effect on the
local economy. Set on a 12ha site on the western side of
the Princes Highway, the first stage is to cost $30M, and
will cater for up to 300 students. Still on Universities, the
University of Wollongong has 2 new projects planned on
its Fair Meadow campus; the Illawarra Health and Medical
Research Institute and the SMART Infrastructure building– a total of $70M is to be invested in these projects in the
next year.
During the year, a major project was completed at the
BlueScope Steel Works in Port Kembla with the re-line of
the No. 5 Blast Furnace. At an estimated cost of $370M,
the well-timed project coincided with upgrades to the
sinter plant and the ASMS slag and granulation handling
facility. The refurbished Furnace will be a world-class iron
making plant capable of a further 20 years of continuous
operation. No5 Blast Furnace can produce approximately
2.6 million tonnes of hot metal (iron) per year. It was last
relined in 1991.
In another plan for the steel works, the Federal
Government announced in July that it would fund an
18 month feasibility study into the Maldon-Dumbarton
freight rail link, which if completed would connect Port
Kembla with south-western Sydney. This project has been
in hold for over a decade, despite being partially built.
Still at Port Kembla, in June the NSW government
released a study that has documented a tenfold increase
in the value of trade through the port over the past three
years. Since the redirection of car trade from Sydney to
Wollongong, the value of trade has increased from $4
billion annually, to $37 billion.
The expansion of the port is set to continue where new
work will add to the thousand or so jobs that have been
created over the last three or four years. It has been
estimated that every time a ship comes into the port, 3.7
local jobs are created and about $1 million is contributed
to the state economy. New pre-delivery inspection
facilities, developed by Australand in late 2009, allows
cars to be prepared for sale and then held on site, before
delivery to retailers. This will increase the car handling
area by 100,000sqm and allow room for 10,000 vehicles
to be parked on the berth.
There have not been any major residential developments
in Wollongong recently. One of the bigger residential
developments yet to eventuate is the planned
subdivision of West Dapto, which ran into trouble in
2007 when a rezoning proposal was rejected by the
Department of Planning. The initial proposal included up
to 700 residential lots, however that proposal has been
revised and negotiations are still on-going. Adjoining
the residential development is a proposed $27 million
golfing resort to be designed by Greg Norman. Plans for
the golfing resort have been lodged with Wollongong
City Council.
Overall, in the total stimulus package by the Federal
Government, 2800 infrastructure projects in the Illawarra
and South Coast will be undertaken at a cost of $266
million.
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