LandCorp partners in the regions

LANDCORP is extending its program of regional collaboration with local governments and the private sector in an effort to avoid future land shortages.

LandCorp chief executive Ross Holt told WA Business News partnering was necessary to produce desired outcomes in regional areas.

"There's a limit to what LandCorp, which is a relatively small project management team, can do on its own," Mr Holt said.

"We don't think we can do it all, and we don't want to do it all, and that's what the partnering is about.

"The theory is with a collaborative, partnering approach you get much better outcomes.

"If you get different skill sets, more heads around the table, and more experience, then you'll get a better outcome.

"We've always done it, but now we're trying to unleash it to a much greater extent

"The demands in WA are so large that we want to much better engage with third parties, to help us deliver on all of those things the government's wanting."

Mr Holt identified Newman, Port Hedland, Karratha, and Dampier as major growth areas thanks to planned resource expansions such as Chevron's Gorgon LNG project, and Woodside's planned expansion of its Pluto LNG project.

Expansion of the Ord River irrigation area is another project boosting regional WA.

LandCorp is currently undertaking 16 partnering projects across Western Australia, ranging from traditional residential estates to waterfront commercial developments.

Mr Holt said major expansions in the resources sector had been a major driver of LandCorp's increasing focus on the regions.

"We came into the regional game in 2003 and at that time we had two people working on regional projects," he said.

"We've now got about 40. We've gradually built up our capacity, which has been challenging in the past few years, because everyone's had trouble getting the right personnel, but we've now got 40 people working on the residential, industrial and town centre stuff in the regions.

"The huge catalyst has been the resource expansion. If not for all of those growth measures, you would not see that level of activity in the regions."

LandCorp's first partnering project in the Pilbara is a 1,000-lot residential precinct at Styles Road in Port Hedland.

At Styles Road LandCorp is partnering with Satterley Property Group, Leighton Contractors and Ngarda Civil and Mining to develop 120 hectares over the next five to 10 years.

Mr Holt said LandCorp's vision for the site was for a high-quality residential community, which integrated with the rest of Port Hedland.

LandCorp is also seeking expressions of interest for a major development at Carnarvon boat harbour and 8.4ha of former railway land located at Bluff Point near Geraldton, which has been earmarked for affordable housing.

In Broome, Mr Holt said LandCorp had undertaken a significant planning process with the Shire of Broome on a planned Broome North subdivision.

"From a business point of view it makes considerable sense to partner with the local community, partner with local authorities, and partner with builders and developers, because what we're trying to do is build capacity in these areas as well," Mr Holt said.