After five years of planning, options an…

After five years of planning, options analysis and preparation, together with significant financial investment to date, Wollondilly Council has accepted a tender to construct the Government Services Building as part of Stage 2 of the Wollondilly Cultural Precinct.

As our Shire’s population grows rapidly, this project together with the planned new Council Operations Depot are critical investments to ensure Council is able to manage and improve services for the Wollondilly community. 

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Council adopted a prudent funding strategy for the project which includes lettable space and is demonstrated to come at no cost to ratepayers over the life of the building.

Council has accepted the tender for construction of the building from Kane Constructions Pty Ltd, following a thorough assessment of submitted tenders by the Tender Evaluation Panel.

Construction of the new Government Services Building, Library and Village Green is planned to commence following completion of the Wollondilly Performing Arts Centre.

Mayor Matt Gould said, “Our Shire is growing fast, with a combination of previously approved housing developments across the Shire including in Picton, Tahmoor, Silverdale and Menangle together with the state mandated growth areas at Wilton and now Appin, meaning our population is likely to double or even triple over the next 20-30 years.”

“This Council will not shy away from the tough and important calls. Approving the Government Services Building is a critical project to make sure we have accommodation for the staff we will need to maintain effective service delivery for our growing community.”

“The funding strategy for this project is also critical, as it has no negative impact on our massive road and infrastructure investment across the Shire, means no required cuts to service delivery and no need for rating increases.”

“Crucially, Council looked at 12 alternate designs solutions and this option was the only one that could pay for itself over the life of the building and not require either a special rate variation or a reduction in funding for roads, community projects or Council services to fund.”

“Keeping Council in Picton is also vital, with an independent expert analysis of the project showing us the significant and long-term economic benefit to be gained from investing in the proposed self-funding model, creating local jobs and supporting local business with a $732M total economic benefit to Wollondilly’s economy.”

“Council’s vision for the Wollondilly Cultural Precinct is for it to become the community, civic, cultural, and economic heart of Wollondilly. The Government Services Building is designed as a landmark building which will create civic pride, promote business activity and bring together community members and visitors to our Shire.”

Council’s CEO Ben Taylor added “We’re striving to be a high performing organisation as we work together to serve our community. In recent years we have made great leaps forward in terms of staff culture and business improvement and establishing strong foundations for what lies ahead.”

“With staff engagement in the top 5% of all benchmark organisations, a focus on customer experience, service delivery and importantly community satisfaction in Council lifting it’s clear we’re on the path to success.”

“Unfortunately, our current administration building is too small, rapidly deteriorating and unable to meet current Work Health & Safety standards and our Depot is not able to cope with the growth on the way.”

“This investment together with our planned new Operations Depot is critical to our future. It will mean we’re able to maintain and improve services for the community, with enough space to house the equipment and staff we will need as our community triples in size over the coming decades.”

“I’d like to congratulate the successful tenderer, Kane Constructions Pty Ltd, and thank all the tenderers for the time and effort that was put into their submissions.”

At its meeting of June 2023, Council resolved to endorse the project to proceed to the next stages, submit a Development Application (DA), submit a Capital Expenditure Report to the Office of Local Government, and commence the procurement process to engage a Principal Construction Contractor.

The DA was submitted in June 2023 and was approved by the Sydney Western City Planning Panel on 4 March 2024, having been reviewed by the Office of Local Government in February 2024. A public open tender process for Construction of the GSB commenced in July 2023.

The Precinct will be transformative with significant social, environmental and economic benefits for Wollondilly Shire and the broader community.

It is anticipated that 166 jobs will be created over the construction phase and another 110 jobs in local businesses will be supported annually in the operation phase.

More information on the Wollondilly Cultural Precinct is available on Council’s website https://www.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/shire-projects/projects/government-services-building-village-green-library/