More money for existing projects – that was Tuesday's NSW budget in a nutshell, when it comes to Illawarra and South Coast spending.
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Most of the 2016-17 state budget cash splash went to the regions’ major road upgrades, with $196 million to be spent on eight planned Princes Highway improvements between Cataract and Dignams Creek, south of Narooma.
The highway spend is an increase on last year, when $188.2 million was spent on 10 Princes Highway projects, including all eight listed above.
As the Mercury revealed before the budget was handed down, $110 million will see work continue on the Foxground and Berry Bypass, while planning and pre-construction cash will be splashed on the Albion Park Rail (APR) bypass and the Berry to Bomaderry Princes Highway upgrade.
The budget papers contained no start or completion dates for the APR bypass or Berry to Bomaderry upgrade.
Further south, $3 million will be spent in 2016-17 to continue planning for a new Shoalhaven River crossing at Nowra, while planning money totalling $11.6 million has been put aside for the M1 (F6) extension north of Wollongong.
The region’s emergency services will also benefit from an increase in funding.
Just weeks after the Illawarra was lashed by wild weather, and days after it escaped round two largely unscathed, the government indicated it would outlay more than $21 million over two years to update facilities for emergency personnel across the state.
Included in that spend is $6.4 million in "new funding" for the new State Emergency Service headquarters in Wollongong (a $13.6 million project announced in last year's budget). A total of $13.5 million will be allocated to the upgrade in 2016-17.
It appears the new money has actually been held over from last year; $7.3 million was allocated to the project in 2015-16, but this year's budget papers indicated a mere $117,000 will have been spent on the upgrade in the 12 months to June 30.
Elsewhere, just over $2 million will be spent on continuing the Wollongong fire station refurbishment, a $5 million project that was also announced in last year's budget.
"The recent storms that battered NSW are a stark reminder of how important our emergency services personnel are and how blessed we are to have them," Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said in her budget speech.
As indicated prior to the budget, $3.8 billion will be spent over four years to increase the state's prison capacity, with an additional 160 beds at the South Coast Correctional Centre and 60 at the soon-to-open jail at Unanderra included in the funding.
The Unanderra facility will see the former Community Offender Support Program (COSP) centre transformed into a minimum-security prison for men ahead of its opening in October.
On the health front, $9.1 million will be spent in the coming financial year on the Bulli Hospital upgrade; a smaller amount than the $14.7 million allocated to the new Aged Care Centre of Excellence last year.
The budget papers didn't list a predicted cost but stated an estimated expenditure to June 30 this year of just $2.9 million. Importantly, the papers indicated the project is still due for completion in 2018.
Other health money will see the completion of planning work for the Shellharbour Hospital, while the Berry ambulance station upgrade will share in rural ambulance infrastructure funding.
Elsewhere on the infrastructure front, the government will spend $280 million in 2016-17 as part of its Transport Access Program. However, lifts at Unanderra train station don't rate a mention in the budget papers.
Ms Berejiklian indicated the state's strong budget position meant an increase in spending on schools would be forthcoming in the next two years.
Spending to "attack the maintenance backlogs in schools" will more than double to $330 million during those 24 months, the Treasurer said.
The budget papers contained a list of a number of new schools and classrooms; none of which were in the Illawarra.
NSW budget 2016: What's in it for the Illawarra and South Coast?
ROADS
- $110 million in 2016-17 to continue the Foxground and Berry Bypass.
- $30 million allocated to the Burrill Lake Bridge replacement.
- $18 million to continue planning and pre-construction of the Berry to Bomaderry Princes Highway upgrade.
- $15 million to continue planning and pre-construction of the Albion Park Rail bypass.
- $15 million to start work to realign the Princes Highway to improve safety at Dignams Creek.
- $3 million to continue planning for the new Nowra Bridge over the Shoalhaven River.
- $11.6 million in planning money for the M1 (F6) extension in 2016-17.
- $4 million to continue planning Princes Motorway improvements between Picton Road and Bulli Tops
- $1 million in planning money for the interchange at the base of Mount Ousley
HEALTH
- $9.1 million to continue the Bulli Hospital Aged Care Centre of Excellence.
- $3.1 million in 2016-17 to complete the planning for Illawarra Hospitals (Shellharbour/Shoalhaven).
- $6.1 million in 2016-17 to continue work on the South East Regional Hospital in Bega.
- Continuing the development of the $106.7 million Wollongong Hospital Elective Surgery Unit, with $2.4 million allocated in 2016-17.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
- New funding of $6.4 million in 2016-17 for new State Emergency Service headquarters in Wollongong, with $13.5 million to be allocated to the project in 2016-17.
- $2.1 million to continue the Wollongong Fire Station refurbishment, which was announced in last year's budget
- $250,000 to start work on a new Fire and Rescue NSW station at Eden
UNIVERSITY
- Completing the $16.5 million iAccelerate Centre, providing a permanent space for over 280 start-up companies.
PORTS
- An additional $27.5 million over two years (2016-17 to 2017-18) towards the Port of Eden redevelopment.
INFRASTRUCTURE
- $750,000 to complete work on WIN Stadium's northern grandstand (total spend: $792,000)
- $4.4 million grant towards the upgrades of Merimbula Airport.
NATIONAL PARKS
- The Royal Coast Track, in the Royal National Park, will undergo another$3.7 million in upgrades in the next 12 months plus $5.3 million over following three years, which includes installing a viewing platform at Wedding Cake Rock and expanding the Wattamolla car park.
FLYING FOXES
- $2.5 million in 2015-16 towards the relocation of the grey headed flying fox population from Batemans Bay.