Webinar for Resources for Regions, Round 6
Good morning and welcome to round 6 resources, for regions webinar, my. Name's Susan Gillum and I'm a program manager at, the Department of premier and cabinet I'm here. With my colleagues Chris Hanna executive. Director from regional New South Wales and Alex. Our copyin director, of our economic appraisal and evaluation unit. Today. Will go through round six of resources, for regions will, cover the program the, program principles. Will. Go through the expression of interest process, and the next steps will, talk a bit about confidential. Information and, will provide you with our contact details, will. Then have some. Time for some questions and, answers the. Purpose, of today's webinar is really to better inform you of the assessment, process for, resources for regions and will. Describe the sort of information, and material, that you should provide in your expression, of interest in order, to sort enhance the quality today. Is not part of the assessment process I'll, now. Hand, over to Chris hanger he'll go through resources. For regions around 6:00. Thanks. Suzanne welcome everyone, it's great to have. Another opportunity, to talk about this program many of you will have been involved, in this program in previous, rounds so. Over, the next half hour what we hope to do is give you a good understanding of, the changes, in round six for this program, as well, as talk through what we're hoping to see come forward in this expression of interest phase, so. As you can see on this salt on this slide this is the sixth round of the resources for regions program, this, is a program that was set up in 2011-12. Under, the restart, New South Wales fund and that's a really important, element and we'll talk more about the. Criteria that are, required, to make sure that projects meet the restart, objectives. Of delivering, improved economic growth and productivity for, New South Wales as you. Can see this, program is open to all regional, communities, but they need to be able to show that they're mining related and we'll spend a bit of time in, this webinar talking, about how, mining related is defined, and what, communities, will need to do to make sure that they meet that criteria, there's. 50 million dollars available this. In the 2018-19. Round. Six of resources, for agents, it's. Really important, to note that this. Program, over the last five or six years has, moved, through a quite, a different context, in terms of regional funding so, when this program commenced. There was not nearly the same amount of infrastructure, funding that is available today as. Many of you would be aware last. Year the government announced 1.3. Billion dollars worth of additional investment into, regional New South Wales for the Regional Growth funds and the, resources for regions program is in that context, so, what we want to see come forward clearly through this programme which is targeted to those mining related communities. Are projects. That are very, closely related to the impacts on mining, related communities. Because. We do have programs out. There through the Regional Growth Fund for. Things like fixing. Country roads water. Security, cultural. Infrastructure, sporting. Infrastructure. Small-scale. Infrastructure. That, delivers community. Amenity, there's. A lot of funding out there so this program which is targeted specifically, to those mining related communities, we want to make sure that what is funded through the program, best. Addressed their needs you can, see the opening dates for the expression of interest phase, they. Opened, this. Week and close on the 23rd of July, you.
Can Also see on this slide the types of projects, that we're looking for there, are two types economic. Infrastructure, and social infrastructure, so. Things that go to, delivering. Improved. Outcomes, for regional economies, or improving. The amenity, around those mining related communities, and you can see the examples, of the type of infrastructure, that, we're seeing there as, you. Can also, see in the final dot point this, funding comes from the long term lease of poles and wires the, long term lease of the port assets, so, these are public assets that have been leased, long. Term and we're looking to reinvest, in the public infrastructure. They've. Been some changes, in the 2018, round, six, resources. For regions program and I'll talk through those briefly now, the. First one is that we're, looking for projects, of a significant. Regional, value so. The minimum grand amount that we're seeking in this round is a million dollars we, want things that will make a difference in the community, as. I've already indicated there. Are a range of programs that, pick up smaller scale projects, so, many of you will have been involved in the stronger country communities, program that, can pick up small-scale community. Infrastructure, sub. 1 million dollars so, for resources for regions we want those more regionally, significant, projects, coming forward as you. Can also see there is no maximum grant, amount and, I'll talk a bit more about strategic. Alignment and regional significance later, but, we want to see projects, coming forward, that are going to have a regional impact for those mining related communities, and we, also want to see if it is possible for. Local. Governments, to work together to, bring, forward projects. That may well cross regional, boundaries that idea of coming together to. Put. Forward projects, that have a regional, impact is something that we would really welcome. You. Can see two. Elements, in, regards, to the mining related requirements. So. We. Have identified, projects. That have a location quotient, above one in terms of the. Number of people employed in mining related activity, in that local government, area any. Local. Government area that is, identified. As having a location, in question four for mining activity. Above one is automatically. Identified. As mining related for. Those projects, or those locations, that are, not in, areas with a location. Quotient, above one they, all need to give us an evidence-based. Description. Of why they are mining, related and that will be assessed as part of the assessment criteria. The. Other thing that we've asked in this round is a minimum, 25, percent CO contribution, we. Clearly want to make sure that the funds that are going out are able to go to as many projects. And to be spread as far, as possible and co-contribution, is, one way to make sure that we can spread the dollars as far as possible, it's. Also really important, that Co contribution. Is to us one very significant, sign that there, are others who are equally interested, in ensuring, that these projects, are delivered, there. Is the, potential, if a. If a community believes, it is disadvantaged. To, receive. An exception, from that co-contribution. Requirement. The. Way in which we will initially, assess that is looking, at disadvantages. Assessed by sefa and I'll talk more about that subsequently.
This. Slide provides. An overview of the organizations. That are eligible, this. Hasn't changed from previous rounds. This, program, is to is targeted, essentially, at local governments. Collaborations. Of local governments either through the joint, organizations. Or regional organizations, of councils as, well as not-for-profit, organizations. As. A better already. Talked about we want to see collaboration. Wherever possible where. We have proposals coming forward from a range of councils, potentially. From a joint organization. Or from, a collaboration. Between council. Community. Groups and potentially, the private sector again. That shows us that the. Community, has come together and identified, the project, as human as important. And there are multiple stakeholders who. Are committed to ensuring that the project is successful. This. Round of resources, for regions is not open to New South Wales government, agencies, so, this, is essentially, targeted, to local, government and the communities. Those, mining related communities. Mining. Related as, I've. Already indicated we've. Identified, and. Used location. Quotient, as the, way in which as an, initial, assessment we. Can work. Out which local government areas are, automatically. Going to be considered mining related so. Any area, that has a, location, quotient, above one and you can see the link to where. The list of those local government areas is located, on the resources for regions website those. Locations, with the location, quotient above one will, automatically. Be considered mining, related and won't need to do any additional, work in regards, to that criteria. However. If. Your, local. Government area does, not have a location quotient, above one in terms of mining relatedness, or mining, industry. Impact, you. Will need to provide evidence and, provide, a justification for, how your community is mining. Impacted, ore mining related, you. Can see on this slide just three, examples, of how. We would. Expect to see evidence, brought forward from those communities, about, impacts, that may not necessarily be, reflected, in a location quotient, so.
That. Can be in regards, to information. About, the project's distance, from a map from, an existing mine or a planned mine it. May be in regards, to. Activity. That is underway for, planning. Of mines in. Those locations, and, how that might impact transport. Routes it. May also be in, regards, to how a project is, going to improve, impacts, from mining activity. So. As I've said the, communities, where the location, quotient, is already above one you don't need to do any further work on this criteria, but, where those communities, or those communities, listed with a location quotient, below one we're, expecting, evidence to come forward and if, you are in any doubt at all please, contact us, as Suzanne, said our contact details are. Located. At the end of the slide pack and are available, on, on. The webpage for this program. The. Program principles. Are similar, as they have always been for this program, first. And foremost, we are looking to make sure that, this investment, of public, funds, provides. Value for money for the New South Wales community. And he's going to make a real difference to, mining related communities, across the state as I've. Indicated wherever. Possible we, like to see region-wide, impact. For. Projects, that are coming forward or region-wide benefits. In. This, particular. Program. We're looking at mining related communities, and that doesn't finish at the end of a local government area boundary, so. With, the, implementation. Of the joint organization. Governance, reforms, and the. Opportunities, that have been presented, through, work DPC, has done in getting to, think about regional. Economic development strategies there's. An opportunity, here for those mining, communities, to come together and, bring forward projects, that are going to have a regional impact and we'd look to see we'd, like to see that as much as possible, as. You. Can see we, also want to make sure given, that this is related to mining impacted, nurse that. The, projects coming forward have a connection to or, are, as a result, of impacts, of mining or stress, because, of mining, activities, so. The, closer, the alignment, of the project coming forward to the mining activity the better a really.
Important, Point is clarity. Of vision what, is it that this project, will do what benefits, will it deliver to the community, I can't. Stress enough having, sat through six rounds, or five rounds of this program, that. It. Is very important. To see clarity. Succinct. Ness and a. Clear articulation. By. Proponents, of the value that these projects, will bring. We. Will I am sure receive. More, applications. Than the funding that is available as has occurred in every previous round and projects. That stand out are very clearly. Able to articulate, why. This community. Is mining. Related and the benefits, that this project, will bring to that community, in helping, address that mining impact. The. Final dot point re emphasizes. The, value that we see in Co contributions. So. Where. We have, others. Who are prepared to put financial, contributions. Into projects, that, will clearly both, help us extend. The. Number. Of projects, or the value that we can get out of the program but. It is also a really good sign for, us of the, commitment, that others are prepared to make in ensuring projects, are delivered so. Again we, will look really favorably, on projects, that come forward that do have a co contribution. Noting. Of course that, there are disadvantaged. Communities, and we take that into account as well. In. Terms of the expression of interest process, the, project, criteria are, the same that will be assessed, at that detail that location phase and they're outlined on this slide, these. Project. Criteria, are consistent, across all, restart. Programs, that, are run and they, asked for four, areas. Of information in, terms of all projects. Strategic. Or strategic. Alignment. Economic. Assessment and, ensuring. Projects, are affordable, and deliverable. This. Has been consistent. As I said across all restart, programs, and across resources, for regions for the entire length, of the program delivery. You. Can see the types of things that we're hoping, to bring out in each of these criteria, and the, next few slides we'll talk about that in more detail, in. Terms, of, economic. Assessment what. We're looking for is to see that a project is, going to have a positive benefit. For, the state and for, the region, so, that'll be in terms, of economic. Growth or, improved productivity. In. The in the expression. Of interest phase we, are not looking for people, to undertake cost-benefit. Analysis, but, we're looking for a clear articulation of. How this, project will deliver economic. Benefits, if. There is a business case that has been prepared, that's great but. At this stage the. Real focus is on their clear articulation and. Evidence that can be brought forward of how this project is going to provide. An economic, benefit for the community, and for, New South Wales generally. The. Types of economic benefits. That we're expecting to see will obviously vary by the infrastructure, asset, that is the. Source. Of the application. And so, you can see on the final dot point for, example, if we're talking about a road then, things, such as travel. Time. Safe. Savings. Or in, terms, of safety, improvements on. That road of things that we would be expecting, to be captured, this. Is a two pass to stage process so. Shortlisted. Projects, will be asked to undertake a detailed. Application, and we, will both. Undertake, a cost-benefit. Analysis at, that stage as well. As be seeking far, more significant, detail in terms of a detailed financial, business case so. At the EOI phase we don't need that level of detail but we want to see strong indications, that the project, coming forward will have a positive economic benefit. Affordability. What. We want to see in projects, are that, they, are affordable, in two ways, firstly. In terms of the total funding that is available this, is a 50 million dollar round so, as far, as possible as I've indicated we want to fund, as many projects, as we can out of that 50 million dollars and so we will look at the funding request relative. To the total funding that is available, we. Would also look. In terms of affordability, at, how. Much is being sought from the New South Wales Government relative, to the total project cost, so. In regards to a. Project. There's. A minimum requirement of a 25 percent financial, contribution. But, if it's possible for. Collaborators. On that project, to, contribute. More then clearly, that's very. Favorable, in terms of, how, we would perceive a project, because it does enable us to use the 50 million dollars available in this fund to, fund more projects, if the, total request from the state government is, small, relative, to the project, cost that is coming forward. What. We're looking here as as, you can see on the slide is, not. Just the cost of construction, but, also ensuring, that the, total. Costs, of delivering, and maintaining, the project, are also covered.
In The proposal, how, is it that council, and it's generally councils, who are putting forward these projects, will maintain the, asset, how. Is what. Are the likely costs, of that, it new infrastructure. And how will that be maintained. And does. The proponent. Have a solid. Business case a solid, model for maintaining, the asset that is going to be built or significantly. Had enhanced, through this program. Deliverability. Is the. Final. Criteria, it. Looks at the. Question. Of does. The organization proposing. This project. Have, experience, in delivering, these types of proposals, have. They been able to, deliver similar. Projects, on time and on budget previously. Do. They have in place all the all, the criteria required to. Ensure that this project, can commence rapidly. If it is successful. With. The final funding decision, from government, do. They have evidence and this is probably more of the detailed stage do they have evidence of appropriate. Plans in place risk, management, plans project, delivery plans to, show that they've got the capability to be able to deliver the projects, that are being proposed, I think. I may have skipped the slide in terms of. Strategic. Assessment, I. Haven't. But I will talk about it, strategic. Assessment, is really important, we. Want to make sure that the projects coming forward, are aligned, to government, strategies and local strategies, as many. Of you would be aware there's been an enormous amount, of work recently undertaken, both at the state government and local government level to identify what. Is it that is going to make a positive impact, for regional New South Wales. Examples. Of that include the release of the regional development framework. And work that's been underway over the last six to twelve months on, localized. Regional, economic development strategies. Infrastructure. New South Wales our. Partner, organization. In delivering resources, for regions has recently released the state infrastructure, strategy. Transport. For New South Wales over the last 12 months has been doing an enormous. Amount of work on the future transport, plan, what. We want to see is a clear alignment, between the projects, coming forward, and key. Government strategies, at that state government, and also local government, level we, want to make sure that what we're investing in is aligned, to the key priorities, for the state and for the, local community. So. Strategic, alignment. Is another key criteria. In the assessment, process, you. Can see on this slide the next steps key. Point, expressions. Of interest closed on the 23rd, of July so. This webinar is an opportunity, you to ask questions, there. Are contact details, that are available at the end of this slide and as well on on. The website for, for this program, and you will, know the office of regional development and, regional New South Wales staff in your regions, so, if you do have questions please, ask those. Because. We do want to see strong IO is coming forward, once. Those EO eyes are submitted, they, will undergo, assessment. By, departmental. Staff and then. Through. Infrastructure, New South Wales regional, independent, assessment, panel those. Projects, will be assessed with recommendations. To government for. Shortlisting. Shortlisted. Projects, will. Then be asked to submit detailed business cases as you, can see we're, expecting, that those detailed. Business case, announcements. Will likely, be around September, this year once.
Assessment, Has been concluded. We are hopeful, if at all possible that, we will be able to make, announcements, of successful. Projects, towards the end of next year or early, next year so, we're looking to move as quickly as we can on this program. This. Slide talks about confidential. Information, it. Is important, to highlight, that all, the information that is provided through. This program, is subject, if. An. Assessment, is made. To. The government information Public, Access Act the Gipper Act so. If, there is confidential. Information that, is included. In your application please. Mark that clearly as. I said we will assess any requests. Through, the Gipper process, for. Access to information in, accordance with the Act but, do clearly mark if there is confidential, or sensitive information, in, your application. So, that if we need to we can identify, that, click clearly. Here. Are the contact details, you. Can see the link there to the, web page that covers, this. Program, resources for region it includes, the guidelines, as well as links. To information, such as mining, related the. List of mining related LGAs. As well. As the, phone number the office of regional development hotline. And the, email address that, you should, use if you have any questions, as we, usually, do with, resources. For regions where. We have questions, come in that we believe will be of benefit, to all potential, applicants, we will post those on the website so. Please feel free to call, or email any. Of your questions so that we are able to help, all applicants, because we. Find that many of the questions will be common and we do have as Susan said sometime at the end of this webinar to cover any questions, that people might have now, but, there are ways of submitting. Those between, now and the, EOI closure, point. That's. It in terms of presentation, and we've now, got time, for questions, to come in from those people who are online so, hopefully. That has been a good, overview of the program, and particularly, some of the changes, in this round and now. I'm, very happy, and Alex, and Susan, are very happy to take questions if, anyone, online has them thank, you.
2018-07-06 17:31
