ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Quality long term job creation is held by the public and private sectors as an elusive goal. In the wider context of the North West Corridor of Perth, it is one of the biggest challenges for the next decade or two.
Historic low rates of self-sufficiency and local job containment have proven to be a weakness for the north. The common inhibitor is often quoted as being a deficit in physical infrastructure. Greater than this seems to be uncoordinated policies and programs with low job outcomes, and a poor focus on higher end, knowledge-related job creation. A lack of development imagination gives limited options across most income categories. The argument against "market forces" leaves us only with the under performing economic assets we are surrounded with as examples.
This strategy focuses on a subset of the greater St. Andrews project. The Yanchep Beach Joint Venture is over a 600 hectare site, of which approximately 200 hectares is designated as town centre. Within the town centre area is the provision for about 20,000 jobs. The entire St. Andrews project expects to yield up to 60,000 jobs over its 50 year life. The ambitious nature of the St. Andrews project will require genuine partnerships and diligent project implementation strategies. Life cycles also need to be acknowledged, as the development will go through stages of renewal and revitalisation.
Many economic development strategies produced around Australia focus either on the leadership role of government (through local government and other agencies) or the need for the private sector to engage their networks to achieve economic prosperity. The balance of public/private support within a Greenfield development has different drivers to the revitalisation or ‘greening’ of brownfield developments. To this end, the genuine collaboration of government and business is needed in order to convert symbolic statements into concrete and ‘bankable’ employment results.
In recent times, a number of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Heads of Agreement (HOA) with public and private concerns have signalled the intent and direction of the project. This document seeks to confirm the strategic direction of the project over the next period of up to ten years.
One of the challenges for the project will be to meet and exceed the expectations placed on it by the government sector. This historical arrangement is translated into ambitious targets for certain sections of the North West Corridor with scant regard for other parcels of privately and publicly held land. What is needed by all major stakeholders is an agreement to equally apportion responsibility for economic outcomes to all players. A disjointed approach is guaranteed to under perform in terms of sustainable economic outcomes.
This aim of the ED Strategy is to provide the reader with an understanding of the overall vision of the project as it progresses toward maturity. The local and specialist employment targets are some of the most ambitious within the Perth Metropolitan Area. Support for this project will certainly lead to industry and capital deepening for Perth and the State of Western Australia.
