CCBR Business Review

7 State Government confirms site for Gosford campus for UONbut no funding B U S I N E S S N E W S THE NSW GOVERNMENT has confirmed the University of Newcastle as the preferred partner to deliver a Gosford university campus on the former Mitre10 site in Mann Street, Gosford. An announcement two years in the making. Making the announcement on 11th April Minister for Infrastructure and Cities the Hon Rob Stokes MP said the campus would become the jewel in the crown of the new Employment Precinct along with the recently opened University of Newcastle Clinical School and Research Institute adja- cent to Gosford Hospital creating all of the building blocks to be an economic and innovation powerhouse. “The region is an important part of our six cities vision and we will make the Central Coast a premier destination to live, study, work and invest,” he said. The NSW Government has passed legisla- tion that will see the former Greater Sydney Commission become the Greater Cities Commission bringing together the cities of the Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle, Central Coast, Greater Sydney and Illawarra- Shoalhaven. The Six-City Megaregion is an initiative of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet who outlined his Vision for NSW when assuming the pre- miership in December last year The Greater Cities Commission will be tasked with developing the six cities vision for metropolitan NSW, following the passage of landmark legislation this week. Minister for Cities Rob Stokes said by bringing Newcastle, the Central Coast and Wollongong together with Sydney in our strategic planning, we are positioning the six cities of metropolitan NSW to be more pros- perous, safer, cleaner, smarter and more fun to live in or visit. “The Premier has set out his vision for the six cities, and the Greater Cities Commission will allow us to plan for a dynamic, diverse and globally competitive region,”Mr Stokes said. “Thinking laterally will deliver better jobs, housing, education, health and lifestyle opportunities for a population which is expected to hit eight million in the next two decades,”he said. Recruitment will begin soon for the new City Commissioners for the Lower Hunter University of Newcastle’s proposed Gosford Campus Coast now part of Six Cities Mega Region and Greater Newcastle, Central Coast and Illawarra-Shoalhaven Cities. The City Commissioners will be appointed in close consultation with relevant councils. The Commission will develop a six cities strategic plan for discussion in mid-2022, before the finalisation of a new Region Plan by the end of 2023. The Commission will consider important initiatives on fast and faster rail and better digital connections as key to the success of the region. The Mega-Region concept for Sydney came out of a Discussion Paper prepared by the Committee for Sydney titled The Sandstone Mega-Region – uniting Newcastle, Central Coast, Sydney andWollongong in 2018. Introducing the report Committee of Sydney Chair and former Chair of the NRMA Kyle Loades said, “the links between Newcastle, the Central Coast, Sydney and Wollongong are strong — but until now they’ve been viewed through a prism of sep- arate cities with occasional interaction and somewhat separate economic trajectories. The Committee for Sydney has been inves- tigating the potential of linking our region into a single entity — a ‘mega-region’, tied together like the sandstone basin our key centres sit on. The ‘Sandstone Mega-region’ makes up over 70% of the NSW population and nearly 25% of the national population. Joining Minister Stokes was Minister for Skills and Training The Hon. Alister Henskens, SC MP who said the University of Newcastle was identified as the preferred university partner for direct negotiations following an expression of interest process and evaluation. “Building a university campus in the heart of the new Gosford city centre has strong community support and will increase access to education and employment opportunities close to home, creating a pipeline of skilled workers,”Mr Henskens said. However, neither minister mentioned the University’s submission for additional funding of around $18 million to match the Federal Government’s $18 million plus stu- dent places approved in the Federal Budget in 2019. It is expected the State Government will commit a similar amount to the project as they did with the Clinical School and Research Institute. Championed by CCBR and the Gosford Erina Business Chamber the campus will see Gosford become a world-class educa- tion precinct for Central Coast students looking to further their education. Where’s the money? Minister Stokes’ announcement, while wel- come, failed to mention UON’s proposal for the Mitre10 site plus $18 million in funding to match Federal funding of $18 million plus 600 student places in the 2019 Budget. Meanwhile the State Government contin- ues to pour billions of dollars into Western Sydney for education, sporting and a range of community facilities . Liberal candidate for Dobell, Dr Michael Feneley, has welcomed the Federal Government’s investment of $336 mil- lion in a $420 million upgrade of the Pacific Highway through the Wyong Town Centre which is being co-funded by the NSW Government. The upgrade will replace the Wyong River road bridge with two new road bridges, and will also integrate the rail interchange with bus services, taxi ser- vices and disabled and short-term park- ing, provide new signalised intersections at Rose Street, Anzac Avenue, North Road and Cutler Drive, upgrade the existing intersection at Church Street, and replace the Rose Street rail bridge. It will also duplicate the Pacific Highway to two lanes in each direction between Johnson Road and Cutler Drive. Construction start is planned for mid- 2024, to be completed by mid-2027. Half-billion dollar Pacific Highway upgrade throughWyong CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022