Cash flow to help fix local roads

Yass Valley Mayor Rowena Abbey has today welcomed a funding injection of $2.395 million for shovel-ready road projects in the local government area.

The Australian and NSW Liberal and Nationals Governments met in Yass on Monday, 29 June announce a 'turbocharged' program that will improve local roads across regional NSW and create thousands of local jobs.

The Australian Government has committed $191 million to build on the NSW Government’s $500 million Fixing Local Roads program, ensuring even more regional communities benefit faster.

The injection will see $382 million of joint funding allocated to shovel-ready projects able to start in the next 12 months, driving an estimated 3,500 jobs in regional NSW. Of this, $2.395 will be spent in the Yass Valley.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the Australian Government’s funding injection is about generating jobs, encouraging spending and stimulating local economies.

“This is money for small projects which make a big difference in people’s everyday lives right across regional NSW,” Mr McCormack said.

“It will mean smoother, safer trips to school, to work and to the shops and importantly, it will create much-needed jobs in hundreds of communities as councils start work on these shovel-ready projects.”

NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole said the NSW Government was also accelerating its funding for the program to get more projects to seal, maintain and repair local roads under way faster.

“We’re not just putting our foot down in terms of delivering this package – we’re turbocharging it to ensure we create jobs and create better journeys on the roads that really matter to local communities,” Mr Toole said.

“It means communities right across the State will see work starting on the local roads in their area as soon as next month.”

State MP Wendy Tuckerman said she had "five happy Mayors" in her electorate, one of which was Cr Abbey.

"This is great news for our community as it means council has more money to get more work done to make our local roads safer. It means safer roads for children to travel to school, stock to travel to market and residents to travel to work. It also means Council can use the money we had allocated for some of these projects elsewhere within the Yass Valley to help support the local economy and boost local business," Cr Abbey said.

The first round of the program will see $250 million of funding for 258 projects in 83 Local Government Areas. Applications for round two of the program will open later this year.

Projects will need to be delivered within two years of receiving funding, to ensure local communities are benefiting sooner.

29 June 2020

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