The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA WA) has welcomed the state government’s announcement today that a Market-Led Proposals (MLPs) policy will commence in the coming weeks.
“UDIA WA has been a strong supporter of introducing this type of policy for some time and we believe it will create new opportunities that allow the private sector to work more collaboratively with government to enhance our communities and the economy by delivering new development and jobs in a more proactive manner,” UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck said.
“Market led proposals can lead to private industry having the opportunity to put forward game changing projects that can really assist Perth and WA more broadly in ensuring that we are ready for population growth and delivering the right infrastructure and facilities to accommodate growth,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“We also hope to see some ‘out of the box’ thinking in terms of the types of projects that could be delivered in WA,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“While UDIA is supportive of an MLP policy, in our submission to government last year we did raise a few concerns around the draft policy that we are hoping have been addressed in the final version,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“Primarily, we suggested that the private sector may be reluctant to come forward with MLPs if their intellectual property is not safeguarded,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“If a private organisation has a fantastic and innovative idea that is put forward under the MLP policy, and the government decides to go out to private tender for that project, what compensation mechanism is in place if the initial submitter of the idea does not get to actually deliver the project?” Ms Steinbeck said.
“We also hope that consideration has been given to ensuring that the evaluation process for MLPs is streamlined to avoid an overly complex and lengthy process which may be off putting to some proponents,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“Overall, UDIA is pleased to see the government acting on another election commitment and we look forward to seeing what kinds of projects are put forward as part of the MLP process,” Ms Steinbeck said.
Ends.
For more information:
Gemma Osiejak
Executive Manager Communications and Marketing
UDIA WA
P: 0421 506 819
E: gosiejak@udiawa.com.au