Tamworth Intermodal Rail Hub and Global Gateway Park: Final figures submitted to state government costed at $20 million
FINAL figures submitted to the state government show the cost for additional work at Tamworth Intermodal Rail Hub will be in the order of $20 million.
Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) general manager Paul Bennett said he is confident the work will be paid for by the state government.
"Any engineer worth their salt knows that you essentially develop a design to the 50 per cent stage and then you do a costing based on that," he said.
"You build in contingencies based on what might happen with the more detailed design and that's what's happening at the moment."
The Tamworth Regional Ratepayers' Association expressed concern that there was no detailed business case for the entire Tamworth Global Gateway Park (TGGP) and adjoining rail hub and as a result, ratepayers would have to foot the bill.
The rail hub has taken 30 months to get off the ground and that has been a frustration for the council, Mr Bennett said.
"The fact that the state government team that is now delivering this project was only appointed in June last year meant there was essentially 18 months of lots of talk with nothing actually happening within those particular parts of state government," he said.
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The new industrial estate owned by TRC will essentially duplicate Taminda, while the intermodal hub rail corridor and project comes under Transport for NSW.
The council has made no commitment to pay for the additional costs for the intermodal hub, but the extra works will be dependent on if state government funds are made available.
At this stage its expected the detailed design will be completed in September, and the build will take 12 months so the intermodal will not be operational until the back end of 2021.
A re-evaluation of the land at the TGGP shows the rezoning of the 246ha block increased its value by 20 per cent.
At this stage more than $27 million has been invested into the entire precinct.