State Budget funding for City Square to continue transformation of Perth

The State Government’s work to transform Perth through key urban renewal projects has received a funding boost in the 2011-12 State Budget.

Perth City Link will receive funding of $56.8million over the next four years to help accelerate development of the City Square to coincide with the completion of the underground rail and bus station.

Planning Minister John Day said the future growth of Perth was about creating a unique sense of place and a distinctive Perth character which reconnects our city through carefully planned development. For the first time in more than 100 years, the Perth City Link project will reconnect the city centre with Northbridge by sinking part of the Fremantle rail line and relocating the Wellington Street Bus Station underground, to deliver high quality commercial, residential and public spaces.

The delivery of major social infrastructure is integral to transforming our city and accommodating Perth's rapidly growing population while creating new opportunities to live, work and recreate in the city centre.  Minister Day said the State Government was working to ensure Western Australia continues to mature into a contemporary, liveable and globally competitive State for future generations.

In the next four years, the East Perth Redevelopment Authority (EPRA) will also spend $18.6million to continue the activation and revitalisation of the Perth Cultural Centre, and $64.4million to fund redevelopment works and land acquisition in the Riverside project area.

The Perth Cultural Centre will take centre stage during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) as the ‘People’s Space’, playing host to four days of activity and entertainment for the people of Perth and visitors.  Further improvement works will occur in the Perth Cultural Centre - continuing the transformation of the area.  

EPRA’s Riverside project will help transform the city’s eastern gateway into a vibrant new waterfront destination.  Forward works have started on the flagship four hectare riverfront site, adjacent to the WACA and the Causeway, with the successful developer of the site to be chosen in mid-2011.

Perth City Link and the Perth Waterfront are two of Australia’s most exciting inner-city projects which will increase intensity and activity in Perth and redefine the way many Western Australians and visitors interact with our city.

Planning Minister John Day said the $56.8million was in addition to the $336.4million already earmarked for the rail and bus infrastructure and the $270million allocated to the Perth Waterfront project.

Work is due to start on the Waterfront project as soon as CHOGM is over, with major public works expected to be completed by the end of 2014.