Infrastructure NSW is the well overdue reform priority
The announcement of the establishment of Infrastructure NSW, and the appointment of Mr Nick Greiner as Chairman, has been welcomed by Engineers Australia as the well overdue reform priority to finally develop the long-term vision and plan to address the average to poor condition of infrastructure sectors across New South Wales.
Since Engineers Australia produced the first infrastructure report card for NSW in 2003, rising concerns about the adequacy of NSW infrastructure, and strategies to resolve the problems have been very high on the agenda of political, business and community debate.
The 2010 Engineers Australia report drove home the increasingly grim situation with assessments that NSW’s infrastructure was generally in average to poor condition, with over three-quarters of the sectors needing major to critical changes.
The Chair of the Engineers Australia 2010 NSW infrastructure report card committee, Ian Pedersen, said, “At the core of the Engineers Australia infrastructure report cards has been the call for the establishment of an independent advisory group, de-coupled from electoral cycles, to provide a long-term vision and plan for all areas of NSW.
“The high priority of the NSW Government to establish Infrastructure NSW, with Mr Greiner as its Chairman, is a most welcome leadership strategy and commitment to countering the inertia for infrastructure reform across metropolitan and regional New South Wales.”
Across the 14 report card categories in the Engineers Australia 2010 NSW Infrastructure Report Card, only three got a good “B” rating (needing minor changes), but eight got “C” (needing major changes), and three got a “D” (needing critical changes).
The “B” ratings were for Airports (B), National Roads (B-) and Potable Water (B-). The “C” ratings were for Roads Overall (C-), Ports (C), Wastewater (C+), Stormwater (C), Irrigation (C), Electricity (C-), Gas (C) and Telecommunications (C-). The “D” ratings were for State Roads (D+), Local Roads (D+) and Rail (D-).
The full assessments and recommendations of the Engineers Australia 2010 NSW Infrastructure Report Card are available at www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ircnsw.
Media Contact: John Bright - 0407 234 490 / jbright@engineersaustralia.org.au
Engineers Australia is the common name of The Institution of Engineers Australia with over 95,000 members
