By Di Stanley
Central Highlands Mayor Kerry Hayes has urged the State Government to funnel funding and support two shovel-ready projects – the new $90 million Vince Lester Bridge and the Yamala water pipeline.
Cr Hayes said the State Budget, handed down on Tuesday, failed to deliver any progress on the projects which he identified as vital to the future economic stimulation of the Central Highlands.
“We would have loved to have seen some funding for the Yamala pipeline, not only to secure that very important economic site, but it gives us the opportunity for a lot of value-adding and manufacturing in that space with a reliable water supply, and that’s a thing we need to have,” he said.
“The state plays a really strong role in actually identifying where federal funding goes, so the state can lead by part-funding this project and they should do that.
“We saw funding for the Gladstone water pipeline, improvements to Rookwood Weir and the Yamala enterprise area is just as important to us in this region as those projects are to the Capricornia and Gladstone regions and quite frankly, in the short-term we’re capable of generating a quicker return.”
Cr Hayes said building the new Vince Lester Bridge was an important piece of disaster resilience infrastructure for the region and one already fully qualified for funding under State Government criteria.
For more than five years it has been identified as one of the council’s top-ranked projects for funding.
“That should have been funded, and it’s not,” he said.
“It’s a no-brainer… and it’s been sitting there since we started the work in 2016-17.
“It should be funded because it causes afflux upstream to potentially 400 other properties and is obviously the key to any disaster planning.
“There’s no reason it should not be funded.”
Cr Hayes said the budget contained $75m for two packages of work on the Capricorn Highway west of Emerald.
“It’s excellent to see work for the Capricorn Highway but you’ll get nowhere if you don’t build a bridge at Emerald,” he commented.
“The Yamala enterprise area, the water pipeline as a business case, it’s just as sound as that of the bridge, and they’re shovel-ready.
“They should have been funded and that’s where (coal) royalties make a big difference because the projects are transformational for the region.”
Also in the budget was $25.5m for the Springsure-Tambo Road which Cr Hayes said was the state’s share of funding under the Roads of Strategic Importance program.
“ROSI is a 10-year program and it’s now in the fifth year, so we’re actually only starting the first package of works on the Springsure-Tambo Rd now, but it’s good to know that the state actually have it in their budget,” he said.
Cr Hayes is attending the Australian Local Government Assembly this week and said he and regional fellow mayors would continue to lobby for the $400m Beef Corridors project.