Waikato 'inland port' touted

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Ports of Auckland is considering building an inland container port beside the main trunk railway line in Hamilton.

The inland port would offer increased competition to the Port of Tauranga and form part of a Ports of Auckland rail freight link with Palmerston North.

Hamilton Mayor Russ Rimmington says he and Ports of Auckland chief executive Geoff Vazey have been discussing the proposal for nine months.

"I think within a year we will be well on the way to establishing an inland port in Hamilton," Mr Rimmington said.

"It's getting close. Certainly the Ports of Auckland are very enthusiastic about the idea."

A port industry source says it would make sense to have Hamilton as a loading and unloading point for the Ports of Auckland's recently announced rail freight link between Palmerston North and Auckland.

It would also allow the company to respond to increased competition from Port of Tauranga, which last week took the Far East service of major shipping line Fesco off Auckland.

Tauranga was able to cater for the extra business by the development of its own inland Metroport container distribution hub in South Auckland.

Ports of Auckland spokeswoman Karren Beanland confirms that discussions "of a general nature" have been held but says it is too soon to make any announcements.

She says the company has looked at the Waikato and other areas for an inland port.

"We have had general discussions with the mayor about those sorts of possibilities, but they have been of a general nature."

Mr Rimmington said the proposal was a great opportunity for growth in the city.

He said several sites were up for consideration in the north Hamilton/Te Rapa area alongside the railway lines, but he did not have any further details.

In early March, Ports of Auckland announced a $5 million plan to extend its container catchment area in the North Island by running its own rail freight service between Auckland and Palmerston North.

Plans for an inland port at Hamilton also appear to have been hatched to take back some dairy and meat export business lost to the Port of Tauranga in recent years.

"The Palmerston North move is not aimed at taking business off Tauranga," said the industry source.

"But certainly the Te Rapa one gives them the opportunity to capture some of that trade they may have lost."

Port of Tauranga chief executive Jon Mayson said he had heard rumours about a proposal for an inland port at Te Rapa for the past nine months but questioned its viability.

Tauranga and Auckland were both about the same distance from Hamilton but all the dairy factories in the Waikato, except Te Rapa, were closer to Tauranga.

Mr Mayson said more than half of the dairy exports from the Bay of Plenty and Waikato now went through Tauranga.

The port has in the past two years made big inroads into the dairy export business. Volumes have risen to 550,000 tonnes from 370,000 tonnes two years ago.

A Tranz Rail spokeswoman says the company knows nothing of a container port plan for Hamilton.