Construction at Badgerys to begin in February

Western Sydney Airport is preparing for takeoff after the federal Government gave the green light for construction work to begin at Badgerys Creek.

The move, hailed as a “milestone event” by Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher, means work will now get under way at the site by February next year.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the first request for tenders to begin work on the $5.3 billion project will be ­released today, with “commercial-in-confidence” documents calling for key geotechnical work to earthworks and construction can begin.

After decades of debate and wrangling, this represents the first on-site work since the government announced the massive development would go ahead.

“Western Sydney Airport will be the hub of a new third city for the greater Sydney area,” Mr Fletcher said. “It will ­attract businesses and generate tens of thousands of jobs. “This is a project that has been spoken about for decades but the Turnbull government is delivering it.”

The geotechnical works tender is the first issued by the newly formed Western Sydney Corporation, which was created after Sydney Airport Corporation gave up its right to develop the new airport in May.

It is expected to shortly ­release more tenders for decontamination of the sprawling Badgerys Creek site, for early bulk earthworks and for air and noise monitoring, according to tender documents.

The government expects construction to begin in full next year, and for the first stage of the mega airport to be open by 2026. The Daily Telegraph revealed in August that Western Sydney Corporation will set up shop in Liverpool later this year.

The airport is expected to employ 9000 people directly when open and the project is expected to generate 11,000 construction jobs alone ­between 2018 and 2026.