Huge jobs plan for satellite city

17/3/00
An Australian-first strategy to create 60,000 new jobs in the northern suburbs has been unveiled by Planning Minister Graham Kierath.
The jobs plan is part of creating a proposed $12 billion satellite city north of Perth on a 6000-hectare site owned by the Japanese Tokyu Corporation.
Mr Kierath said a special 3-day workshop will bring together business, developers, community, State Government and world experts to attempt to create industries for the proposed new city.
"Never before has a project of this size been conceived in Australia. When it is finished it will be home to about 150,000 people," Mr Kierath said.
"That equates to a town about five times the size of Bunbury and for it to work those people are going to need jobs."
Tokyu Corporation has signed an agreement with the State Government, Yanchep Sun City and the Wanneroo City to develop their 6000-hectare site at St Andrews.
Mr Kierath said part of ensuring the development would succeed was ensuring industry would also be attracted to the area.
"If people are going to make the decision to move to the area there has to be a reason for them to choose the lifestyle,"
he said.
"Not to mention the added demands a population of that size would place on the transportation system if they all had to commute each day."
The Job Creation Workshop will involve video-conferences with planning experts from around the world and an Internet site to allow community participation.
Mr Kierath said the Internet site was an exciting new facet of seeking community response to the project which is expected to take 29 years to complete.
"You can't get much better community consultation than having an instant response on the Internet," Mr Kierath said.
"Just like the project itself, this job creation project is breaking new ground for urban development in Australia.
"I would urge anyone with an interest in the future of our city to take the opportunity to participate."
The Internet address for the workshop is http://www.ideaproject.com.au. The workshop begins on Monday at the University of Western Australia.
Media contact: Zac Donovan (08) 9213 6400