The Illawarra-Shoalhaven is over half-way to achieving $875 million in investment in critical infrastructure.
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The Illawarra-Shoalhaven City Partnership has raised $471.7m, 54 per cent of its target.
The latest figures include commitments to key projects including the Mount Ousley Interchange and planning for upgrades to Picton Road, as well as private investment in a waste recovery and landfill reduction facility in the Shoalhaven.
The partnership brings together all levels of government, business and higher education institutions and is brokered by RDA Illawarra.
CEO of RDA Illawarra Debra Murphy said the funding commitments meant the region was on track.
"That over half of the funding has come through says that we're on the money in terms of what is going to transform our region," she said.
The Partnership, which was previously known as the Illawarra-Shoalhaven City Deal will be refocused in October this year, two years on from its launch.
The refocusing comes as the partners respond to the changes wrought by two years of the pandemic and a new federal government.
While retaining the core focus of improving connectivity within the region and to south-western Sydney, the refreshed partnership will involve a greater focus on renewable energy and investment in key precincts. Ms Murphy said while the focus may evolve, the mechanism will remain the same.
"How can governments and the private sector work together to make projects happen?"
Launched in the midst of the pandemic, two years on, uncertainty remains about the future needs of the Illawarra-Shoalhaven. Changing work patterns, including hybrid and flexible work mean transport infrastructure dedicated to commuting to work may need to be revisited, while levels of migration, both domestic and international, are in flux.
The past two years have also highlighted the tenuous nature of the Illawarra's transport links, with heavy rains early in 2022 almost cutting off the region and leaving lasting damage to key rail freight corridors.
With the Illawarra projected to shoulder a greater amount of the regional freight task, unlocking connections to the growing areas of Western and Southwestern Sydney as well as planning to maximise the use of land around Port Kembla will be a focus for RDA Illawarra and other stakeholders.
"For us to get the renewable energy projects that we want, support the steel industry, [Port Kembla] is very congested and we need to do the masterplanning," Ms Murphy said.
Space that does become available could be used to assemble offshore wind turbines, and then used in future as a defence base or container terminal, Ms Murphy suggested.
With renewed interest in regional infrastructure from a recently elected federal government and support locally, Ms Murphy said the future Partnership will be setting its sights on a larger target.
"We had [a target of] $875 million in the original one, the next one is going to be much bigger."
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