REGIONAL CITIES SAYS CONNECTIVITY KEY TO REGIONAL GROWTH

Regional Cities New South Wales (RCNSW) has welcomed a $300 million funding commitment by the Coalition to address pinch points in the road and rail network, and is seeking bipartisan support for this important program.  

RCNSW advocates that New South Wales' economic competitiveness is closely linked to the quality of our supply chain infrastructure—the ports, railways, roads and airports that connect goods and services to domestic and overseas markets.

“Currently, regional New South Wales (NSW) accounts for almost a third of NSW’s Gross State Product and 33 per cent of goods manufactured in the state, so it is critical that we make sure our supply chain is up to the task, both now and in the future,” Cr Mathew Dickerson Chair of RCNSW and Mayor of Dubbo Regional Council said.

“There are a number of ‘pinch points’ in our regional freight network where roads are impacted by flooding, poor road conditions, inability to handle larger vehicles or inefficient access to distribution centres and intermodal hubs,” Cr Dickerson explained.

In the lead up to the election, RCNSW has strongly advocated for the development of a Regional City Freight Network Pinchpoint Program to deliver small to medium scale road improvements across the regional NSW freight network.

RCNSW has called on both sides of politics to prioritise regional freight, roads and ports as they plan for the economic future of the state in the lead up to the March election.

“We know that connectivity is key to regional growth and RCNSW is keen to work with both sides of politics to alleviate the current pressure points in the road, freight and port network” Cr Dickerson concluded.