What’s Down The Track: City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to focus on power reliability, and community infrastructure

Improving power reliability, water security, and community infrastructure continues to be a priority for the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to enable further growth. Chief executive Andrew Brien delivered an update on the city’s projects at the What’s Down the Track Forum & Exhibition on Thursday, including plans to overhaul Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport and the Goldfields Oasis Recreation Centre. Mr Brien told delegates increasing the terminal’s floor space, construction of new terminal buildings, and upgrades to the carpark were being considered as part of the city’s master plan for the more than 30-year-old airport. “Everyone who has been stuck there with a delayed flight, or when there’s two flights coming in at the same time, knows it is a very small space,” he said. Mr Brien said the city had secured $8 million from the Federal Government for construction of an outdoor pool at the Oasis as part of plans to refurbish the ageing facility. “It’s a major challenge . . . for us. It doesn’t run at a profit,” he said. “But it is key to the lifestyle and liveability in a regional centre such as this, particularly given our climate. It’s well utilised.” Mr Brien said water security continued to be a key challenge for Kalgoorlie-Boulder, and the city was continuing to progress its Water Bank project to increase storage and improve water treatment capacity. In light of the region’s power reliability, Mr Brien told the crowd the city was working with a private planner to consider development of a solar and battery facility. “We all understand the issues around power in the region, and so this is another opportunity to become a little bit more sustainable,” he said. Mr Brien noted the little progress made with the multimillion-dollar Kalgoorlie Golf Course resort hotel, which has faced many years of cost blowouts and delays. “The site is development-ready,” he said. “It’s now a construction cost issue for the developer more than anything else, so we’re (looking at) how can we work with them in bringing something to market in the near future.” Mayor Glenn Wilson gave the opening address at the forum, and acknowledged the city had endured a summer of “character building”, battling significant challenges including a multi-day power outage, retail decline, a slump in nickel prices, and BHP Nickel West assets being placed on care and maintenance. Mr Wilson said while the city had achieved positive outcomes during the past year, and with the 2025 State election on the horizon, more needed to be done to secure reliable power, improve health and road infrastructure, and solve chronic staffing issues in the justice system. “While we’ve had some wins with power — credit to the State for executing those third-party deals to ensure we have better redundancies — we’re still at the end of the grid with little redundancy,” he said. “We still have a hospital where, if you’re being wheeled back to a ward after surgery, you’re exposed to outside air. “We’ve got a . . . national highway servicing our city that has more vibrations than a Beach Boys album on repeat. “We have a water pipeline that is requiring a major overhaul and capacity at the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison that (is) impacted by staff shortages. “We cannot move forward without these investments and these critical spaces . . . at a State and Federal Government level.”