Queensland school construction underway

The Queensland Schools PPP Project is about to get underway, with The Plenary Schools Consortium achieving financial closure with the Queensland government.

The project will see 10 new schools delivered around South Queensland over the next five years, in locations such as Burpengary, Ripley Valley, Griffin, Caboolture and Pallara.

Ray Wilson, Plenary Group director, says the project is an exciting one for the state and will develop Plenary's position in the Queensland infrastructure market.

The Plenary Schools consortium has been created under the Public Private Partnership, and will design, construct, commission, finance, maintain and offer facilities management services for all of the schools over 30 years.

The consortium comprises Plenary Group, which is the project sponsor, equity investor and financial arranger, as well as building contractor Watpac. Delta FM Australia (Compass Group) will serve as the facilities manager.

Plenary and Watpac have worked together since 2006, delivering over $550 million in infrastructure around Australia. Included in this impressive record of work is the design, delivery and operation of apartments at Defence Force bases throughout the country.

Considerable work was undertaken during the project's bidding phase, enabling the consortium to get financial close in record time.

“For Plenary Schools and the State to have reached financial close so quickly is the first of what I am sure will be many outstanding collaborative achievements in the delivery of this important project for the parents and children of South East Queensland," says Mr Wilson.

Plenary has a strong track record of working on major projects, including acting as the financial arranger and equity investor on the Gold Coast Rapid Transit light rail project.

Watpac Chief Executive Officer, Martin Monro, says his company is thrilled to be working with Plenary on the current project. He believes the construction period will establish more than 3,000 new jobs throughout its five year lifespan, and Watpac will deploy teams to deliver works concurrently at the jobsites.

The first projects to get underway will be Burpengary Secondary School and East Coomera Primary School, both scheduled to commence in January 2014. By the end of next year, four schools will be in the construction phase. The first group of schools is due to open at the beginning of the 2015 academic year.