Campbelltown Council will be able to go ahead with major upgrades to local roads, thanks to a generous subsidy from the NSW Government in round three of the Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme (LIRS).
Introduced by the Liberals and Nationals Government, the scheme encourages councils to make greater use of borrowings to accelerate investment in long overdue community projects.
Under the third round, councils are provided with a three per cent interest subsidy for up to 10 years on loans.
Minister for Local Government Paul Toole and Member for Campbelltown Bryan Doyle released details.
“The NSW Government is committed to Rebuilding NSW and in order to achieve this we need a strong local government sector with the infrastructure to match,” Mr Doyle said.
“That is why the NSW Government has committed $120 million to the LIRS scheme until 2025. The application from Campbelltown Council is to address the road asset renewal backlog, with planned improvements for 208 roads at a cost of $8.5 million.
“I am delighted that Campbelltown Council was a successful applicant. The community has waited a long time to see these projects go ahead and it will address key deficiencies in the event of a flood.”
Mr Toole said in the first two rounds of the scheme, 137 individual projects across 87 councils had benefitted, unlocking almost $680 million for shovel-ready projects.
“Thanks to round three of the scheme, an additional $148 million in infrastructure spending will be unlocked. The LIRS is a key part of the Government’s commitment to address the crippling $7.4 billion infrastructure backlog faced by local governments (as at June 2012).
“The community knows that building infrastructure makes a significant difference to both our economy and to people’s lives.”
In total, round three of LIRS received 69 applications, which were assessed by an independent panel.
