Work towards approvals for Fremantle Ports' planning new container and general cargo facilities at Kwinana is progressing and is now in the statutory approval phase.
Additional berths will be needed to handle the overflow container trade when Fremantle’s Inner Harbour reaches optimal capacity in 2015.
Westerm Australia is a trading state and without adequate port capacity the State's economy will not be sustainable.
In July 2007, State Cabinet decided two options should proceed through the statutory approvals process. The options are:
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an island design about one kilometre offshore and linked by an open spanned bridge to an extension of Rowley Road, north of the Alcoa refinery
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a partially land-backed facility just south of Alcoa with a freight link via Anketell Road.
Either option would have an annual capacity of 1.4 million containers and is estimated to cost $1.3billion, including new road and rail links.
It is a project of immense economic importance to Western Australia and will involve hundreds of jobs and increase local employment, both in the construction phases and when operational.
Container trade growth
Fremantle Ports’ container trade has grown almost 10 per cent annually on average since the early 1990s and the average size of container ships has increased by about 65 per cent over the past decade.
Kwinana was selected as the location for overflow container and general cargo berths following more than 70 technical and planning studies over two decades. The new facilities need to be on the metropolitan coast because 90 per cent of the State’s container trade travels within 50 kilometres of Fremantle.
The very detailed environmental, planning and economic studies in a full statutory planning and environmental approvals process will take about two years. Community consultation, which has been underway since 2003, will continue to be an important part of these approvals processes.
It is likely that, as with the Inner Harbour in Fremantle, the new container port facility will be a mix of public and private investment.
Fremantle Ports and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure are jointly managing the Kwinana Quay Project.
Background
Studies have shown that the most appropriate site for the new facilities is at Naval Base/Kwinana, about 15km south of Fremantle. Technical assessments have been wide-ranging and rigorous. Four options were originally considered. An integrated strategic assessment undertaken to differentiate between the options involved extensive community consultation and technical studies.
Kwinana Quay Project
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