MELBOURNE�S main working port would be decommissioned by about 2040 and Geelong and Hastings would become home to the state�s booming freight trade under an ambitious business blueprint to transform the face of Victoria.
Under the multibillion-dollar proposal, put to Premier John Brumby and senior cabinet ministers, contentious Port of Melbourne plans to expand Webb Dock into a new container port would be scrapped, protecting views of the city from Williamstown and reducing traffic congestion in and around Port Melbourne and Docklands.
Instead, Swanson Dock would be expanded immediately while an international container terminal was built at Geelong, ready for operation in about a decade.
In the longer term � over about the next 30years � Swanson Dock would be closed as Hastings� deepwater port was expanded to ensure Victoria could cope with the forecast fourfold increase in container trade by 2035.
The ultimate goal would be to rid inner Melbourne of container port operations, freeing up the docks for a new waterfront residential and commercial hub on a similar scale to Docklands.
The brainchild of the transport infrastructure conglomerate Asciano, parent company of Patrick Stevedores and the freight giant National Rail, the plan is also being sold as a regional development policy that would provide a major economic stimulus to Geelong and Western Port Bay.
It has been presented to Ports and Major Projects Minister Tim Pallas and circulated to other key ministers, the state opposition and the Greens as the state�s political and business elite grapples with the question of how to ensure Victoria remains the freight capital of Australia.
Mr Pallas has not ruled out redeveloping Webb Dock, but in June he announced he was seeking expressions of interest from the industry on new ways to expand Victoria�s container capacity.
The Port of Melbourne is Australia�s biggest container port, handling more than 35per cent of the nation�s trade, and the freight and logistics sector is Victoria�s biggest employer.
��We want to maintain that edge and we also want to ensure that the state can handle growth while avoiding as much as possible the potential for congestion and delay,�� Mr Pallas said.
��While the development of Webb Dock ... remains an option to meet growing container capacity at the Port of Melbourne, we do want to go back to industry and examine some of the alternatives in greater detail.��
Asciano�s plan will go to the Port of Melbourne, which is scheduled to report to the government early next year on expansion plans.
The state opposition has long advocated rapid expansion of the Port of Hastings, and has concerns about the viability and desirability of transforming Webb Dock into a container port.
The Greens, who may hold the balance of power in State Parliament after November�s election, could be attracted to proposals that would eventually result in the industry being moved out of the capital.
The Committee for Melbourne is also pushing the government to detail how the state will cope with the expected increase in container movements, from about 2million a year now to as many as 8 million a year by 2035. Asciano�s views will carry weight because it is a key player in the industry, but they will be criticised by some industry players and community activists as being designed to boost the company�s profits.
Asciano is one of two operators at Swanson Dock, along with DP World, and has about a 30per cent interest in the Port of Geelong.
The Asciano blueprint, obtained by The Age, says Melbourne�s population boom � the city is expected to increase from about 4 million now to more than 7 million by the middle of the century � highlights the need to decentralise Victoria�s port facilities.
��The city�s roads and rail corridors are congested today, and the situation will be dire by 2030 unless action is taken,�� the 30-page document says. ��As populations grow, it becomes uneconomic to have the port located at the urban centre.��
Asciano says redeveloping Webb Dock would be expensive � requiring government investment of about $1.3billion � and would damage the quality of life of residents of bayside suburbs from St Kilda to Williamstown.
It would require seven new 70-metre-high cranes, operating 24 hours a day and under floodlights at night, destroying the view of Melbourne�s skyline from the Williamstown foreshore.
Because Webb Dock has no rail access, the West Gate Bridge and roads in Port Melbourne would become much more congested, with an extra 2000 truck trips a day.
Asciano says that, by contrast, an investment of about $200 million on Swanson Dock would enable it to cope with increased container movements for more than the next decade, with much less impact on the bayside suburbs.
The company endorses the government�s plan to expand the Port of Hastings into an international container port after 2030.
But it says that in the meantime the Port of Geelong should be transformed, with a new container terminal operating by 2020.
This would require deepening the shipping channels in Corio Bay, at a cost of at least $360 million, but other costs would be minimal because the Port of Geelong already has major road and rail links.
��As a working port, Geelong Port has land buffers in place and a container terminal redevelopment would create minimal environmental and social issues,�� Asciano says.
��As a regional city keen to capitalise on the economic advantages of its port, Geelong would receive a significant benefit from container trade.��
It says the Geelong option ��leads to the desirable outcome of Melbourne eventually being serviced by two container ports � Geelong to the west and Hastings to the east��.
��Medium-term development of Geelong Port and then the Port of Hastings would match Victoria�s broader freight and transport plans better [than redeveloping Webb Dock in Melbourne], and create investment and jobs in regional Victoria,�� the blueprint says.
��It would mean that further container port and freight development can occur where costs can be reduced, traffic congestion can be minimised, jobs are needed and where rail infrastructure is available.��
Asciano�s managing director Mark Rowsthorn told The Age last night the blueprint would produce a ��win-win-win�� � for Melburnians, people living in regional Victoria and users of Victoria�s ports.
AIO Price at posting:
$1.72 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held