Mr MILLS - 2007-10-11
Despite the fact that you are desperately rushing the Bellamack subdivision as fast as you can, evidenced by allowing only six weeks for prospective developers to submit their expressions of interest in Bellamack, is it not the case that there will not be a single house occupied with title before 2009?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. The release of Bellamack has been very warmly welcomed by industry and by people looking forward to setting up in what is an extremely well-designed subdivision.
I am not going to put a hard date on when someone will be moving into their first home because it depends on a few factors. The government has put in place approximately $7m for the cost of the headworks for the suburb. The land is in good condition for development according to advice I have received. To date, there have been up to 70 expressions of interest in developing Bellamack. That is a significant number, obviously. We have extended the development interest application period by another two weeks because Power and Water have come forward with further advice on the infrastructure required so we are giving developers a chance to factor that into their applications.
I am very hopeful of assessments being done on applications and having wound up the development assessment process by the end of this year, which would give developers an opportunity to move full steam ahead with that development through next year. Is it a date in 2008 or 2009? That is yet to be determined, given that we are looking at the nature of the development. Is it going to be two separate developments or is it going to be a single development? We have put some conditions in the development process, which look to fast-track the turning off of land. Developers will come forward with what I expect to be very competitive bids, given that there are 70 already indicating an interest in it.
The nature of the competitiveness, the fact that the market is ready for Bellamack, I would expect there to be much interest. I have spoken to the civic engineers. They know Bellamack is happening and are looking forward to laying the roads at Bellamack. You also factor in the rate at which the waterfront will be nearing completion so we have subcontractors coming on to the market, having finished off their work at the waterfront. So, if you like, there are some good factors that will assist the timing and how quickly Bellamack can be turned off.
People have been surprised at how quickly Lyons has come to fruition from when the first sods of soil were being turned out there. If Lyons is an experience that we can take into account, we would expect Bellamack to be a very rapid subdivision in comparison with subdivisions of the past.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. The release of Bellamack has been very warmly welcomed by industry and by people looking forward to setting up in what is an extremely well-designed subdivision.
I am not going to put a hard date on when someone will be moving into their first home because it depends on a few factors. The government has put in place approximately $7m for the cost of the headworks for the suburb. The land is in good condition for development according to advice I have received. To date, there have been up to 70 expressions of interest in developing Bellamack. That is a significant number, obviously. We have extended the development interest application period by another two weeks because Power and Water have come forward with further advice on the infrastructure required so we are giving developers a chance to factor that into their applications.
I am very hopeful of assessments being done on applications and having wound up the development assessment process by the end of this year, which would give developers an opportunity to move full steam ahead with that development through next year. Is it a date in 2008 or 2009? That is yet to be determined, given that we are looking at the nature of the development. Is it going to be two separate developments or is it going to be a single development? We have put some conditions in the development process, which look to fast-track the turning off of land. Developers will come forward with what I expect to be very competitive bids, given that there are 70 already indicating an interest in it.
The nature of the competitiveness, the fact that the market is ready for Bellamack, I would expect there to be much interest. I have spoken to the civic engineers. They know Bellamack is happening and are looking forward to laying the roads at Bellamack. You also factor in the rate at which the waterfront will be nearing completion so we have subcontractors coming on to the market, having finished off their work at the waterfront. So, if you like, there are some good factors that will assist the timing and how quickly Bellamack can be turned off.
People have been surprised at how quickly Lyons has come to fruition from when the first sods of soil were being turned out there. If Lyons is an experience that we can take into account, we would expect Bellamack to be a very rapid subdivision in comparison with subdivisions of the past.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016