Five NSW budget highlights for Coffs Harbour
Big surprise amid more of the same as government promises $55 million investment in a single building.
Coffs Harbour
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coffs Harbour. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There are a few choice cuts for Coffs Harbour in the NSW Budget 2021/22, however, most of them have been on the shelf for a while. Here are five of the best.
New digs for government departments
In a move sure to capture the public’s imagination, the State Government plans to construct a $55 million building, most likely in the Coffs CBD, to house state government employees. Sound familiar?
It is expected the building will bring together staff already in the city, as well as help attract new personnel to the region as part Coffs Harbour’s designation as one of the state’s four regional working hubs.
As a regional working hub Coffs Harbour will be aiming to prise state government positions away from greater Sydney.
Boon for boaties
Seafarers of the Coffs Coast can rest assured long-awaited projects are chugging into port. $11.5m has been included for the Coffs Harbour boat ramp upgrade promised at the last election, and $5.8m to construct a travel lift at Coffs Harbour.
The financial allocation for the travel lift, which will be able to lift 75 tonne boats out of the water like a mechanical superman, will be split with a slipway project in Tweed Heads.
Throwing down 5 per cent
Of course the Coffs Harbour bypass rates a mention, with the government allocating $100 million to the long-awaited road.
If that sounds like a lot, it isn’t. The figure represents a little over 5 per cent of the estimated $1.8 billion spend on the project, which is being split with the Federal Government who will contribute 80 per cent of the funding.
(Almost) All in on the foreshore
Another project on the cards for years will get cracking, with the Jetty Foreshore redevelopment allocated $15 million. With the TPA (total promised amount) at $20 million, the public can rest assured there will be plenty of scope for more fish statues at the prize piece of land.
The master plan-planning is still ongoing, but there have been some interesting developments with regards to a piece of land on the western side of the railway recently.
Get the kids in the pool
It may not be a Coffs Harbour special but the government’s $44m program to give out $100 vouchers for swimming lessons should be well received.
In a region surrounded by water learning to swim is vital, and removing barriers for families (albeit in a small way) to get their kids lessons is a no-brainer.
The vouchers will be available to every preschool child aged three to six and by next budget day they should be able to learn in a freshly heated Coffs Harbour Olympic pool.
From ‘living in hell’ to hope: School shift a miracle for autistic boy
It’s the words no parent ever wants to hear. Here is one father’s story of going from “living in hell” to hope as an autism specific class saved his son’s life.
Faces of the NSW DV hotspot almost double state average
The Coffs Coast's domestic violence rate has soared to 1.7 times the state average, with court records revealing the faces behind a 72 per cent surge in assaults.