Victorian Major Projects Conference takes to stage

April 27, 2016 - PRLog -- In attendance of more than 250 delegates, the seventh edition of the Victorian Major Projects Conference was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre last week.

The Victorian Major Projects Conference is an opportunity for government and construction industry members to review and discuss the variety of infrastructure developments taking place across the state.

Ministers were present at the event to address the delegates, including Tim Pallas MP, Treasurer of the Victorian government, as well as the Hon. Jacinta Allan MP, Minister for Public Transport, Minister for Employment, Victoria.

The conference featured presentations from more than 24 key speakers from some of the state's largest infrastructure projects, including topics such as the CityLink Tulla Widening Project, as well as Plan Melbourne Refresh.

Director Development & Delivery of the Melbourne Metro Rail Authority, Peter Wilkinson, provided updates on the Melbourne Metro Rail project, which is expected to envision the state's first underground metro service, as well as foresee the construction of five new underground stations.

The Melbourne Metro Rail is expected to allow for an extra 20,000 passengers to utilise the service during peak hour traffic, and save up to 10 minutes each way, equivalent to taking over 18,000 cars off the road.

With the tagline "Shaping Victoria's Infrastructure for the Future", the conference maintained a large focus on urban renewal projects, such as multi-billion dollar Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal and the Ballarat West Employment Zone.

Manager of Economic Infrastructure Delivery at City of Ballarat, Angelique Lush, spoke on the Ballarat West Employment Zone and its benefits for the community.

"There are so many opportunities coming from metro and regional Victoria. For Ballarat, this means the key infrastructure growth to enable expansion, and the effective planning to remove barrier for effective planning," Lush said.

The Ballarat West Employment Zone is an initiative to drive economic growth over the next 20 years within Ballarat, which intends to release up to 60 hectares of industrial land to business, with extensive provisional infrastructure.

The conference also featured a comprehensive panel discussion on the residential construction sector, featuring Danni Addison, Chief Executive Officer of the Urban Development Institute of Australia, Asher judah, Victorian Deputy Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia and Radley de Silva, CEO of Master Builders Victoria.

The Drug and Alcohol Testing Institute was an associate sponsor for the event. General Manager for the Drug and Alcohol Testing Institute, Lisa Took, said the conference presented a wonderful opportunity to network with delegates.

"The conference is good brand exposure, but it's also about educating the people here of what we do. For the training side of things, you need the qualification to do the drug side of testing. For the brand, knowing that we do training services equipment," Took said.

"We can spend weeks seeing individuals, or we can come to a central location and talk to hundreds of people in one swell swoop. So they can compel us, rather than hunting people."

Other topics at the conference included presentations on Prioritising Infrastructure for Melbourne's Outer Suburban Growth Areas, as well as the The Vital Role of the Urban Development Sector to the Victorian Economy.

The 7^th Annual Victorian Major Projects Conference (http://www.viconference.com.au/) was held on the 19^th & 20^th of April 2016 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

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