7th Annual New South Wales Major Projects Conference Concludes Successfully

The highly anticipated 7th Annual New South Wales Major Projects Conference was held last week on the 24^th & 25^th of November at Doltone House to an audience of more than 250 delegates, to learn and discuss from a range of 26 local and international speakers, across specialties including construction, government, energy and mining sectors on the state’s latest and most prominent infrastructure projects.

The event commenced with a Ministerial Address by the Hon. Duncan Gay, New South Wales Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, who reflected on the challenges and growth of the state. Currently there are more than 200 cranes across Sydney’s skylines, posing an approximate 30% increase since the latest state election, with an additional 4,600 projects set to take place over the 2016 year.

With a range of expert presenters, the conference featured speakers such as Craig van der Laan from the NSW Barangaroo Delivery Authority, Brendon Baker from the Sydney Metro Delivery Office, Dennis Cliche from the Sydney Motorway Corporation and Stephen Cornish from Transurban.

The first day of the conference featured presentations on prime projects such as the Sydney Metro, WestConnex, project updates on the NorthConnex motorway, Sydney Light Rail, as well as topics on Water Sustainability, Improving Supply Chain Efficiency in New South Wales and Performance Managing Infrastructure Projects.  

The second day of the conference concluded the event with presenters providing insight into the Barangaroo precinct, the Inland Rail project, proposals revolving the Western Sydney Infrastructure plan, Western Sydney’s Major Road Projects, as well as plans on the Parramatta North Urban Renewal Program.

Emphasising on the importance of physical mobility within cities and promoting economic growth, keynote speaker Edward J. Blakely, Chair of Future Cities Collaborative, and Honorary Professor in Urban Policy, United States Studies Centre and University of Sydney, provided insight into the Parramatta North Urban Renewal Program, which proposes to redevelop the precinct for better accommodation and promote modern living standards.

“The most important thing is getting the transport infrastructure right. Not just to the city, but around the city, without them having to get into their car and out of their car and move through traffic, you’re going to have much more productivity. Transportation is the key,” said Blakely.

The conference also featured an extensive panel discussion on the topic of NSW Economy – What’s Ahead for the Future, examining future predictions and outlooks of the state, with industry experts Jeremy Thorpe, Partner of PwC Australia, Justin Fabo, Senior Economist from ANZ and Kathryn Matthews, a Partner at Deloitte Access Economics.     

The conference was supported by a wide range of companies and sponsors, attended by renowned companies such as ProjectLink, McCullough Robertson, QA Software, CSR Hebel, Poles & Underground, A2K Technologies, Redstack, United Fasteners and Eventslinked.

“The best thing of course is always networking. I just met two or three people who are in spaces that would be very helpful to us. They had some really great ideas on other transportation solutions I didn’t mention and I met some people who were doing things similar to what we are doing,” said Blakely.

The 7th Annual New South Wales Major Projects conference was held at Doltone House in Hyde Park on the 24^th & 25^th of November. 

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