BuildingoneVictoria MAGAZINE
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Managing the bushfire clean-up Stadium lights up Melbourne
Book review: Eleven Minutes Late
Issue
ISSN 1835-193X
A message from the Minister The Victorian Government is committed to investing in vital infrastructure that boosts the economy and creates local jobs. Importantly, we also want to deliver world class projects, and it is something we manage to do particularly well in Victoria, as shown by the short-listing of two recently completed projects for the 2009 World Architecture Festival awards. This November in Barcelona, the Melbourne Convention Centre and the Melbourne Recital Centre and MTC Theatre will be judged against the best projects from around the world in the exhibition and culture venues categories.
Both projects have already won numerous awards in Australia, however, being short-listed for an international competition is a wonderful achievement of which all involved in the project can be particularly proud. Another recent project milestone is the announcement of Bovis Lend Lease as the preferred builder for the Melbourne Market Relocation project. The strong response to the tender is pleasing, and demonstrates the confidence of the construction industry in both the project and the Victorian economy.
The Government also continues to work on streamlining infrastructure delivery on vital projects with the passing of the Major Transport Projects Facilitation Bill by the Parliament in September. The legislation will speed up delivery of important projects, such as those in the $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan, and create jobs sooner, by significantly reducing the time required to plan, approve and deliver specific transport infrastructure.
Importantly, we would fast-track the planning and delivery of major transport projects, without compromising existing checks and balances or reducing opportunities for public consultation. This would also mean substantial cost savings for both the taxpayer and private investors, giving Victoria a competitive edge and boosting the state economy.
Nominated projects could get underway more than 12 months earlier with the establishment of a streamlined “one-stop shop� planning and approvals process.
Tim Pallas MP Minister for Major Projects
Managing the bushfire clean-up
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Building One Victoria Magazine
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CSR – are companies still investing?
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Book review: Eleven Minutes Late
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Stadium lights up Melbourne
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Victorian projects short-listed for world architecture awards
The Melbourne Recital Centre/MTC Theatre and Melbourne Convention Centre projects are among the top 200 buildings to have made it onto this year’s shortlist for the world’s biggest architecture contest - the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards. Projects hail from 67 different countries including emerging markets such as Iran, Syria, Sierra Leone, Vietnam, Ghana, South Korea, and India, as well as countries such as Canada, Australia, the USA, the UK, China, Russia and Scandinavia, all of which have strong representation on the shortlist.
At the side of the river of the mists
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New Bill to cut delays
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The WAF Awards are designed to celebrate and showcase the work of the international architectural community. Unlike other schemes, the WAF Awards involve shortlisted architects presenting their schemes live to the public and to an international judging panel as they compete for the ultimate accolade of World Building of the Year 2009. For more information, visit www.worldarchitecturefestival.com
Building the education revolution
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Managing the bushfire clean-up In February 2009 Victoria was devastated by the worst bushfires in Australia’s history. The scale of the tragedy was unprecedented. By the time the fires were contained, 173 people had lost their lives and many others were seriously injured, 78 communities were impacted, and 430,000 hectares of land were destroyed. More than 3,000 buildings were destroyed in the fires with another 1,400 damaged, presenting an enormous challenge for recovery efforts.
One of the first priorities for the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBBRA) was to clear debris and hazardous material from these properties to enable reconstruction to begin. Major Projects Victoria’s Tim Bamford was seconded to the Authority to manage the clean-up contract. The task facing the Authority’s project managers and contractors, Grocon, was herculean, but in just four months, more than 400,000 tonnes of debris was cleared from over 3,000 properties.
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At the peak of the project, 158 cleanup teams and over 400 trucks were operating, undertaking over 300 clean-ups per week until the project was substantially completed in July, more than two months ahead of schedule.
“At the beginning, the size and breadth of the project was daunting – the scope was totally unknown before we began. I remember our initial estimates were that we might need to move 60–80,000 tonnes of material, in the end we moved five times that,” he said.
In comparison, it took three months to clear 600 properties following the 2003 Canberra bushfires.
“The project covered nearly the whole state – from Bendigo to Gippsland – and there was great need for urgency because this was the first step in allowing people to move forward and get on with rebuilding their communities and lives.
According to Mr Bamford, the scale and complexity of the project coupled with the sense of urgency to begin work dictated a dynamic, flexible approach to its management.
“When I joined the project team in early March the contract with Grocon had been signed. The first challenge was to set up a procedural/operational framework. The clean-up contract envisaged the job being broken down into bite-sized stages that would be scoped by the contractor and then approved by the Authority before proceeding. “However, we realised very early on that an individual, personalised approach was required. “The key initial realisation was that this would be best done on a house by house basis. Each property would need to be conceived as a stage in the project because each required an individual scope and individual negotiation. We effectively ended up with 3,000 individual projects.”
An eight step process was worked out: Registration; Initial contact with owner; Discussion of scope with agreement; Scope submission by Grocon; Scope approval by VBBRA; Clean up starts; Clean up finished; and, Final approval by VBBRA. “Coming up with that sequence dictated the structural framework. It also allowed high speed mobilisation with close monitoring of progress. “We dealt with every affected landowner and did an individual scope of works for each property. We wanted Grocon to take as much time as possible with everyone’s requests, while still trying to complete the project in a timely manner.”
The project was executed under a Managing Contractor style of contract such as those used by the defence force for housing projects.
“From the beginning it was a matter of carrying out the planning and organisational requirements at the same time as the mobilisation.”
Despite the pressure and size of the job, Grocon’s work teams were mindful of the enormous sensitivity of the situation.
“This highly personalised, careful approach is just impossible to put into a contract and these sorts of stories are a tribute to the whole Grocon team.”
“The Managing Contractor Contract has great benefits in circumstances where resources need to be applied urgently but [where] the scope cannot be clearly defined at the outset.
“We had 300–400 clean ups done, maybe five weeks work, before we had the structure fully in place.”
“Grocon treated the job with great sensitivity and professionalism. Some owners asked work crews to help preserve precious items such as concrete slabs where children had pressed their handprints or to avoid places where family pets were buried.
Like so many people Mr Bamford was moved by the tragedy of the bushfires and was pleased to have had the opportunity to make a practical contribution to reconstruction efforts despite the difficulties.
“We needed a dynamic approach. We needed to let them get on with the job and not stand in the way with procedure. The scope and variability of the tragedy defied bureaucracy and a highly flexible approach was required, however you need to be fair and consistent.
This ‘planning on the run’ approach required a high level of trust and a strong, collaborative team. “A lot of the planning and approvals were done verbally, face to face, and you had to trust it was done the right way because you didn’t have time to confirm everything in writing. There was no possibility that the documentation could be done in real time without taking months.
“On other properties the workers found personal things such as rings, watches or war medals, that they were able to return to owners, which I think was a comfort to them.
“What I have learnt is that sometimes it is possible for government to act in a decisive, swift and even agile way, and retain an appropriate level of accountability and checks and balances. “I am very proud of what we accomplished and grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of it.”
“It was certainly challenging at times, but generally I would describe it as emotionally rewarding rather than difficult. Major disasters such as this can bring out the best in people but even with the best of intentions you can’t please everybody, although you can help them if they let you.
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Corporate social responsibity – are companies still investing? Delivering major infrastructure could be considered a juggling act which requires a balance of the financial, environmental and social needs of a project and its communities. In an increasingly competitive global environment, is the private sector still investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR) for competitive advantage? Melbourne-based construction company Grocon Constructors and international engineering giant Arup, reflect on why they are still investing in CSR.
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Rebecca Miller, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Arup As increasing numbers of individuals and organisations respond to the global economic crisis by reigning in spending, less money is being made available for charitable giving and CSR. The fact that more and more people rely on charity support during these lean times has not gone unnoticed at Arup. “No man is an island, our lives are inextricably mixed up with those of our fellow human beings, and … there can be no real happiness in isolation.” This quote, taken from ‘The Key Speech’, written in 1971 by Arup’s founder, Sir Ove Arup, underpins the firm’s position on charitable giving and CSR. This is further supported by our Group Donations Policy and Group Sustainability Policy.
Published in 2007, Arup’s Group Sustainability Policy provides direction across four key areas: our business, our people, our facilities, and our external relationships. Last year, in response to the external relationships component, Arup’s Australasia Region launched the Community Partnering Program (CPP). The program seeks to consolidate our involvement and investment in local communities. In essence, the CPP is Arup’s CSR strategy. The CPP guides the selection and approval of support for organisations; defines the elements of work involved (for example, strategic partnerships, pro-bono project work, office fundraising, corporate volunteering etc); outlines criteria for funds distribution; and provides guidance on how staff can participate.
As a result of the CPP, we have recently been made a silver partner to Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Australia and are looking to support the charity in a range of areas. Arup is also in negotiations with two other national charities with whom we are hoping to become strategic partners. Cathy Crawley, Principal, Business Unit Leader Arup Sustainability said, “In spite of the current global economic conditions, Arup remains committed to supporting CSR activities and our local communities. The need to do work that is socially useful is a core Arup value and is directly aligned to our corporate structure. “In addition to the community and social benefits associated with these types of activities, there is significant benefit to our staff. Since the CPP was launched, we have had a great level of take up from staff wanting to work on pro-bono projects and lend a hand through corporate volunteering initiatives. Their involvement in these types of initiatives not only helps build valuable skills, often in specialist areas, but increases morale among our staff and supports a sense of purpose and community spirit.”
Through the implementation of the CPP, Arup seeks to build meaningful relationships in the communities in which we operate and to help deliver projects that provide a positive legacy for these communities. This approach provides Arup with a real insight into the needs and issues facing our communities and our region. And this, in turn, undoubtedly provides advantages to Arup in areas such as project-specific community consultation work, and skill development in specialist engineering services like seismic and structural engineering and flood modelling. In addition to this regional activity, the firm has established a global initiative called the Arup Cause. This initiative provides a focus for the firm’s humanitarian activity, encouraging and leveraging the individual abilities and contribution of staff for maximum impact. It provides structured opportunities for people to develop personally and to deploy their professional skills for the good of people in communities all around the world.
Jane Wilson, Corporate and Government Affairs Manager, Grocon Grocon has focused heavily on CSR in recent years. We have demonstrated our commitment with several initiatives and programs involving our own staff and we also offer opportunities to others. With the establishment of a Community Employment Program in 2007, we have now employed ten people nationally, who have come either from disadvantaged backgrounds or from the juvenile justice system. We have five of these employees in Victoria, including three at the rectangular stadium project.
Partnerships have been formed with not for profit organisations such as Whitelion, which tries to match young men and women exiting the juvenile justice system with employers, and also with the Brotherhood of St Laurence, which has an intermediate labour market program preparing young people, who have had difficulty finding employment, for work. We now have regular meetings around the progress of those we have employed and it has offered great mentoring opportunities to our own staff, instilling a real sense of pride and achievement when the placement is successful. Seeing the progress of many of the young people we have taken on is very rewarding – three of the five in Victoria are now doing apprenticeships and planning their futures with our company.
Another initiative we have undertaken is to form a partnership with the Victorian Government, Yarra Community Housing and HomeGround Services to build a facility known as Common Ground in Melbourne at cost, with all savings returned to the client. Common Ground is based on a New York model for homeless people, which provides services for them in the same building in which they live. These services may include medical or mental health assistance, employment referral and living skills programs. There is a 24 hour concierge at all Common Ground facilities and the apartments are secure and permanent.
ARUP Engineers Without Borders on Bentinck Island off the north-Queensland coast.
Building One Victoria Magazine
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Book review: E leven Minutes Late - A Train Journey to the Soul of Britain
by Jim Betts, Secretary, Department of Transport During a recent holiday, Department of Transport Secretary Jim Betts caught up on some light reading and here reviews Matthew Engel’s fascinating history of the British railways, Eleven Minutes Late A Train Journey To The Soul Of Britain.
One of the great advantages of train travel is that it allows you to read books. During a recent trip to New South Wales on the excellent Melbourne–Sydney XPT service I had the chance to get through a book by the former cricket correspondent of The Guardian newspaper, Matthew Engel, called Eleven Minutes Late A Train Journey To The Soul Of Britain.
Every town had to have a railway, and it was all privately financed in a speculative market which historians subsequently classified as a ‘mania’.
Don’t worry, it’s not a gunzel’s textbook, but rather a fascinating layperson’s account of the history of Britain’s rail system, and the insights it provides into my home country’s weird culture and identity.
By 1914, the largest town in Britain more than three miles from a railway station was Painswick in Gloucestershire, which had fewer than 3,000 people.
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After the invention of the steam locomotive in the early 1800s, the railways rapidly expanded. Rather like the ‘Dot Com’ boom of ten years ago, everyone lost their grip on reality for a while.
The results were staggering: In 1848 alone, more than 1,000 miles of railway track were opened [in Britain]. And:
How could Britain possibly manage to build rail tracks equivalent in size to Victoria’s passenger rail system in just twelve months? Well, for a start, occupational health and safety was not the high priority it is today: The year 1846...saw the end of the brutal struggle to build the Woodhead Tunnel through the Pennines. Thirty-
two men were reported killed in the process and 140 maimed. These figures...made Woodhead, proportionate to the numbers involved, a bloodier battle than...Waterloo. And landowners and residents affected by railway works did not have the statutory protections they enjoy today: At least 120,000 people were displaced in London alone after 1850; some received inadequate compensation, some didn’t even get that, and they all had to trudge off and find somewhere else to live. The emergence of the railway had unforeseen consequences for the whole British way of life, right down to the nation’s concept of time: Each town, living its own life, used to have its own time, according to its own reckoning of sunrise and sunset, without having to worry what time it was anywhere else. It was a new world, although the most obvious means of dealing with it – synchronising all railway clocks – did not become universal until 1851 when the entire
network adopted Greenwich time or, as it was generally known, “railway time”. But some things were immutable, including the English character: Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister from 1835 to 1841 and Queen Victoria’s mentor, told her that he had never liked the railways because “they brought such a shocking set of people who commit every horror”. He complained that the railways would only “encourage the lower classes to travel about”. Similar arguments are being used today by some Sunbury residents to oppose the electrification of their rail link into Melbourne’s inner western suburbs (“keep the bogans out of Sunbury”, etc). The ‘stagecoach’ system of building trains with individual, isolated compartments also reflected social values: The long survival of the [stagecoach] system...was explained by “the Englishman’s fixed determination to remain as isolated as possible from those who have the effrontery to travel on the same train as himself”.
1 A slang term for railway enthusiast. According to Wikipedia, the word gunzel originated from the Sydney Tramway Museum in the 1960s as a term for foolish or reckless rail fans who shot at things with cameras. Usage was originally confined to south-eastern states, but it has since spread to the whole of Australia and parts of New Zealand. May be used to refer to specific interest, e.g. “freight gunzel”, “tram gunzel”.
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Railways also had military uses: The military possibilities offered by railways were obvious. Less obvious, perhaps, was the potential for total fiasco. In 1850, the Austrians moved 75,000 troops, 1,000 carriages and 8,000 horses to the Silesian frontier. Due to shortage of rolling stock and staff, bad weather and lack of previous arrangement, the 150 mile journey took 26 days...Not merely could they have marched the distance quicker, the men could have had a fortnight’s leave as well. And the whole course of the First World War can be explained by the Germans’ ability to mobilise quickly using the rail system: Before 1914, the Germans sweetly helped Belgium construct a new light railway across the frontier; the Belgians probably thought it might bring in German tourists. And so it did, but they were wearing uniforms. If safety was not given high priority in the construction of rail lines, its importance in their operation also left a lot to be desired:
In the twelve month period spanning 1911/12, 5,284 people were run down by American trains on unfenced railway lines. That said, rail remains an outstandingly safe mode of travel: Since the end of the Second World War about 9,000 people have been killed on Britain’s railways, less than a third of them passengers. The comparable figure for roads is 340,000. The massive expansion in railways in the mid-19th century was, as I say, manic. And people suffering from mania don’t always obey the laws of common sense: The most economically hopeless of all Britain’s railways, the Potts Line, which ran trains from an inconvenient station in Shrewsbury...across the Welsh border to Llanymynech... originally opened in August 1866 and closed in December 1866.
The inter-war period is often, wrongly, depicted as a golden age for Britain’s railway system. Most users of the system (except, perhaps, Miss Marple or Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter) regarded the railways as fragmented, inefficient and just generally crap. There was little protest when, in 1948, the post-war Labour Government nationalised Britain’s railway companies:
Some of the maddest acts of all came because the commercial and engineering departments failed to communicate. During the 1950s, several branch lines were extensively relaid or resignalled shortly before closure. At one station – Clifton Mill in Warwickshire – the office was actually being enlarged to take a new stove, which had just arrived, two days before total closure.
The nation woke up on New Year’s Day 1948 to find itself the owner of 19,000 route miles of track, 1,230,000 wagons, 45,000 passenger coaches, 20,000 locomotives, 50,000 houses, 25,000 horse-drawn vehicles, 7,000 horses, 1,640 miles of canals and waterways, 100 steamships, 70 hotels plus 34,000 commercial lorries. It also acquired almost 700,000 employees.
Tellingly, silos also persisted at government level:
Similarly, there were few protests between 1948 and the late 1960s as the rail system shrank dramatically, with extensive line closures. Silos within the railway’s management persisted, despite the collapse of regional railways into a single, national body:
There was next to no liaison between the transport and housing ministries... In 1962, it was decided to triple the population of Haverhill in Suffolk; in 1963 Haverhill station was listed for closure. The nationalised railway did not always have a clear sense of its own objectives. What was it there to do? Save money, grow patronage or run on time? And what happened if those objectives conflicted with each other?
[Former British Rail Chairman Sir Richard] Marsh’s chief whinge was that whenever he tried to cut costs, Ministers opposed him. “In any debate in the House of Commons on nationalised industries, the first half was concerned with how wicked and wasteful we were in losing public money, and the second half consisted of a long list of things they would like the nationalised industries to do, all of which cost more money”. Finally, if it makes you feel better about the media’s occasional spotlight on our own department, spare a thought for our UK counterparts: The editor of Rail magazine, Nigel Harris, revealed that when he Googled the phrase “stupendously incompetent”, the first 41 references that came up all concerned Britain’s Department for Transport. Number 42 referred to Inspector Clouseau. Anyway, if you are remotely interested in learning more, you can get Matthew Engel’s excellent book online (through Amazon.co.uk) and you can then consider contributing to the foundation he established in 2005 after his young son died of cancer.
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Stadium to light up Melbourne’s skyline Melbourne’s new rectangular stadium will light up the city’s night skyline thanks to a spectacular new lighting design. The stadium’s bio-frame roof will be covered with thousands of LED lights that can shine in any colour and be programmed into a multitude of patterns. Major Projects Minister Tim Pallas said the lights would take the stadium to a new level. “The rectangular stadium will be an amazing landmark and a shimmering new beacon in the Melbourne skyline. It won’t just be the sporting events inside that attract attention, the stadium itself will be a spectacle,” Mr Pallas said.
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Building One Victoria Magazine
“The illuminated stadium will also be environmentally friendly, with the LED lights using around one tenth of the power required to floodlight the stadium and without any light spill into the surrounding area. The design also avoids the problems normally associated with floodlighting buildings, which can attract insects and birds. “The rectangular stadium is causing great excitement for sports fans in Melbourne and this lighting scheme just kicks it up another gear. The team of artists and lighting designers at Electrolight have created a program that is a work of art in itself.”
Mr Pallas said the lighting would be programmed to tell the story of the stadium in an abstract way, describing the history and landscape of the site, the anticipation before a game and the excitement and energy of the match. “Further artistic design work will be carried out between now and the stadium’s opening in 2010 to create a program to light up Melbourne’s night skyline in ways never seen before,” he said. To see a digital animation of the stadium lights in action please visit: www.youtube.com/majorprojectsvic.
Building One Victoria Magazine
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At the side of the river of mists Melbourne prides itself on being Australia’s sporting and cultural capital. Here Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust board member and former Arts Centre CEO, Sue Nattrass AO writes on the history of the city’s famed sporting and cultural precincts and how they have drawn Melbourne’s heart down to the river.
by Sue Nattrass AO Standing in Birrarung Marr at the foot of the William Barak Footbridge, one can hear from the east, echoes of sound scapes of the sporting precinct, both past and present. It might be the roar of the MCG [Melbourne Cricket Ground] crowd as a test match wicket is taken, the siren signalling the start of a grand final, or the crowds enjoying the Australian Open at the Tennis Centre. From Olympic Park, patrons
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Building One Victoria Magazine
may be heard celebrating a soccer goal, a rugby try or an athletics record. There is even the faint echo from the MCG of 11,000 people at the 1866 cricket match between the Melbourne Cricket Club and an Aboriginal team. Looking south and west from the bridge, one can clearly see the physical links between the sporting arenas, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, through Birrarung Marr and Federation Square, to the Arts Centre precinct.
It is now the pre-eminent place in Melbourne where large numbers of locals and visitors alike meet and experience the mixture of the arts and sport that is a hallmark of this city. This was exemplified during the 2006 Commonwealth Games and its cultural program. The two precincts have developed in tandem. In 1946, following a petition signed by 40,000 citizens, the land south of Princes Bridge and west of St
Kilda Road was reserved for cultural purposes. In 1955, the Act to establish a National Gallery and Cultural Centre was passed and planning began. And in 1959 the Sidney Myer Music Bowl opened in the Kings Domain accommodating orchestral concerts, opera and ballet, commercial contemporary music and Carols by Candlelight.
Arguably, the major development of the sporting precinct took place in preparation for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics: the MCG was upgraded, and the Olympic Swimming Pool (now the Lexus Centre), Olympic Park and the Velodrome were built. The National Tennis Centre complex was completed in 1988 as home for the Australian Open and diverse entertainment events. There were further upgrades of the MCG, the most recent being the redevelopment for the Commonwealth
Games in 2006. None of the original MCG structures of 1956 still exist. With the opening of the theatres building at the Arts Centre in 1984, business began to look across the river to the developing cultural precinct. There was recognition that proximity to the Arts Centre would give access to new audiences, and new target markets. The ‘heart’ of the city had moved across the river and commerce followed.
But it has only been since the turn of this century that the final link was made on the northern side of the river. In 2002, completion of Federation Square and Birrarung Marr offered more recreational spaces and cultural institutions, opening up access to the sporting venues and the central business district, its galleries, museums, art works and architecture.
At the elite level, both the arts and sport require specialised and intense training and discipline. For participants and supporters alike, they offer opportunities to enhance their lives, arousing passions, stimulating imaginations – integrating and binding disparate groups and whole communities. The lines between sport and the arts are blurring as both seek to entertain and satisfy their audiences.
If you use your imagination again, back near the William Barak Bridge, echoes of the sound scapes from before the arrival of white man can still be heard. The Wurundjeri people, traditional owners and custodians, occupied the land along the Yarra – or Birrarung (the river of mists) Marr (the side). We might hear the ’thwok, thwok, thwok’ of flying boomerangs as young men compete with each other, testing their skills; the singing, chanting and rhythm
of clapsticks and the hand clapping and footfall of dancers. For the traditional owners, the land of the MCG and Birrarung Marr was a gathering place for cultural and ‘sporting’ events and for trade. Nothing much has changed… In this special place at the side of the river of mists the arts and sporting cultures of both Indigenous and nonIndigenous peoples can develop closer ties into the future, further enhancing life in the city of Melbourne.
Building One Victoria Magazine
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New Bill to cut delays The State Government has introduced legislation which will significantly reduce the time required to plan, approve and deliver major transport projects. The Major Transport Projects Facilitation Bill, passed by Parliament in September, will get major transport projects under way earlier through the establishment of a streamlined planning and approvals process. The Minister for Major Projects, Roads and Ports Tim Pallas said analysis suggested the proposed planning and approvals regime could save an average of 12 to 15 months on major transport projects.
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“Even on conservative estimates, the benefits of bringing forward the larger major transport projects in the Victorian Transport Plan would amount to tens of millions of dollars in savings,” he said.
“This is being done while retaining important safeguards. This legislation will not change the existing process for compulsory acquisition or determining compensation under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986,” he said.
Mr Pallas said the project delivery powers in the proposed legislation would also cut delays due to administrative and legal complexities associated with land assembly or negotiations on utility relocation.
For more information on the Major Transport Projects Facilitation Bill, visit www.premier.vic.gov.au.
Building the education revolution The Australian Government’s $14.7 billion dollar Building the Education Revolution is a plan to support local jobs, stimulate local economies and invest in important long term infrastructure. “The Building the Education Revolution, along with the Brumby Government’s $1.9 billion Victorian Schools Plan which will see every government school rebuilt, renovated or extended, is resulting in the biggest schools rebuilding program in Victoria’s history,” Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike said.
“There has never been a greater effort or investment in education in Victoria than there is right now and this project is another example of how the state and federal governments are joining forces with local communities to create new educational opportunities and boost education provision.”
In Victoria, we are already seeing the positive impact on the construction industry with the first round of Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21) projects valued at over $450 million already well under way. These projects have secured more than 1,500 Victorian jobs.
“Our students will benefit from access to state-of-the-art facilities and the very best educational opportunities so they have every opportunity to shine. As well as the educational benefits, this project is generating work for our local tradespeople,” Minister Pike said.
Family-owned contractor, Peter Flynn is one of the 27 Round 1 contractors already benefitting from the program and has started work at three school sites in his local area. “The Building the Education Revolution program is a fantastic opportunity for local builders and for schools. In Round 1, we have secured work
at three schools which had received $7.5 million for exciting new 21st century facilities as part of this program. This is great news for our business, schools and local jobs,” said Peter Flynn. In addition to the Round 1 and Round 2 major infrastructure projects, 1,581 Victorian Government schools shared National School Pride funding of $204.5 million for minor capital works and maintenance projects which are having a positive impact on our local tradespeople. Tenders will be released in the coming weeks for the construction of 70 new Science and Language Centres.
Current Building the Education Revolution funding summary for Victorian Government schools:
> Primary Schools for 21st Century – Round 1 and Round 2, 743 schools funded for over $1.3 billion
> Science and Language Centres for 21st Century Secondary Schools – 70 schools funded totalling over $137.1 million
> National School Pride – 1,581 schools sharing over $204.5 million.
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If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, please telephone Major Projects Victoria (MPV) on (03) 9655 8622. This document is also available in PDF format on the MPV website at www.mpv.vic.gov.au. For information on projects delivered by MPV, visit www.mpv.vic.gov.au. For information on specific projects the Victorian Government is delivering, visit www.vic.gov.au. Published and authorised by Major Projects Victoria, Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, Level 8, 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, Victoria. June 2009. Copyright State of Victoria. Printed by Red Rover (Aust.) Pty Limited 53 Brady Street, South Melbourne Victoria 3205 Designed by Design and Production Unit, Public Affairs, Department of Transport Contributors: J Gronow, B O’Connor, S Nattrass, J Betts, S Goodey, R Miller, J Wilson Photography: P Glenane, Grocon, Department of Education, Arup, Department of Transport
Subscribe To subscribe to Building One Victoria, please provide your name and address to Major Projects Victoria at GPO Box 4509, Melbourne, Vic., 3001 or by submitting your details through the MPV website, www.mpv.vic.gov.au.
Major Projects Victoria’s (MPV) mission is to deliver projects that achieve exceptional economic, social and environmental outcomes for the Victorian community. MPV is a division of the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development and reports to the Minister for Major Projects, Tim Pallas MP.