Planned spend on rail in Waikato and Bay of Plenty in next two years is $88.6m. Photo / File
Planned spend on rail in Waikato and Bay of Plenty in next two years is $88.6m. Photo / File
Major studies of freight capacity and critical network assets across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty could result from a new economic action plan devised with input from major freight and logistics players.
The Waikato & Bay of Plenty Freight Action Plan is the first of its kind to bringtogether the sector's leading participants on actions needed to support growth and progress, said Hamish Bell, chairman of Waikato economic development agency Te Waka, which commissioned Ernst & Young to develop the plan.
The steering group for the development of the plan was Te Waka, its Bay of Plenty counterpart Priority One, KiwiRail, Port of Tauranga, Tainui Group Holdings, Netlogix, Mondiale and Fonterra.
They provided funding for the report underpinning the action plan and guided its finalisation after interviews with sector stakeholders including the funders, Swire Shipping, Coda Group, Foodstuffs, government transport agency Waka Kotahi, the Ministry of Transport and Carr & Haslam Transport.
The plan links challenges and opportunities identified in the EY study to potential action for the regions.
One identified challenge/opportunity is to increase the capacity of the freight network.
The recommended action for this is advocacy for, and stakeholder participation in, a study of system-wide capacity across the regions, including important links to Auckland, with bottlenecks and constraints identified and prioritised.
The report says the leaders for this task are the steering group, Waka Kotahi and the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regional councils.
Also recommended is a separate study assessing the resilience of critical network assets and identifying plans to limit potential disruption at points including the Kaimai Tunnel and the Kaimai Ranges. The same leaders are recommended for this project.
Also recommended to improve supply chain resilience is encouragement for the completion of regionally significant road capital projects, supporting continued spend on road maintenance to maintain existing assets.
Two other identified challenges/opportunities were addressing current and expected skills shortages by supporting an immigration push for truck drivers, and accelerating the Road to Success programme for the regions, and taking a leadership position in the roll out of hydrogen infrastructure in New Zealand.
Port of Tauranga is a major stakeholder in the two regions' supply chain. Photo / Supplied
Te Waka's Bell said the identified priorities were unlikely to come as a surprise - network capacity, supply chain resilience, skills shortages and new technologies all being top of mind for the industry.
But what was unique was the focus and commitment from all parties to work together defining the vision for the total region and delivering action points to make progress.
"We chose the words 'action plan' very deliberately. The messages and needs from industry are clear, and our next step will be to work with wider stakeholders, including local and central government partners, to deliver on priority actions."
The report said stakeholders identified top trends and external factors likely to have a "profound" impact on the sector.
Organic growth would likely drive increased freight volumes.
Expected increases in Waikato and Bay of Plenty between 2020 and 2030 - by 11.3 per cent and 10.7 per cent respectively - were predicted to increase freight growth of 45-65 per cent in this period.
Larger freight carriers such as trucks, ships and rail wagons, increased efficiencies but could put pressure and wear and tear on existing infrastructure, said the report.
All sector participants had plans to increase capacity, it said.
Major investments planned included spending $88.6 million on rail between FY22 and FY24, completion and use of the Ruakura inland port in Hamilton and annual roading investments in Waikato and Bay of Plenty of around $800m and $400m respectively. Proposed and approved National Land Transport Fund investments for the two regions totalled $2.6 billion.
"Despite these investments, predicted freight volume increases in the regions are likely to create additional bottlenecks, and further investment will be required," said the report.
"Understanding these bottlenecks and potential capacity improvements would be beneficial."
According to stakeholders, several transport assets would cause significant disruption to freight movement if they were unavailable, for example because of a natural hazard.
The Kaimai Tunnel was commonly cited, but other examples included the Port of Tauranga.
"Disruption would be both local and national and efforts to better understand mitigation plans would be beneficial," said the report.
"In terms of asset management, stakeholders highlighted the poor conditions of the state highway over the Kaimai Ranges and SH27 as 'hot spots'. It is estimated that 9000 vehicles travel over the Kaimai Ranges every day and 1300 of these are heavy vehicles.
"Due to its terrain, the trucking route of the ranges is costly and is known to have large safety issues. SH27 is also recognised by many as a challenging road due to the deterioration of the pavement and congestion," the report said.
