Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning, Mr Deputy Speaker Freelander, I rise to talk about the Belmont Business Park Transport Infrastructure Upgrade, but I'll also take this opportunity to thank you for your medical assistance. I'm wondering if it's the age cohort of the members who are thanking you which is relevant to all your medical duties in this place!

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That may have something to do with it!

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Belmont Business Park Transport Infrastructure Upgrade is now complete, thanks to a grant from the federal Liberal government under the National Stronger Regions Fund. The National Stronger Regions Fund focuses on strengthening Australia's regions by improving the productivity, employment and workforce skills of Australians. Projects that are funded deliver an economic benefit to the region beyond the period of construction and address areas of disadvantage. I managed to secure over $6 million towards the cost of this $12 million project for the City of Belmont. The City of Belmont provided the remaining $6 million towards the project plus an additional $3.3 million in kind towards the wages, salaries, fleet and plant required in order to deliver the construction of the street parking program and the Belmont Avenue upgrade.

The project works for the Belmont Business Park upgrade officially commenced in May2015 and finally ended in August 2020. The project was planned for years. Planning first commenced back in 2004, and it wasn't until the funding from the Australian government was committed that the City of Belmont was able to bring this vision to life. Back in 2015 I stood on the corner of Belmont Avenue in my electorate of Swan with the former senator Mathias Cormann and the mayor, Councillor Phil Marks—who is still the mayor today, so he had the privilege of opening that facility—to view the project plans for this particular upgrade. Only a few weeks ago I attended the official launch and visited the same corner on Belmont Avenue. The upgrades to that part of Belmont Business Park included placement of electricity underground, introduction of street lighting, new on-street parking bays and soft landscaping.

It was a pleasure to see these upgrades complete—and what a difference it makes to the local area. What was tired industrial roadway that restrained growth in the area is now a contemporary business park, creating a positive investment environment that will achieve significant social and economic benefits to the City of Belmont. The motto of the City of Belmont is 'the city of opportunity', and I can tell, you, the council there works very hard to entice businesses to the local area. The project has upgraded the parking, signage, streetscape and transport infrastructure at the Belmont Business Park to improve access and connect Belmont city to its gateway location of the greater Perth area. The project has specifically addressed issues with transport and the movement into the business park and established critical links with the Belmont Centre, surrounding suburbs and other metropolitan activity centres via existing infrastructure to become a true gateway to the Perth regional area. (Time expired)