From cost blowouts to deadline extensions, the much-vaunted plan to revitalise Perth’s CBD appears to have been placed on the backburner.
THE unveiling of the $1.5 billion Perth City Deal during the pandemic was a welcome piece of positive news in an otherwise-fraught period, promising a central business district brimming with vibrancy and vitality within the next four years.
Six months out from the state election, Planning Minister Rita Saffioti and then Liberal Party heavyweight Mathias Cormann confirmed the three tiers of government had inked a deal to deliver a suite of game-changing projects.
The Sunday press conference only highlighted the urgency for change, with just a few dozen people passing through the embattled Yagan Square hospitality precinct during the 15-minute announcement.
The crown jewel in the plan was a $695 million push to bring Edith Cowan University’s Creative Industries, Business and Technology Campus into the city, and a promise at least two other universities would follow.
A CBD transport plan, a revamped Perth Cultural Centre and Perth Concert Hall, a redevelopment of the state’s cricket grounds and long-awaited upgrades to the East Perth Power Station site were all part of the scheme.
Two years on, however, the deal has blown out by more than $190 million to $1.69 billion, at least one major project has been shelved and the deadlines for others are passing and changing.
The plan’s city campus centrepiece also failed an economic cost-benefit test, with Infrastructure Australia declaring it could not be confident the “overstated” benefits of the campus would exceed its costs.
And there are signs of disunity between the parties, with the City of Perth sidelined eight months in after refusing to foot the bill for the upkeep of the WACA Ground’s swimming pool.
The state government then overruled the council into giving the WACA rate exemptions, weeks after Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas failed to get an invitation to the announcement of a $200 million Aboriginal cultural centre.
He also was absent when Premier Mark McGowan and former prime minister Scott Morrison vowed to top up the fund amid cost blowouts ahead of the last federal election.
For months, the state government has been dodging questions on city deal projects that were supposed to be completed this year.
Opposition planning spokesperson Neil Thomson is growing frustrated, accusing the state government of kicking the can down the road.
Neil Thomson. Photo: David Henry
“Given the challenges of the COVID pandemic, the troubles in Yagan Square, the general malaise of the retail sector, homelessness and the general decline in the feeling and amenity of the city, I thought the premier might be keeping a close eye on his ministers and the partners to make sure that things were progressing,” Mr Thomson said.
“I wanted to know where we were with these major initiatives, but what I got just shows complete abrogation of responsibility.
“I understand more money has been allocated, but it appears nothing has been done.
“It would seem the government is pretty good at making the promises but is really light on the delivery.”
Cracks emerge
The Perth City Deal featured 15 projects and initiatives that were tipped to support 10,000 jobs.
However, just two have been completed since the deal was signed.
The state delivered the Indigenous Business and Employment Hub in the first year, but the streamlined environmental platform promised wasn’t completed as planned in June, with the federal environmental agency confirming components of the service had not yet been finalised.
But the deal hit a real hurdle six months ago when Murdoch University scrapped its $250 million vertical campus plan after a review of its finances.
Four weeks later, the state government revealed its 112-unit facility in East Perth, a cornerstone of the deal’s $36 million (now $45.4 million) in homelessness housing projects, had fallen victim to rising construction costs and would be delayed.
In better news earlier this month, Fugro opened its $18 million Australian Space Automation, AI and Robotics Control Complex on Wellington Street, almost half of which was funded under the deal.
At this stage, it appears the pre-feasibility study into the Aboriginal cultural centre and the $20 million clean-up of the East Perth Power Station site for billionaires Kerry Stokes and Andrew Forrest are among the few state-driven line items that will be delivered by their original deadline.
When the deal was unveiled in 2020, it was envisaged that both the Perth Cultural Centre and Perth Concert Hall redevelopments would be completed this year.
However, parliamentary documents reveal the scope of one project has now expanded and the price tag for both has increased, with the state government having to source extra funding.
Following further enquiries by Business News, a state government spokesperson conceded the overarching long-term plan for the city was also unlikely to meet its deadline.
“The city and the state are continuing to work on finalising the scope for the City of Perth Strategic Plan,” the spokesperson said.
“It is unlikely the plan will be completed in 2022.
Despite this, no project is dependent on the plan and any delay in publication will not have a flow-on effect.”
The state government referred questions regarding the deadlines for other projects to various partner companies and government agencies.
An ECU spokesperson said the project remained on track for practical completion in late 2025, and operational in 2026, in line with its 2021 development application.
“With the appointment earlier this year of ECU City’s head contractor, Multiplex, and further confirmation of the building program, ECU is confident that the project will be delivered by the planned completion date,” the spokesperson said.
“ECU understands current pressures in the construction industry, which appear to have eased in the last six months, however, we remain firmly committed to delivering the ECU City campus project within the planned timeframe.
“The building program is on schedule with early works already under way and main construction works to commence in early 2023.”
A Curtin University spokesperson told Business News while planning for its Historical Heart Cluster was progressing, details were still being worked through and no completion date could be provided.
The precinct was due to open next year. It’s not yet clear when the WACA pool will be completed either, despite initial projections it would be operational by 2024.
It is understood the CBD transport plan is still in the planning phase and due to be delivered by 2024.
So, too, is the recycling infrastructure plan.
Deal drama
Mr Thomson said he held concerns for the central business district, which he said had been battered by COVID, subsequent restrictions and the hollowing out of street-activated retail.
He said the state’s lack of clarity when it came to any discussion of the deal’s deadlines demonstrated a lack of interest and leadership over the CBD and its future.
“To any casual observer wandering through the CBD, the city is showing visible signs of decay and general deterioration in the feel of the city at street level,” Mr Thomson said.
“Of course, the renewal of the cultural centre will really improve the look and feel of that precinct, which has some great assets there, but we really need to see the stimulation of the economy at the retail level.”
Mr Thomson also raised concerns about the decision to locate the Aboriginal Cultural Centre in front of the Perth Concert Hall, which he believed would be a step backwards.
He believed the decision to locate the important facility there, without a strategic plan, would negatively affect visitation.
“I fear the Aboriginal Cultural Centre is being thought of as a single project rather than an integrated project, and the decision to locate it at the front of the Perth Concert Hall, I think, is a step backwards,” Mr Thomson said.
“There’s been an enormous amount of work by the Planning Commission into the location of Elizabeth Quay and the opportunities that were created in terms of creating that north-south axis along William Street, to the Perth Museum and the Perth Cultural Centre.
“That was always the strategic vision; that was what was going to ensure we got maximum foot traffic, maximum visitation and maximum profile for these important facilities.
“By locating this important facility down at Langley Park, it’s going to be out of the way, it’s not going to make real sense from a planning perspective.
“I expect that to effectively reduce the likely visitation and activation that will occur around those important public assets.
The state government spokesperson said the Aboriginal Cultural Centre site had been unanimously selected by the project steering committee, which comprised six members of the Whadjuk Cultural Authority, for its “spiritual significance” and connection to the Derbarl Yerrigan.
“It is disappointing that the Liberals are seeking to undermine this important cultural process,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the tension over the past six months, a City of Perth spokesperson insisted the local government was supportive of the deal, hailing it as an initiative that would transform the city and add to its cultural fabric.
