PLANNING and transport industry experts have joined the state opposition in touring sites between Werribee and Geelong that are being canvassed as locations for an international container port.
Representatives from Avalon Airport, the Property Council of Australia, Committee for Wyndham, and Geelong and Wyndham city councils, met last Wednesday to scope the coastline after Labor pledged to abandon support for a new container terminal at Hastings and instead build one in the west if it wins the next election.
The government is adamant that Hastings is the site that will be used to cope with an expected surge in container trade over the next 40 years, with the Port of Melbourne expected to reach capacity by 2027.
But Labor’s jobs and investment strategy warns the Hastings proposal would fail to cope with a surge in container trade by 2050.
Opposition ports spokesman and Tarneit MP Tim Pallas said a likely location in the west would be between Little River and Point Wilson, which previous studies had supported, due to its ample land and “almost unlimited potential berth capacity”. He said the location was closer to the rail network, Avalon Airport and freight and logistics centres in Melbourne’s west.
“Ernst & Young estimated the cost of a port at Bay West has the potential to handle a total of 14 million containers compared to seven million at Hastings for approximately the same establishment costs,” Mr Pallas said.
Property Council of Australia state deputy director Asher Judah welcomed the inclusion of a ‘Bay West’ option, saying the location of the next major port would have a significant impact on the state’s long-term liveability and growth.
“The port’s location will determine whether billions of dollars of road and rail infrastructure funding is deployed in Melbourne’s south-east or south-west.”
He said a site between Point Wilson and Little River, and another site closer to major distribution centres in Truganina, needed to be weighed up against the long-standing plan for Hastings.
“Industry, investors and the community need more information in order to make a meaningful contribution to the community consultation process.”
Premier Ted Baillieu criticised Labor for scuttling support for a terminal at Hastings, a proposal it supported when it was in government.
“Now I suspect for purely political reasons they have dumped Hastings in search of a longer-term plan.” Mr Baillieu said the government had already admitted the benefits of having a port in the Bay West area but said it was viewed as a third, long-term possibility up to 50 years away.
Opposition leader Daniel Andrews said a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis would be conducted, comparing Bay West with other sites.
