Moorebank places focus on freight

A Property Council lunch this month heard from Qube General Manager Maurice James as the opportunities for freight, logistics and industrial property were discussed and analysed.

Moorebank will be Australia’s largest intermodal freight precinct and once the project is finished, it will be roughly the same size as Sydney’s CBD.

The intermodal’s utilisation of both rail and road transport means that up to 300,000 trucks could be taken off the road and provide more efficient and cheaper handling of goods, cutting costs.

The panel following the keynote explored the challenges for freight and industrial property in Sydney including the encroachment on critical industrial land from residential and commercial development, a lack of corridor preservation and a lack of focus on freight in strategic planning documents.

Of particular concern to the panel was encroachment of residential development, particularly around key gateways such as Port Botany. The need to plan ahead and consider the impact of noise and transport routes was seen as critical to ensure residents are not impacted and industrial land can operate to its full potential.

The lack of communication on the value of freight and its impact on the lives all Sydneysiders was also seen as a challenge, with many people not fully realising the importance of freight to our everyday lives, from delivering groceries to building materials for a new house.

The Greater Sydney Commission’s District Plans had little detail about the plans for freight with more leadership required at a state level to provide an integrated approach to planning for the growing freight task.

The National Freight and Supply Chain Inquiry, of which Maurice is on the expert panel, and the updated State freight plan that will be a part of the Future Transport Strategy in NSW, are both due in the next 12 months and industry is looking to both documents to provide leadership on the issue.