The Club’s first meeting at the Sofitel celebrated Rotary’s Vocational Service month, featuring three members – Moderator Richard Parker whose career embraced major projects such as public housing and the Melbourne City Link project, major project management expert, Nick Pelham, and residential project manager and architect, Barbara Yerondais.
The discussion focussed on
· Defining large scale infrastructure projects and what success / failure can look like; success can follow even a troubled project – the MYKI ticketing system was highlighted as a troubled project during its development, yet arguably it has been successful once implemented as illustrated by reliable use of more than a decade.
· A large project is now defined as one valued at more than $1billion.
· Barb Yerondais highlighted that need for strong consultation and community engagement in social housing projects – she outlined the horrendous supply chain and cost issues that arose from the COVID lockdowns. Community push back and political issues are common.
· The cost of building materials has increased by 40%, while the cost of labour has nearly doubled
· A big issue impacting builder solvency with the predominance of fixed price contract in an inflationary climate.
· Nick Pelham highlighted the importance of executive skills in leading major projects – managing people, building relationships with Board and Government, and public relations. Hence typical major project leaders must be skilled in leading teams of experts rather than being project experts themselves.
· Nick highlights that 70% of big projects run over budget by an average of 40%
· The Q&A focused attention on successful projects:
o The Victorian Regional Rail project.
o The Level Crossing removal project which has already seen 67 removed and a total of 130 planned by 2030
o Even projects that were a mixed bag, like MYKI, could be argued to be ultimately successful.
· Other questions related to success factors in Rotary projects and managing the risk of corruption.
We encourage you to take a look at the video of the panel discussion HERE. Everyone present was impressed with the insights shared by members experienced in major project development.
