 |
Today's guest speaker was Ansrea Crossley and she was introduced by PP Geoff Breust. Andrea is the Economic Development Officer for Wagga Wagga City Council who when not devoted to the RIFL (Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics Hub, is a committed member of the community and enjoys gardening and travelling.
 |
After acknowledging the traditional owners, the Wiradjuri people, Andrea gave a brief history of the Bomen precinct. TEAS were some of the first occupants from the 1950's. The Livestock Marketing Centre was moved to the site in the 80's and in 2010 the Logistics hub was mooted in the Bomen Strategic Marketing Plan. In 2018 and 2019 $52 million was injected many by State Government.
 |
Visy Paper Mill Tumult is a major tenant with regular shipping of material through the RIFL Hub. It is expected that up to 1,000 containers per day will be moved through the Hub when it is fully operational.
 |
The RIFL Site has been planned for growth and will be able to triple its capacity in the next few years. A bitumen road borders the new sites which are fully serviced with infrastructure eg. electricity, sewage, water, gas and hydrogen.
The Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics Hub (RiFL) will deliver significant benefits and strengthen the regional economy, creating opportunities for businesses looking to relocate from metropolitan areas and establish in regional NSW.
The RiFL Hub is a core feature of the existing Bomen Business Park, which is also the focus of the recently released draft Special Activation Precinct (SAP) master plan.
We'll be delivering the RiFL Hub project in three stages:
Stage 1: construction of the necessary infrastructure and road network. This stage was completed in 2017.
Stage 2: construction of rail and intermodal terminal infrastructure required to load and unload freight on the main southern rail network between Melbourne and Sydney.
Stage 3: development and construction of a sixty-hectare industrial subdivision adjoining the Stage 2 intermodal terminal.
The proposed RiFL Hub offers a significant competitive advantage over other similar proposals and facilities in the region including:
- servicing a diverse range of commodities, businesses and freight types, creating a highly sustainable facility
- large industrial lot sizes (up to 10+ hectares)
- able to service full-length (1800m+) trains on the $10.8B Inland Rail network
- strong synergies through its close location to the Bomen Business Park industrial area, allowing freight to be transported close to where it is manufactured and processed
- enabling regional businesses to trade more effectively with national and international markets through access to cost-effective transport and logistics
- improved high productivity vehicle access.
Strategically located on the Main Southern Railway between Sydney and Melbourne, the RiFL Hub is critical to the future growth of our city and the broader region, driving growth, creating jobs and increased productivity.
With freight volumes across NSW projected to double by 2030 and triple by 2050, this project will be one of the most important general freight routes in Australia.
Andrea answered some questions from the floor and speculated, along with Geoff Breust, on the potential for an international airport on nearby land on the other side of the Wagga - Junee Rd to complete the Wagga Logistics picture.
Acting President Doug thanked and congratulated Andrea for her detailed and informative talk and presented her with a bottle of olive oil as a token of thanks.