David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was pleased to inspect the first works associated with the Fig Trees on Manning project on the banks of the Manning River. I was there with Denis Hawkins, CEO of Bushlands Health. Fig Trees on Manning is a vertical seniors living and retirement complex that Bushland Health will be delivering. It is only happening because of an $8.5 million investment into Bushland Health and the project from the federal coalition government. The development will not only have infrastructure like the bridge across Browns Creek, which will link the CBD to the Figtrees on the Manning development and over to Chatham; two bridges will be constructed for both walking and bicycle access. All of this public infrastructure—the bridges, the roads, the traffic lights and all the upgrades that Bushland Health are doing—will trigger $455 million of investment from other private capital into a masterplan precinct, including apartments, retail and commercial areas, cafes, outdoor public spaces and a marina. There will also be a refurbishment of the historic dairy factory that served the dairy farmers of the Manning and the Great Lakes. It is a great project.

I was also pleased to be in Wingham to announce a million-dollar grant from the federal government's Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program funding round for the upgrade and revitalisation of the Wingham CBD—footpaths, pedestrian areas, drainage and civil works all around the Wingham CBD. This project has been on the local council's books for over 10 years, and I'm so pleased that the local roads and community infrastructure fund is making it a reality. The local MidCoast Council are contributing $3 million themselves, so it will be a major project indeed. The total for the project will be $3 million-plus. It will change the dynamic. It is a destination for shopping and the food-and-entertainment precinct of Wingham, because it's centred around a historic square. It's going to put a whole new level of complexity and attraction into the Wingham CBD.

These two great projects are going to change the economic and cultural face of the Manning and the Great Lakes. I'm so pleased that federal coalition grant funds are making it all happen. (Time expired)