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Port Kembla blast furnace upgrade deemed critical
A $700 million proposal to upgrade a blast furnace at Port Kembla Steelworks has been declared Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI), given its importance to the state economy and its potential to create 1,000 new jobs in the Illawarra.
The project involves fixing and upgrading a blast furnace to ensure it’s ready for operation when the existing furnace is decommissioned in 2026.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said, if approved, the Bluescope Steel project would ensure continued employment for thousands of people and maintain a secure supply chain for the construction industry.
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The ability of a growing number of concerned groups to legally challenge the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall would be all but removed under a push by the government entity behind the controversial project.
The stateâs top planning bureaucrat, Jim Betts, said his department was reviewing a request by WaterNSW to have Planning Minister Rob Stokes declare the $1.6 billion plan a piece of critical state significant infrastructure, making it an essential project for the state.
WaterNSW is pushing to have the raising of the Warragamba Dam wall categorised as critical state significant infrastructure.
Credit:Brook Mitchell
The government wants to raise the wall of Sydneyâs biggest reservoir by as much as 17 metres to prevent floods causing widespread damage to communities in the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley.
NSWâs vision for the future dependent on flood modelling
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Billions of dollars of development in Sydneyâs west and north-west are dependent on flood-proofing the region, with growing opposition to raising the Warragamba Dam wall casting doubt on ambitions to double the population and generate thousands of new jobs in the area.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes said on Tuesday the NSW governmentâs vision for the future of the Hawkesbury-Nepean region depended on flood modelling being undertaken in the area while the state embarks on a controversial plan to raise the wall of Sydneyâs biggest reservoir by as much as 17 metres.
NSW s vision for the future dependent on flood modelling theage.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theage.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NSW backs Scott Morrison s gas plant as critical for state s renewable ambitions
NSW backs Scott Morrison s gas plant as critical for state s renewable ambitions
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NSW is smoothing the path for a prominent piece of the federal government s gas-led recovery by granting critical infrastructure status to plans for a Commonwealth-funded gas-fired power station in the Hunter Valley.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes declared the federal government s gas plant proposal as Critical State Significant Infrastructure on Wednesday to standardise and streamline the project assessment process.
NSW government has granted critical status to a federal government project to build a new gas-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley.