Hastings ‘necessary’ for Victoria
The Victorian Government has reaffirmed that a Hastings container terminal remains a key plank of its logistics blueprint for the state.
Some lobby groups have proposed a ‘Bay West’ terminal between Point Wilson and Little River as an alternative solution aimed at alleviating container traffic growth pressures on Melbourne, with the ‘Bay West’ option to the west of Melbourne and Hastings around the promontory to the south east.
Transport industry leader Paul Little came out strongly against the economics of creating a container terminal in Hastings, as opposed to developing Bay West, arguing that a Hastings terminal would cause traffic issues in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and would also be a headache for logistics companies with existing bases in the west, far from the Hastings terminal.
However senior government figures Premier Denis Napthine, ports minister David Hodgett and roads minister Terry Mulder all backed the Hastings option when launching their new freight and logistics planning blueprint entitled ‘Victoria the Freight State’.
Dr Napthine said additional capacity would be needed in the late 2020s and as a natural deepwater port, Hastings fitted the bill to cater for the growth in containers. Mr Mulder said that Bay West would be too expensive, particularly for dredging the channel depth necessary to accommodate container vessels.
