NEWS DESK
More cash for roads, car park in budget Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au
THE newly released federal budget features extra taxpayer funding for the upgrade of Hall Road and for new car parks at Frankston Station. The 2021/2022 budget contains an extra $56.8 million in funding for the Hall Road project. The federal government has now committed a total of just over $141 million to the upgrade. An additional $19 million will go into expanding car parking at Frankston Station, taking the federal government’s total commitment to $43.5 million. In a statement the Committee for Greater Frankston celebrated the car park funding, but said that “promised new commuter parking at Seaford and Kananook stations would not be built”. “The new Frankston multi-deck is long overdue, 45 years actually, but now is really just a stopgap measure, a temporary fix,” Committee CEO Ginevra Hosking said. “Inadequate public transport to and through Frankston, and its consequence – an over-dependence on overly expensive parking – has become a barrier to economic growth and job creation in our CBD.” No extra money was included in the budget for the trouble-plagued proposal to electrify and duplicate the Frankston line to Baxter. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that projects such as Hall Road and the Western Port Highway upgrade,
PRIME Minister Scott Morrison visited Leawarra station in 2018 to commit funding for the extension of the Frankston line. Since then no more money has been put into the project, and car parking promises on the line have gone unfulfilled. Picture: Gary Sissons
which received another $30 million in the budget, would help with “creating jobs, boosting business investment, while securing Australia’s COVID recovery”. “From building the intermodal Melbourne needs for a better future for freight and productivity, to improving the key road connections in the outer
suburbs and regional areas - these projects will support more than 3,000 direct and indirect jobs across Victoria,” he said. Dunkley MP Peta Murphy said that Frankston and the surrounding areas “deserve a better budget than what was produced on Tuesday night.” “This Liberal government’s eighth
federal budget was disappointing and a missed opportunity,” she said. “Despite spending almost $100 billion and racking up a record $1 trillion in debt, the budget sadly reveals no new projects for Dunkley and expects local real wages will go backwards. “Budget papers reveal that no new local infrastructure projects have been
funded in this budget and no progress has been made on previously announced projects including Baxter Rail, Ballarto Road and commuter car parking at Seaford and Kananook stations. Our community needs the government to deliver what they promised us. “There was also no money in the budget for very worthy local projects that I’ve been lobbying the government for on behalf of our community - including Emil Madsen Reserve, Mornington Peninsula Bay Trail, Nairm Marr Djambana, McClelland Gallery, and Ballam Park Athletics track. That is deeply disappointing. However, I will continue to fight to ensure that we get our fair share - and I will work with anyone who wants the same for our community. “Whilst we welcome the additional funding in child care and aged care, it is clear that more support is needed to address these issues.” Ms Murphy and Frankston mayor Kris Bolam met with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack last week for a discussion.
Supply setback for builders Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au A “PERFECT storm” of bushfires, industry cutbacks, COVID, people working from home, and government incentives for new home building and renovations have led to a shortage of structural timber affecting the Victorian building industry. The dearth of supply across the Mornington Peninsula has meant many timber yards are finding it hard to source stock for their trade customers. There are concerns the shortage, leading to delays, will generate a “ripple effect” affecting the jobs of electricians,
carpenters, joiners and others involved in home building. Adding to the “storm” are rises in global freight charges and strong demand for timber in other countries, especially the US, absorbing supplies from European producers which traditionally would have been sent here. Supplies of pine – the most common framing timber – were badly affected when a large NSW mill was razed by bushfires earlier last year. This, combined with the decommissioning of a major South Australian framing mill, helped create that “perfect storm” which has engulfed the industry with “no end in sight” to the supply problem. Framing timber prices could jump 30
per cent by year’s end, although supplies of other timber are not affected so badly. Dromana Discount Timber owner Luke Wharton, who has spent 29 years, in the industry, said he had never seen shortages of so many building materials and products which has pushed prices “through the roof”. “We are seeing unprecedented demand now, yet the forecast for 2020 was that the housing market would crash,” he said. “Instead, it went the other way.” Mr Wharton said early last year there was a shortage of pine frames. “Pine producers were just starting to get on top of that when COVID-19 hit and there’s been a domino effect ever since.”
Speak to your agent about listing on realestateview.com.au. Be seen everywhere. PAGE 8
Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News
19 May 2021
Bunnings general manager merchandise Toby Watson agreed: “We have seen unprecedented demand for timber products for a number of months now due to people spending more time at home and the incentives for new home builds and renovations. “This is creating a challenge for the entire industry with demand particularly strong for structural timber in Australia. “We’re working with our suppliers and trade customers to forecast demand and plan earlier in the build process so we have additional time to manage orders as best as possible.” Moorooduc Timber and Hardware owner of 20 years Richard Goding described the timber shortage as a “global
thing”. “We can’t get enough pine framing because of the strong world-wide demand,” he said. “We can’t produce enough [pine] here to satisfy demand but usually we can top up with imported material from, say, Canada, the US or Europe. Now, 50 per cent of that is not coming because they are going through building booms as well. “Demand is certainly exceeding supply. “It’s going to take us a long time [to get back to normal] and there is no real solution in sight.”