CITY DEALS IDEA OPENS NEW ERA
IN an achievement comparable to the Cowboys’ 2015 grand final win, the Townsville community has secured the long-awaited commitments needed to make the new Townsville stadium a reality.
The project has all the support required to proceed no matter which party is able to form government.
Bipartisan and cross-jurisdictional support for a project of this scale is very rare.
All those in the community who fought for the stadium should be congratulated.
While the Coalition and Labor have promised $100 million for the stadium, the fine print of the Coalition’s Townsville promise contains an interesting additional commitment.
The Coalition has promised to make Townsville the pioneer city for a new system of investment co-ordination between the Federal, State and local governments.
The Coalition committed to strike the first ever City Deal with Townsville under their Smart Cities Plan.
A City Deal is a concept that has been successfully used in the United Kingdom to co-ordinate investment in priority infrastructure projects across all levels of government.
If the Labor Party is able to form government over the coming days, the Townsville community should push for a similar commitment from the new government.
City Deals aim to pull the funding of infrastructure above the political fray, ending long running disputes over
Read more at: http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/business/city-deals-idea-opens-new-era/news-story/6851d0200e6d43202dc513a93d07520e
