THE future of the Snowy Mountains SAP will have a clearer picture after today's NSW State Budget, with the promised $391 million from the previous government now under threat.
The Snowy Mountains SAP is a 40 year master plan for Jindabyne, Thredbo, Perisher Valley and Charlotte Pass. The majority of expenditure would be in Jindabyne for various infrastructure upgrades plus the Southern Connector bypass road around the town of Jindabyne. In the alpine areas the majority of work is based around planning and permissions.
Prior to the budget, the Snowy Mountains Magazine spoke with Member for Monaro, Steve Whan, to gauge his opinion on what outcomes could eventuate and his thoughts on how the SAP is developing.
Mr Whan had visited Jindabyne recently viewing the new Jindabyne Tafe and school, and accompanying the NSW Minister for Health, Ryan Park to meet with Southern Health in Jindabyne.
“I’ve been talking to the Minister for a while about the need for our health services and emergency response to adjust to the changes we have seen in Jindabyne. Jindabyne is not a sleepy town in summer anymore, it is a year-round destination with a rapidly growing population,” said Mr Whan.
He said he was shocked that the SAP master plan for Jindabyne had not involved any planning with health.
“The visit allowed the Minister to hear first-hand from local health employees and others at the Health One clinic."
“He then heard from our ambulance paramedics about what they need to see happen to be able to cater for the year round demand the community now has. This was a quiet listening visit to hear directly from the people on the front line. The Minister and I will be working with Southern Health local health district on their service planning for Jindabyne and working to address some of these longer-term issues”.
The new ambulance station is set to be built somewhat adjacent to the Snowy Mountains Grammar School, part of a new subdivision, but this is still some time away. It was announced previously that any ambulance upgrade would include additional staffing.
“We definitely need to be planning for the expansion in population, having more services that can reduce the number of (ambulance) trips that are needed to Cooma hospital,” said Mr Whan. He would like to see the Health One facility better utilised and potentially expand the available services.
Mr Whan recognised the fact that the industries within the Kosciuszko National Park, and its visitation generate economic activity for NSW. The SAP would bolster this tourism as an eventual year-round economy for the area.
“The problem is that we've had a previous government which has gone out and basically just spent everything, plus they've racked up massive debt,” was how Mr Whan described the need to reconsider the SAP’s expenditure. “We need to just step it through and make sure that the money is being well managed.”
“And I don't see any doubt about needing to get the things like the infrastructure, the sewerage and the water. I don't see any argument about that, except from the council who's worried about taking on a bigger maintenance bill in the medium term. Obviously, we need to talk to them about that.”
He agreed on needing to identify where growth is going to occur over the next 40 years and its development. He has spoken to Minister for Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty on the need for development that includes solutions for the long term rental problem. He acknowledged that any growth where key staff needed to relocate to the area would find challenges with securing accommodation.
Commenting on the Southern Connector road, which is estimated to be a $254 million build, Mr Whan said there is an issue around the road, the costings significantly different than the original costings. Transport for NSW are working on a definitive costing for the new road. “We all know infrastructure cost has exploded in the last couple of years.”
The new road was to be a joint funding initiative from state and federal government, Mr Whan aware that the full amount would not come from state government alone.
The soon to be vacant Jindabyne Central School site in Jindabyne is a key piece of land that could be utilised in many ways. NSW planning have presented ideas to the community advisory group on possible retail and commercial ground floor options, with residential on upper levels. Some buildings were planned up to 8 stories high. Mr Whan has seen the planning ideas and said, “there's obviously a bit of community consultation to go on that and I think I've heard consistently as well that people would like to see some of that over 55 sort of residential development there as well.”
During his visits, Mr Whan has met with local community groups to discuss the proposed mountain bike park and the pump track proposal. He said the pump track was a positive idea and he would look for separate funding on that project.
He commented he wanted to understand more about the whole mountain bike park project, and he still had questions about the staged process, the funding and upkeep of maintenance and how it pays its way.
As for the overall money that will be available for the Snowy Mountains SAP, Mr Whan said once he sees what is in and not in the budget, he would like to see individual expected expenditure for each aspect of the SAP, including for lake foreshore and town centre improvements.
Once the budget is revealed, there will be more information as to any changes to the initial plan, and the timing of future documents to be presented for public exhibition.
