Civil engineering contractor Diona Pty Ltd was awarded the contract for the revitalisation project with an overall budget of $10 million.

Stage One of the project extends down John Street from Hunter Street to Gowrie Street and combines civil, electrical, architectural, landscaping and mechanical elements which will include:

• Extending footpath areas and introducing new pavement and the introduction of raised pedestrian crossings. 

• Establishing new garden beds and rain gardens with more than 70 new  trees and 2000 plants, using state of the art watering systems that use stormwater. 

• Installing modern street furniture, including more than 60 new benches, drinking fountains, and bike racks.

• Upgrading street lights by removing the existing street lights and replacing them with modern LED type lights as well as adding  dedicated lighting to the footpaths in awning areas. 

• Reducing the speed limit for a section of John St to 40km/h and  providing dedicated parking including spaces for people with disabilities.

• Improving selected sections of the John St road pavement following detailed geotechnical investigations undertaken earlier this year. 

• Wayfinding signage, including maps of the town centre, will be introduced to assist motorists and pedestrians with getting to their  desired location.

The existing, out-dated infrastructure and street furniture will be re-used or recycled for use elsewhere.

Preparation work and project documentation will get under way in December with site works expected to get under way from January 6.

It’s anticipated an official sod-turning event will be held in late January. 

A Drop-in Centre will be  established in a John Street shopfront in the coming weeks for community information and inquiries relating to the project.

Construction is expected to take about nine months.

Singleton Council general manager Lindy Hyam says awarding the construction contract is an exciting step forward and a significant milestone for the project.

“Many people in our community have been waiting a long time for this project and we are thrilled to be a step closer to achieving the vision of our Town Centre Master Plan,” she says.

“Council was very impressed by the quality of submissions received during the selective tender process. We think we have achieved better value for money by choosing to re-tender.

“While it did delay our start date, based on the schedule supplied by the contractor, we are confident that we will meet our original completion date of September.

“There will be some inconvenience to businesses and the community during the construction period, however, Council will endeavour to mitigate the impacts and work with the contractor to schedule work to minimise disruptions.

“This is a project with a long-term vision for the future of Singleton. The economic benefits of improvements to the Singleton town centre were independently assessed by MacroPlan Dimasi. 

“It was estimated that the overall economic benefit of the Singleton Town Centre Revitalisation Project  would be $23.98 million with a benefit to cost ratio of 2.8:1. This means that  for every dollar that is spent on the project, about $2.80 will come back into the local economy.

“We can’t wait to get started and will be rolling out more detailed information  regarding construction schedules to business owners shortly.”

The Singleton Town Centre Revitalisation Project is being funded by the NSW Government’s Resources for Regions program and Singleton Council.

For more information on the Singleton Town Centre Revitalisation Project visit www.singleton.nsw.gov.au/majorprojects