In the coming years, Wollongong will become cleaner, greener and easier to walk and ride around with a greater focus on its outer suburbs.
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To achieve this, the council has outlined an almost $800 million infrastructure to-do list for the next four years.
The city plans to splash cash on hundreds of projects between Helensburgh and Windang, with big spends on roads, footpaths, storm water, pools and the ongoing transformation of West Dapto.
In addition to the financial plans, the council this week released its 10-year vision – part of an 800-page suite of documents it will put on public display after next week’s council meeting.
Based on community feedback, councillors picked five areas to focus on for the remainder of their term.
These include activating the city’s suburbs, urban greening, West Dapto, encouraging the use of active transport and a boost for business and investment to encourage more youth jobs and housing affordability.
Unveiling the first draft of the budget on Tuesday, Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery described it as “putting icing on the cake”, noting the council was in a much better position compared to the start of his first term.
“We’re building on the original aspirations we set out in 2012, but we have the financial stability to take it to another level,” he said.
In the draft infrastructure plan, the council has revealed a $428.5 million capital investment spend until 2022, with more than $364 million to be spent on operations and maintenance of infrastructure in the same time period.
As expected, the access roads to West Dapto will take a significant chunk of the city’s cash, with the bulk of the money ($123.9 million) for the Fowlers Road Bridge and other roads in the area to be spent in the next four years.
Despite this out-of-the-ordinary outlay, the council has forecast an operating surplus each year up to 2027.
In 2018/19 the surplus will be $3.2 million, after the council posts a similar sized deficit in 2017/18 due to the timing of payments for federal government assistance grants.
Looking ahead, the council will invest a significant effort into combating the effects of climate change, spending more on footpaths and cycleways ($61.5 million) than roads and bridges ($51 million) as part of an effort to encourage active transport.
Urban greening – which includes planting trees and managing the city’s vegetation – will receive much more attention than it has in the past.
Cr Bradbery said he thought it was also significant to have $600,000 being directed to Advantage Wollongong to promote the city and attract businesses to the city.
“It’s about lifting the economy of the city, the amenity of the city and attending to all the details so that we can take this place even further,” he said.
Councillors will debate the strategic plans at Tuesday night’s meeting.
If endorsed, they will be open for public comment from April 9.
New infrastructure spending 2018-2022 (capital budget)
- West Dapto $105 million
- Footpaths and cycleways $61.4 million
- Roads and bridges $51 million
- Stormwater and floodplain management $24.3 million
- Libraries $22.2 million
- Aquatic services (pools and lifeguards) $18.2 million
- Community facilities $22.2 million
- Waste management $14.7 million
- Cultural services $5.8 million
- Car parks and boat ramps $5.4 million
- Street lighting $5.1 million
Major projects for the next three years include:
- Footpaths, including the continuation of Grand Pacific Walk and city-wide Bike Plan – $42.4 million to be spent on footpaths and cycleways over three years.
- West Dapto access – Fowlers Road to Fairwater Drive bridge ($62m), upgrade of West Dapto/Wongawilli Road ($7.7m), Cleveland Road upgrade ($11.4m) and West Dapto/Sheaffes/Darkes Road upgrade ($13.3m).
- North Wollongong surf club – sea wall renewal ($4m) and surf club modification ($2.7m)
- Warrawong town centre – Warrawong CBD upgrade ($5.5m) and new community centre and library ($10.6m)
- Helensburgh Library ($4m)
- Urban greening – $600,000 extra each year will be put into urban greening strategy and pest species management
- Implementation of the Dapto and Corrimal town plans
- Extra $600,000 to market Wollongong outside the city