Have your say on regional freight plan

A draft plan to improve the movement of freight to, from and through the Wellington region is now out for public consultation. The draft plan updates the current 2007 Regional Freight Plan. This is part of a scheduled review.

Fran Wilde, Chair of Wellington Regional Transport Committee, says the timely and efficient movement of freight is a cornerstone of the region’s economy. “The movement of freight contributes significantly to our economic development by moving goods and providing services to people and businesses within the region. Improvements in the freight sector can benefit the region substantially by reducing the costs of doing business and creating a more business-friendly environment which can be a strong attraction to new businesses. We must also keep in mind that these new businesses can change the amount of freight and the products being moved in the region as well.”

Key changes in the movement of freight since 2007 include the growth of just-in-time delivery of goods and services. This is a business strategy that keeps, for example, a business’s on-site stock to the minimum in order to maximise space for sales products. This requires purchased goods to be replaced rapidly as there isn't much spare inventory. Therefore, freight transport companies have to make more frequent time sensitive deliveries to replenish the store’s stock.

The new plan also takes account of the consolidation of freight distribution hubs around the country. Two significant hubs for freight in the lower North Island are at Seaview in the Hutt Valley, and in Palmerston North. Other significant factors include a predicted doubling of the amount of freight moving through the Wellington region over the next 20 years and an expectation that diesel prices are likely to become more volatile but increase overall.

“To address these changes, the draft plan has an updated action programme of projects and activities performed by Greater Wellington and our partners in the region. It now includes the relevant work the NZ Transport Agency is doing on the Levin to Wellington Airport Road of National Significance and the introduction of larger trucks, as well as the KiwiRail Turnaround Plan aimed at improving the reliability and economic performance of rail freight.

“A new focus of this draft plan is improving road and rail access to and from CentrePort and the ferry terminals. There are also capacity issues also exist. The KiwiRail Interislander terminal, for example, has 32 spaces for trucks to park but an average of 80 truck exchanges occur with each ferry journey. We also intend to work smarter by improving our knowledge base of how freight moves in the region and increasing our freight modeling capability.”

The draft plan is available at www.gw.govt.nz/freight. Submissions on the draft plan close on Friday 29 April 2011.

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