Funding in Budget for ME Upgrade

[travelling_gerry]

State offices to leave CBD

PETER KERR, The West Australian May 19, 2010, 2:35 am


WA News / Gerald Moscarda ©







A major shift of public servants to Perth's suburbs will be unveiled in tomorrow's Budget, with the State Government to launch a long-awaited "master plan" to cut up to $25 million a year in office rents.


And substantial funding for a new rectangular sports stadium in East Perth is likely, although its immediate future hinges on stalled negotiations between the Government and the Town of Vincent amid speculation its cost has blown out from a working figure of $160 million to as much as $260 million.


Commerce Minister Bill Marmion said yesterday that up to 20 per cent of the Government's expensive central business district office space would be replaced with cheaper suburban rentals over the next five years.


The plan has already begun, with some Treasury staff from five separate buildings and Department of Training officers shifting to Osborne Park early next year.
Transfers of other public agencies are likely to revolve around building developments close to transport hubs, with an initial target understood to be in the City of Stirling.
There will also be consolidation of remaining Government offices in the CBD, including those in Governor Stirling Tower, when 140 William Street, which the Government is leasing in its entirety at a cheaper rate, is completed.


Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi and urban planning think tanks said the move to save money was short-sighted and would affect the city's vitality.


Future Perth chairman Sean Morrison said it was a "bad move" that could hamper the Government's ability to retain staff who wished to work in the CBD and went against the redevelopment of the waterfront.


Ms Scaffidi said the shift of the Land Department to Midland had been viewed poorly in the industry and its new plans contrasted with Federal Government studies showing how important vibrant cities were to a State's economic activity.


It comes as Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson declared Perth "yesterday's mining hero" and said Australia's future lay in Darwin. He was addressing a petroleum conference yesterday.


The Government is also understood to have included partial funding in the Budget for an upgrade of ME Bank stadium in line with its pledge to develop soccer and rugby facilities before revamping Subiaco Oval.

The Government is still negotiating over lease fees for the land and who would own the stadium and bear the potentially huge financial risk. It is understood the cost estimate has increased.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...-to-leave-cbd/

[blueandblack]

"The plan has already begun, with some Treasury staff from five separate buildings and Department of Training officers shifting to Osborne Park early next year."

and I know where they are going, since I am involved in that very matter.


"There will also be consolidation of remaining Government offices in the CBD, including those in Governor Stirling Tower, when 140 William Street, which the Government is leasing in its entirety at a cheaper rate, is completed."

My (current) Dept was supposed to be moving there (this was spoken about 10 years ago) but apparently not any more. Oh well. Didn't realise the Govt were taking the whole lot up though. Was supposed to be 3 Depts.

[jargan83]

Department of Training officers shifting to Osborne Park early next year.

I am well aware of this as well working formerly at Department of Education and Training and now soley Department of Education.

Sure the Government is dribbling on about saving rent money, do they come out and say how much it costing to split Educatiion and Training up? Of course not because the figure is just over half the cost for a $160 million stadium

[blueandblack]

My part is involved in the Treasury side, more specifically the BMW (aka Works/CAMS/PWD) people who are still in the process of splitting from Housing and integrating into Treasury.

I note the stadium is supposed to be up to $260 mil now.

[Burgs]

"Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi and urban planning think tanks said the move to save money was short-sighted and would affect the city's vitality."

Government and vitality in one sentence!
Clutching at straws there Ms Scaffidi!

Always said if you want to make the real money you needed to become the supplier of choice for letterheads and signage to the State Government!

I remember hearing last year, though not sure if still the plan, to move the Regional based sectors to the country cities, think it was Mining to Kalgoorlie, Agriculture to Bunbury and Fishing to Geraldton or something to lead the way for population decentralization.

[James]

Good idea. Perth is getting too big.

[jargan83]

It could happen in theory, but then you either have to put some incentives to get people to up and move who are already working at these departments or replace them and redeploy the existing staff in the jobs to other departments

[Burgs]

Surely keeping your job is fair incentive enough?
That's the trouble with so many guvvo workers (TWFers excluded of course, they are all hard working!) they get on the spoon fed gravey train and set their sights on the gold watch handshake at retirement. (Did I fit in enough cliches?)
Probably the best thing that could happen to a department is to have the move without any incentives and then lift wages as required to fill the positions.
Those who don't want to move can try life on the other side for awhile.
I suspect that won't be too popular but it is the reality in the private world, why not the public?

[jargan83]

You would think so but apparently not

I came from the private side and in my time in the public sector I have seen stuff that has leaves me gobsmacked at times.

Team leaders that do not even know their jobs is a good starting point or how about staff who consistantly come in 45 minutes late for work.

Some staff seem to be a protected species

It shits me off

[AndyS]

Got to say, I'm surprised that it was the relocation of the public service that caught everyones attantion out of that.

My first thought was "$260M for the stadium - WTF?". I can only assume that is a whole new stadium, as my observation would be that Melbourne's new stadium cost $267.5 million. The design is done and the lessons learnt...surely we could do a like-for-like for no more than the same money? Mind you, you'd hope they would do a roof that doesn't completely bugger the expansion plans.

[Burgs]

Probably because we are all glazing over re stadia Andy

[AndyS]

Understandable, but I thought that a glaring inconsistency. It would be a balls-up on a monumental scale if the government managed to spend enough to build a new stadium and actually ended up with a half-arsed patch-up of an old one! As a West Aussie, that would be genuinely embarrassing. You'd hope they would be smarter than that, but then you look at the track record....

[normie]

...
That's the trouble with so many guvvo workers (TWFers excluded of course, they are all hard working!) they get on the spoon fed gravey train and set their sights on the gold watch handshake at retirement.... (Did I fit in enough cliches?)

Too many cliches are never enough!
Very astute observation of TWFers, I must say Burgs.

I am a bit amazed that the headline focussed on guvvo offices relocating with the important news just surreptitiously slipped in.

[jargan83]

I am a bit amazed that the headline focussed on guvvo offices relocating with the important news just surreptitiously slipped in.

I assume that is due to the State Government and ToV still not comming to an agreement. I am interested in knowing what the blowout in cost is attrubuted to, surely the plans have to be have been modified? Or the State Government is dealing with the crooks at the CFMEU?

[travelling_gerry]

I'll see if I can get your attention with this



The Government is also expected to tip in $80 million for a new eastern stand at East Perth's ME Bank stadium. Sports Minister Terry Waldron is committed to having plans in place for a full staged redevelopment of the stadium by July, with speculation its cost has grown to up to $260 million.

But those plans depend on a rent agreement with the Town of Vincent.

Town chief executive John Giorgi said yesterday they were "miles apart" but he was confident of an agreement.