The City of
Greater Geelong spent a record $124.5 million on capital projects during the
2018-19 financial year, figures presented to council show.
The money was invested in a range of major infrastructure upgrades and new
community facilities, as the City responds to the region’s rapid population
growth.
Major community projects completed during 2018-19 included the Armstrong Creek
Integrated Children’s and Community Centre ($17.24 million), stage two of the
Leopold Community Hub – including library ($8.7 million), and the Highton
Enhanced Children’s Centre ($5.5 million).
The numbers were detailed on Tuesday 27 August as council endorsed an amended
carryover of $36.2 million in capital expenditure from the 2018-19 budget to
the 2019-20 budget, following a review of capital projects at the end of June.
This is a significant improvement on the $49.5 million carried over from
2017-18 to 2018-19.
A number of major builds are scheduled to be finished in 2019-20, highlighted
by new Child and Family Centres in Drysdale and Purnell Road (Corio), both
valued at $13.3 million.
Councillor Bruce Harwood, Mayor:
Through its past two budgets this council has committed to a huge
investment in capital projects for the long-term benefit of our community. The
$124.5 million capital spend shows we are listening to the community and
building the essential infrastructure being requested.Although we hope to see the carryover figure reduce further next year, this
year’s result is a major improvement on the previous 12 months.
Councillor Pat Murnane, Chair, Finance portfolio:
The $124.5 million
capital spend last financial year shows that this council is placing a heavy
emphasis on investing in important community facilities and infrastructure.
There were some major capital projects completed during 2018-19 that were
vitally important to our growing community’s needs.This continues during the current financial year, with a projection that we’ll
spend $125 million on capital projects during 2019-20.
