The Situation

By 2061, the Melbourne region is forecast to have around 120 million air passengers. The capacity of Melbourne Airport is finite and reliance on a single airport would hamper the state’s competitiveness. Avalon Airport is currently an underutilised but highly valuable asset. To address Victoria’s potential challenges, a new rail link was proposed from the Melbourne-Geelong railway to Avalon Airport.

Approach

We were engaged by the Department of Transport to prepare the full suite of Treasury-compliant investment management documents to support the investment. This comprised a strategic assessment, and a preliminary and full business case. 

Our consultants worked alongside departmental officers and project stakeholders to substantiate the project need, identify and quantify investment benefits, define and assess a range of strategic and project options, and articulate the project delivery strategy. 

A key focus for our solution was articulating the investment need through a regional economic development lens, by focusing on the role of Avalon Airport as a key driver of future industry and employment growth for the region.

Results 

The Victorian Government supported the business case for the rail link and future development of Avalon Airport as Victoria’s second international airport. In June 2015, the Minister for Planning approved Amendment C308 to the Greater Geelong planning scheme amendment to ensure a reservation is in place for the rail link. Reserving the corridor will protect the land from inappropriate development and ensure it is available for development of the rail link when required in the future.