Townsville gets Australia’s first City Deal

ALL THREE LEVELS of government have agreed on and released an Implementation Plan for the Townsville City Deal.

The Townsville City Deal – the first in Australia, described as the roadmap for the city’s future – has had its implementation plan agreed and approved by Assistant Federal Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation Angus Taylor, Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill.

The plan outlines milestones over the next five years and maps out the key contributions of each government to deliver on the commitments.

Major projects covered by the Townsville City Deal include North Queensland Stadium, Townsville Water Security Taskforce, Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre, and the business cases for the Port of Townsville Channel Capacity Upgrade and Townsville Eastern Access Rail Corridor (TEARC).

The concept behind the City Deal is that it’s a full package of initiatives and investments that bring together all three levels of government and the private sector,” Mr Taylor said.

“All of the commitments in this roadmap are geared towards growing the economy of Townsville and strengthening Townsville as a prosperous and lifestyle-rich city. Following the agreement of the City Deal in December, our next goal has been to map out exactly what each government will do and when.”

Ms Trad said the Townsville City Deal was already delivering for North Queensland.

“We are committed to fully implementing Australia’s first ever City Deal in Townsville because we know that it will deliver jobs and economic growth across the entire region,” Ms Trad said. 

“A number of City Deal projects are already well advanced – expressions of interest have opened for work on the North Queensland Stadium, the Townsville Water Security Taskforce is in place and the board of the Townsville-based Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia has been announced.”

Mayor Hill said timeframes and implementation details would be refined as progress was made.

“This plan sets out a clear path for Townsville’s future prosperity and I thank our local stakeholders who are representing the community at the partnership forums to keep the City Deal firmly focused on what Townsville needs,” Cr Hill said.

“These partnership forums will also help identify new opportunities and attract other investment to complement Townsville City Deal initiatives.”

The Implementation Plan milestones include:

North Queensland Stadium – managing contractor to be announced in the second quarter of 2017;

Townsville Water Security Taskforce – delivery of interim report by the second quarter of 2017;

Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre – refinement of feasibility study by the third quarter of 2017;

Channel Capacity Upgrade - business case completed by the second quarter of 2017;

Townsville Eastern Access Rail Corridor (TEARC) – completion of business case by the end of 2017.

A report on the progress against key milestones will be released each year. The first will be released before the end of 2017.

https://cities.dpmc.gov.au/townsville-city-deal

 

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