This is a project of national importance and a vital element of the forward planning to meet the needs of Western Australia’s importers and exporters.

Fremantle Port’s Inner Harbour in the Swan River estuary handles almost all of the State’s container trade.  

Growth in container trade has been about 10 per cent annually since the early 1990s and based on current trade trends the Inner Harbour is expected to reach optimal capacity by about 2017.

Following an integrated strategic assessment of four options for the proposed Kwinana Quay, two were selected to go forward into the statutory approvals process.

A decision has subsequently been made that only the northern option will be advertised for the required Metropolitan Region Scheme amendment.

This option, which emerged as the preferred option from the integrated strategic assessment, is an island design about one kilometre off shore. Road and rail links would be via an open spanned bridge to an extension of Rowley Road, just north of the Alcoa refinery.

The proposed port facility would have an annual capacity of up to 1.7 million containers as well as providing berths for general cargo imports and exports.

The Kwinana Quay project is being jointly managed by Fremantle Ports and the Department of Transport.

Detailed studies and consultation

Significant research over decades has gone into confirming the need for and location for additional container and general cargo port facilities beyond the capacity of the Inner Harbour.

The Kwinana Quay proposal has been the subject of more than 70 planning, economic, environmental and other technical studies. 

The Environmental Protection Authority has set the level of assessment for the Kwinana Quay project at an Environmental Review and Management Plan (ERMP). and the work towards approvals has involved significant community and other stakeholder consultation.