Parliamentary Committees

Public Works Committee: Penola Northern Bypass

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:31): I move:

That the 21^st report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Penola Northern Bypass, be noted.

The Penola Northern Bypass is the second stage of the Penola bypass, which is a joint initiative of South Australian and Australian governments together with the Wattle Range Council. The committee has been informed that the proposed works aim to significantly reduce heavy vehicle traffic volumes through the town of Penola. Currently, the Riddoch Highway, which is part of the national land freight network, traverses the main street of Penola. The high number of heavy vehicle movements through the area currently presents a safety risk for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and local residents.

The Penola Northern Bypass will involve the construction of a new 2.2-kilometre undivided arterial road between the road to Clay Wells Road and Riddoch Highway, north of Penola. The northern bypass will link up with the Penola Southern Bypass, which was constructed in April 2015. This will complete the 4.7-kilometre Penola bypass and provide an alternative route for heavy vehicles to avoid driving through the Penola township and town centre. It is expected to increase safety for all road users, reduce traffic congestion in the area and contribute to reductions in noise and emissions from heavy vehicles. The estimated total cost of the project is $14.6 million, with project completion expected by the end of June 2020.

The Public Works Committee has examined written and oral evidence in relation to this project and has been assured by officials from the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure that all relevant project acquittals and approvals have been received, including from the Department of Treasury and Finance, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and also the Crown Solicitor.

The committee is satisfied that the proposal has been subject to the appropriate agency consultation and meets the criteria for examination of projects, as described in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991. Based on evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (11:34): Today, I rise to speak in support of the motion to note the 21^st report of the Public Works Committee, entitled Penola Northern Bypass. I welcome the tabling of this important standing committee report and thank the staff who supported the committee. I would also like to recognise the work of the staff of the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, who undoubtedly are spending much time currently preparing for the mobilisation of the significant investment.

Importantly, I would like to recognise the critical role of our partners in this project—the federal government, in particular the work of the member for Barker, Tony Pasin, and also the Wattle Range Council—who have invested in ensuring the corridor for the project has been secured to enable the work to proceed.

Along with my constituents who live in and operate businesses around Penola, I welcomed the 2018 budget commitment by the Marshall Liberal government to the finalisation of the plan for the Penola heavy vehicle bypass. This commitment has also been welcomed by the freight industry and the travelling public who use the busy Riddoch Highway in this area of the Limestone Coast. The work will complete the vision for the whole bypass, the first section having been completed and opened in April 2015.

Penola is a beautiful town, significant for its cultural and tourism values, situated approximately 25 kilometres from the South Australian and Victorian border, positioned midway between the regional city of Mount Gambier and the regional centre of Naracoorte on the Riddoch Highway. Penola is, of course, renowned as a special place where Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison-Woods co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph in 1866. The town is also well known for its location, adjacent to the Coonawarra, providing services to the busy viticultural, silvicultural and agricultural districts, and catering to the tourism traffic that both the Mary MacKillop school and the world-renowned wine district brings to the region.

I look forward to the benefits that the completion of the bypass will bring to the township of Penola, enabling locals and visitors alike to access Church Street, the town's state heritage sites, unencumbered by the noise and heavy vehicle traffic it currently experiences. Some of these historic sites include the historic Petticoat Lane, the oldest residential area of Penola, comprising a range of historic timber and stone cottages, and Mary MacKillop attractions, which include a wealth of experiences, including the interpretive centre, which houses the MacKillop and Woods exhibitions, a research room and a shop. There is also the historic MacKillop schoolhouse and St Joseph's church, which includes a shrine to Mary MacKillop, the old convent and the early Cameron home, the home of the founder of the township also at the site.

I expect the removal of the heavy vehicles from the town centre will yield many benefits for the town, including making the visitor experience much more pleasant and in turn support the sustainability of the growth of the town's cafes, restaurants, art galleries, retail and cellar door outlets that line Church Street. The region has many fine foods and wines. The bypass will take heavy vehicles out of the main street and allow these to be consumed in a more peaceful, tranquil environment. It will be a much safer experience without the passing traffic.

Signage and promotion will continue to be important for the town to enable it to pick up those visitors who may otherwise pass through, as the town has much to offer. As a state government, we are trying to encourage more tourists from Victoria to drive on into South Australia, and Penola is one of these towns that can be the first port of call from western Victoria.

As a collective, the state government, along with our local government and federal government counterparts, needs to also consider how heavy vehicle movement is managed travelling to and from our near neighbour, Victoria, to the east of the township. Heavy vehicle movements from the east of the township will require attention and be managed to ensure these vehicles are also diverted from the main street to reap the benefits of the bypass and allow the main street to flourish.

The first stage of the Penola bypass was at the southern end of the bypass, where the state government committed $10.5 million and the Wattle Range Council contributed approximately $2.5 million to secure the land and road corridor for the full bypass. The budget commitment made in 2018 secured the investment of the federal Australian government and our state government to the value of $14.6 million in an 80:20 split to enable planning and implementation to occur to complete the northern section of the bypass. The works will enable heavy vehicles to bypass the township and this will involve:

construction of 2.2 kilometres of undivided, sealed, rural arterial road with sealed shoulders;

construction of a T-junction at the Riddoch Highway (Church Street) where the new northern bypass will connect to the highway to the north of the township;

connecting the existing southern and the new northern components of the bypass by realigning the Riddoch Highway, and upgrading the junction at the Penola bypass and the Robe to Clay Wells Road to a staggered T-junction; and

changes and installation of lighting, drainage works and some minor native vegetation removal, which are also proposed as part of the project.

The report of the Public Works Committee summarises well the benefits of the project which will see the northern section of the bypass completed and which will deliver advantages for the township and surrounds of Penola. The project will improve safety for all road users and help reduce the likelihood of crashes. The report of the committee identifies that in the period 2014-18 there were 15 reported crashes on the section of the highway between the northern bypass T-junction and the current southern bypass T-junction. Unfortunately and tragically, these incidents have resulted in four fatalities, two serious injuries, six minor injuries, and nine incidents of property damage.

The bypass will significantly reduce heavy vehicle traffic volumes through the township. The Riddoch Highway forms part of the national land freight network, providing an important linkage between Dukes Highway in the north of my electorate, the southern part of the electorate, the wider Green Triangle and the Port of Portland. It will reduce the conflict between heavy vehicles, pedestrians and local traffic within the township of Penola. The movement of heavy vehicles can be at conflict with the often slower movement of local and tourist traffic, posing a safety risk.

The completion of this project will deliver a safer Church Street for motorists and pedestrians. It will also minimise the impact of the noise of heavy vehicles, allowing a better experience for operating businesses and people conducting business in the main part of town. It will also cater for anticipated additional commercial vehicles travelling on the road to Clay Wells Road and the Riddoch Highway generated from timber plantations near Penola. With blue gum plantation harvesting well underway across the centre of the region, there are many log trucks travelling in and around Penola.

The southern section of the bypass is already assisting to prevent much of this traffic entering the main street. It will also reduce travel time and create improved access for heavy vehicles. The benefits here are obvious. It will also improve freight efficiencies, which support the Limestone Coast region's highly productive economy.

In the construction phase, there is a commitment to minimise impacts on the travelling public, business operations and the wider community where practically possible. There is also a commitment to maintain local access to the area for the community, to minimise impacts upon the environment and heritage and to take into account community and stakeholder needs and expectations.

I note that the report highlights a time frame for the project, with the planning, design and investigations for the project to be completed soon, in 2019-20. The pre-construction phase, including the award of the contract, stakeholder engagement and the set-up arrangements for works, is to be undertaken over the next six months. I look forward to seeing the progress on this construction phase of the project in the first six months of 2020.

The project stacks up well. I look forward to the process for letting the contracts. I am hopeful that some of our local small and medium contractors will be given the opportunity to prove themselves to be competitive in this process. I am pleased that the Public Works Committee has finalised its report into the investment into the Penola bypass and I commend the final report of the committee, entitled Penola Northern Bypass, to the house.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:42): I rise to support this report by the Public Works Committee, which is the 21^st report of the Public Works Committee, entitled Penola Northern Bypass. I would just like to acknowledge the work of both the former member for MacKillop and the current member for MacKillop in making sure that we complete this vital link. So, instead of just having the southern bypass, we will complete it with the northern bypass. It is certainly needed in a town that is on a busy freight route and in a very strong agricultural area.

Obviously, forestry is in the area, as are fishing and farming at all levels. It is very strong farming country in that area, whether it is cropping or grazing, and there are obviously the vineyards of the Coonawarra. I am pleased to say that I have travelled down that way under my own steam for about 40 years and always enjoyed a drive either to Penola or through Penola, heading through to Mount Gambier. I have obviously had a bit of interaction with the town.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: With the kangaroos on the Wattle Range Road.

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, I have done that as well further down at Mount Burr. Certainly, in the time that I was shearing down there, around Lucindale, I spent a lot of time travelling in that area. It is vitally needed work, and I think this report shows the commitment this government has to regional South Australia, which has been let go for so long. We had a former Labor government for 16 years that just let the regions go, and I am just so pleased to see this commitment of funds and our recent announcement of $1.1 billion of road funding into South Australia, which is much needed. It is about making sure that we get as much done as possible knowing that there will always be more work to do.

I am really pleased that another regional resource contributes towards these road networks: as part of our policy on mining, 30 per cent of mining royalties goes into our regional road network. That means that somewhere around $78 million is going into that network this year. It is nice to see those funds being utilised in such a worthwhile project so that all communities can see the benefits offered by our regions, whether that is in the agriculture industry or the mining industry, albeit a little indirectly now, by offering roadwork projects such as the Northern Penola Bypass.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:45): I commend the report to the house.

Motion carried.