Submission to the Inquiry Into Infrastructure & the Development of Australia's Regional Areas
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SUBMISSION TO THE INQUIRY INTO INFRASTRUCTURE & THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA’S REGIONAL AREAS PARLIAMENT HOUSE CANBERRA PRINCES FREEWAY ACTION COMMITTEE May 1999 l:\infrastructure inq\submissions\electronic subs\sub244-e.doc Submission to The Inquiry into Infrastructure and the Development of Australia’s Regional Areas INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 THE PRINCES FREEWAY ACTION COMMITTEE............................................2 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................3 IMPACTS ON SMALL - MEDIUM SIZE BUSINESS ............................................4 AVALON AIRPORT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ............................................................4 GEELONG CEMENT ....................................................................................................7 GENERAL ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE PRINCES FREEWAY.................9 1. OVERVIEW ...............................................................................................................9 2. THE VITAL LINK .....................................................................................................9 3. THE BENEFITS OF AN UPGRADE ......................................................................10 4. HOW TRAFFIC DELAYS COST BUSINESS AND THE COMMUNITY ..........10 5. SAFETY AND THE COST TO THE COMMUNITY ............................................11 ATTACHMENTS .......................................................................................................12 Submission to The Inquiry into Infrastructure and the Development of Australia’s Regional Areas INTRODUCTION The Princes Freeway Action Committee submits the following information in support of its request for upgrade works to, and reclassification to the status of Road of National Importance for the Princes Freeway, between the Western Ring Road and Geelong. This submission outlines the reasons why such upgrade and reclassification will benefit regional development in the western regions of Victoria and Melbourne, the Geelong region and the south-east region of Australia. Page 1 Submission to The Inquiry into Infrastructure and the Development of Australia’s Regional Areas THE PRINCES FREEWAY ACTION COMMITTEE The Princes Freeway Action Committee was formed in 1997 to facilitate improvements in the efficiency, capacity and safety of traffic movement on the Princes Freeway and comprises representatives from the Cities of Wyndham, Hobsons Bay, Greater Geelong and Melbourne, the RACV, Fox Holdings Pty Ltd, the Victorian Road Transport Association, Ford Australia, Transwest Haulage Pty Ltd, Avalon Airport Australia Pty Ltd, the Australian Industry Group, the Transport Workers’ Union of Australia and community and road safety representatives. Spokespersons for the Committee are Lindsay Fox, Founder of Fox Holdings Pty Ltd and Barry Harvey, Managing Director of Austco Enterprises Pty Ltd. Page 2 Submission to The Inquiry into Infrastructure and the Development of Australia’s Regional Areas REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT The Committee believes that the case for upgrade and reclassification of the Princes Freeway (Geelong Road) to the status of Road of National Importance is extremely strong, given the economic importance of the route to the south-east region of Australia, along with its congestion and appalling safety record. While the economic benefit for Australia is outlined in a later section of this submission, the Committee believes it may be useful to provide two examples of the reliance on the Princes Freeway by Small to Medium sized businesses in the Melbourne/Geelong Region of Victoria. Two member organisations of the Princes Freeway Action Committee (PFAC), Avalon Airport and Geelong Cement have outlined the importance of the Princes Freeway to their business activities. Unfortunately, Geelong Cement has since announced its closure. This prompts a question regarding how much influence current conditions experienced on the Princes Freeway contributed to the closure. Page 3 Submission to The Inquiry into Infrastructure and the Development of Australia’s Regional Areas IMPACTS ON SMALL - MEDIUM SIZE BUSINESS CASE STUDIES AVALON AIRPORT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD Background Avalon Airport Australia Pty Ltd is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Linfox Group of Companies. The airport is capable of handling the movement of international freighters and is situated on 1,753 hectares, fifty-five kilometres from Melbourne on the Princes Freeway. Linfox Transport (Aust) Pty Ltd’s rationale for the purchase of Avalon Airport include plans for the development of: • a logistics hub for the transfer of domestic and international freight; • an aerospace centre, encapsulating aircraft maintenance, pilot training and international exhibitions; and • property development including the establishment of freight terminals, warehousing, technology and manufacturing activity. To commence these activities, Linfox Transport has invested approximately $3 million in freight handling facilities, during the period February 1997 - February 1998. It officially commenced freight handling with the movement of freight requirements associated with the Australian Formula One Grand Prix during March 1998. Princes Freeway Upgrade - The Avalon Perspective An efficient, safe and cost effective road network, providing high quality and reliable road freight transport services to Avalon will be required to develop the facility into a leading intermodal freight transport and aerospace hub. In its present condition, the inefficient and dangerous Princes Freeway detracts from Avalon’s ability to implement its strategy, as the Freeway multiplies the risks associated with road transport, therefore increasing costs to exporters and the aerospace and transport industries. In particular, as Avalon pursues its endeavours to capitalise on opportunities available for the export of perishable produce, particularly to Asian markets, the present road infrastructure will restrict its ability to effectively transport time sensitive high value produce to the international market. As an example, the Linfox Group estimates the following freighter B747 aircraft movements, will be undertaken via Avalon Airport over the next seven years: Page 4 Submission to The Inquiry into Infrastructure and the Development of Australia’s Regional Areas Estimated Aircraft Movements Years 1-3 Years 3-5 Years 5-7 Per week 2 4 7 Per annum (50 weeks) 100 200 350 Each aircraft holds a carrying capacity of 100,000 kilograms of freight, with each movement requiring the transfer of this produce in approximately 9 semi-trailer vehicles. Combining the movement of one inbound aircraft, approximately 18 semi-trailer vehicle movements will be incurred (ie., 9 inbound to/from Avalon). Therefore the following vehicle movements and freight levels are anticipated: Estimated Vehicle Movements Years 1-3 Years 3-5 Years 5-7 Per week 36 72 126 Per annum 1,800 3,600 6,300 Estimated Freight Movement Years 1-3 Years 3-5 Years 5-7 (kilograms) Per week 400,000 800,000 1,400,000 Per annum (kilograms) 20,000,000 40,000,000 70,000,000 Just in Time Transfer - The Requirements for an Efficient Road Transport System Each B747 aircraft will operate from Avalon on a world standard “turnaround time” (ie. landing - unloading - reloading - refuelling - departing) of approximately 2.5 hours. The export freight arrives at the airport by vehicle, up to two hours before the arrival of the aircraft. Any delays in the arrival of freight, due to road transport or other problems, will generally result in two penalties: • The departure of the aircraft without the freight on board, leading to supplier breaches between exporters and customers, and a decline in freight revenues for the airline. Importantly, continued lack of delivery performance would impact upon Australia’s freight delivery reputation, particularly via Avalon, and reduce demand for the services, reducing Avalon’s commercial viability; or • The aircraft will delay departure, therefore missing its airport destination’s landing slot into, for example, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Tokyo. Late arrivals incur significant additional costs which are ultimately borne by Australian exporters. In addition, late arrivals incur a flow-on impact, and the international airline flying schedule is interrupted. Page 5 Submission to The Inquiry into Infrastructure and the Development of Australia’s Regional Areas Avalon Airport - Further Economic Development The Linfox Group of Companies considers it likely that development of 10,000 - 20,000 square metre warehouse and distribution centres will be undertaken at Avalon Airport over the next seven years. These include the following estimates: Years 1-3 Years 3-5 Years 5-7 Development 123 Warehouse & Distribution Centres Each warehouse may have potential to generate up to 100 truck movements per day, rapidly increasingly vehicular movements on the Freeways. These developments will also be contributing factors which will require the further upgrade of road infrastructure between Melbourne and Geelong. Summary Linfox Transport projects that Avalon Airport may generate up to an additional 5,000 trucking movements on the Freeways over the next seven years, from its freight handling activities. Other commercial impacts on the proposed development of industrial precincts, warehousing and aerospace at Avalon Airport, will also produce significant road transport movements. In summary, Linfox