Getting the balance right with capital program

Published on 26 June 2018

The centrepiece of the 2018-19 draft Budget presented today is the most ambitious capital works program ever to be undertaken by Rockhampton Regional Council.

Totalling $131.2 million, Mayor Margaret Strelow said the program had been designed to strike the right balance between big ticket items and essential infrastructure

“The challenge for any capital works program is to ensure we’re looking after and improving our current assets like roads, drainage and sewerage while also delivering the lifestyle projects to keep young people here and grow the economy,” Mayor Strelow said.

“The first thing we look at is infrastructure and this Budget includes $41.4 million on roads, bridges, drainage and footpaths, and $14.4 million on water and sewerage infrastructure across the region.

“Included in that is $5.3 million to reseal our roads and $3 million to continue the rollout of needed new stormwater infrastructure across the region, which is a commitment we’ve kept in every Budget.

“This Budget also sets out the big job creating infrastructure projects for our region, many of which have attracted external state and federal funding to a total of $29 million for the 18/19 financial year, to help grow our economy.

“Over the next three years, Council has budgeted $31.5 million for a new Rockhampton Art Gallery and $64 million to deliver the South Rockhampton Flood Levee subject to expected funding from other levels of Government.

“There’s $4.6 million for the Hockey Redevelopment at Kalka Shades and $2.9 million for further development of Fraser Park on Mount Archer with multiple funding sources for both projects.

“14 million has been allocated to upgrade the Rockhampton Airport Runway and there’s $20 million over two years for the V8 Supercars infrastructure on the basis this gets to the next level with grant funding.

“$1.9 million has been allocated for Gracemere’s Cedric Archer Park Wetlands and $800,000 towards facilities improvements for Mount Morgan’s Rail Complex and Pool.

“The big winners out of a massive capital program aren’t just the residents but local businesses and suppliers.

“Last year, 96% of our trade services, plant hire and road materials were sourced locally injecting $23.3 million into the economy.

“Overall, we spent $71.3 million with local businesses on goods and services, which is around 76% of the total expenditure and the only reason it wasn’t higher was due to specialised equipment for things like the airport which we couldn’t source locally.

“This program of works is ambitious but it will also deliver real wins for our region by generating local jobs, driving economic growth and helping build a bigger and better Rockhampton,” Mayor Strelow said.