Infrastructure Commission promises faster projects

It's hoped a new one stop shop to see when big infrastructure projects are due will help move the construction industry away from its boom or bust cycle.

Known as the pipeline, the online tool has been built by the newly established and independent Infrastructure Commission, formed to advise the government on project bottlenecks, and help industry to organise resources to get jobs done.

It looked at a decade worth of work valued at $21-billion.

Infrastructure Commission chair and former Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said the aim was to do away with the current fragmented and delay-ridden process for projects done by 15 central and local government agencies.

"They've all got long periods of gestation, they have to go through business cases, they have to go through a lot of procurement exercises. And we're doing a couple of things.

"One is giving advice on how to do that better. Secondly, putting out an updated pipeline for the next five years of stuff that's coming through and needs to connect up. And thirdly, next year, we'll be doing a long term strategic plan for a 30 year investment track."

Data on new projects was still being added.

But between now and March next year, 28 of them worth $670 million would start, covering Northland to Dunedin and including everything from sewage and roading improvements to new hospital buildings.

Infrastructure New Zealand head Paul Blair said showing construction firms when work was scheduled, would give them certainty and allow them to plan for the future.

He said the consequences of not having this certainty had been plain to see.

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