SEATS - South East Australian Transport Strategy Inc. 36 Turner Street, Wonthaggi Victoria 3995 ~ Ph: 03 56721072 Mob: 0488 026 435 ~ Email: johnr.duscher@gmail.com

Website: www.seats.org.au Copyright © 2016 SEATS - South East Australian Transport Strategy Inc.

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NSW’s Princes Hwy 20-year plan range of stakeholders, including SEATS members. The consultation period closed in late May and feed-back is being incorporated into a final document to be released within the second half of 2016. Mr Wilson said this Strategy will be delivered over 20 years in line with the NSW Long Term Transport Master Plan, Regional Transport Plans and other relevant national and State plan-ning frameworks. It addresses these challenges:

providing freight access for High Productiv-ity Vehicles along the entire Princes High-way. For PBS class 2(B) vehicles (up to 30 m long and 85 t) south to BTU Road in South Nowra, and for PBS class 2(A) vehi-cles (up to 26 m long including B-double access) at Higher Mass Limits for the rest of the corridor

improving road safety performance

improving road alignment, lane width and

T he Princes Highway Draft Corridor Strategy, outlining the NSW Gov-

ernment’s 20-year vision for managing road transport along the Princes High-way, was well received by delegates at the recent SEATS meeting at Shellhar-bour in NSW. David Wilson of NSW Roads and Maritime Services outlined the Strategy which covers 422 km of the Princes Highway from the southern end of the M1 at Yallah (20 km south of Wollongong) to the Victorian border. Along this length, the Princes Highway intersects with the Illawarra Highway, M92, the Kings High-way and Snowy Mountains Highway. Current traffic volumes vary from about 60,000 vehicles per day north of Albion Park Rail to less than 1,000 vehicles near the Victorian bor-der, with a considerable increase during holiday periods. Heavy vehicles make up between 8% and 13% of vehicles, higher near the border. Since the Draft Strategy’s release in April, there has been extensive consultation with a

SEATS NEWSLETTER June 2016

Work on the $580m Foxground-Berry Bypass Project on the Princes Highway, May 2016

Continued on page 4

SEATS June 2016 Newsletter page 2

M ay’s SEATS meeting, hosted

by Shellharbour City Council, was particu-larly informative and productive. My thanks to Mayor Cr Marianne Saliba and her Council for their warm wel-come and their out-standing preparation for the meeting.

They organised some great speakers who kept everyone quite engaged with much of the emphasis on plan-ning for future transport needs.

Our dinner speaker was the inspiring ‘local legend’ Brett Stibners OAM, a gold and silver medalist in the Australian Basketball Wheelchair World Cup and Olympic Team.

Our meeting though was a little overshad-owed by the mergers of some SEATS member councils into larger entities. These include Tu-mut and Tumbarumba into Snowy Valleys Council; Bombala, Cooma-Monaro and Snowy River into Snowy Monaro Regional Council; and Queanbeyan and Palerang into Queanbeyan Regional Council.

In this process SEATS has lost some good friends and supporters. We sincerely thank each of the Councils, councilors and their staff for their valuable contributions to the work of SEATS over the years. Elections for these new Councils are in September 2017. Our EO John Duscher will contact each new Council to invite them to become SEATS members.

It was again apparent that despite all these changes, SEATS continues to have a vital role across south-eastern Australia in building and strengthening networks to identify and ad-vocate for projects that will improve transport infrastructure and opportunities for economic development and prosperity.

We welcomed some new faces, but sadly we said goodbye to others including Ron Collins who is retiring from the NRMA. Ron has been a member of SEATS for many years and a great supporter of our work.

Our August meeting is the AGM. We have to elect a new Chair ( this time from NSW) and a Deputy Chair (from Victoria). I encourage members to consider taking on these roles and look forward to seeing you in San Remo.

Albion Park Rail Bypass

Cr Jeanette Harding Chairman

SEATS Chairman speaks...

S EATS delegates were particularly impressed with the way Roads & Maritime Services

(RMS) worked through the complex constraints identified in the Albion Park Rail Bypass project to minimise the project’s impact. The RMS’ Paul Vecovski gave an excellent summary of the proposed project and its com-plexities. The plan is to construct a 9.8 km motor-way bypassing Albion Park Rail; it would reduce travel time through the area (in peak hours by over 60%) and separate through and local traffic. Several challenging anticipated constraints with the proposed route and works were identi-fied, and these were systematically addressed to minimise their impact. These included potential impacts on two threatened ecological communi-ties, on flooding, on Aboriginal and non Aborigi-nal heritage, on the Illawarra Regional Airport, noise impacts on neighbouring properties, and the socio-economic impact on local businesses including some farms where land had to be ac-

quired. An exten-sive community engagement pro-gram followed. The pro-posed route cut through a major sporting com-plex. Negotia-tions with various sporting bodies as well as council resulted in new and improved sporting facilities. His presen-tation will be on SEATS’ website soon.

App streamlines hazard reporting

A practical Road Safety App developed by Shellharbour City Council created consider-

able interest and subsequent inquiries. Shellharbour’s Road Safety Officer Jenny Davies said it allows someone to take a photo of a road hazard, such as a pothole or impaired street sign, which is then automatically sent with GPS coordinates to Council. The user instantly receives a response with an identifier that can be used for later enquiries. ‘It has really streamlined processes within Council because the report goes straight into the Works program,’ Ms Davies said.

Chair Cr Jeanette Harding and Paul Vecovski of RMS

Showing the route of the Albion Park Rail Bypass. Courtesy RMS.

SEATS June 2016 Newsletter page 3

freight hubs, decoupling areas, and possible up-grades to key freight connections including to the Barton and Federal Highways. The ACT freight network while modest compared to some areas, is regionally significant as a freight hub and for connecting with the NSW and Victorian freight networks. The ACT’s central location and strong road network attracts considerable ‘through freight’ from south-eastern NSW and Victoria with bene-fits to those regions. The Monaro and Kings Highways, which are roads of lesser national and state significance, are as important to the ACT freight network as the Federal and Barton High-ways which are national freight routes. Mr Sorbara said planning for the growing freight task and investing in the right infrastruc-ture will provide a more integrated and efficient transport network that supports the current and future freight demand. Nearly all freight to and from the ACT is road-based and primarily consists of imports, mostly from NSW. The ACT freight task is ex-pected to double in the next 20 years (see graph above). Air freight is expected to grow; freight rail services have recently recommenced.

Canberra starts international freight

T he start of international flights with Singa-pore Airlines from Canberra Airport from

21 September is ‘a game changer’ which will boost regional economic development. Canberra Airport’s Narelle Sargent told SEATS delegates it will enable the region’s business operators to export goods, produce and business services, as well as provide tourism opportunities from inbound tourists. Singapore Airlines will operate direct flights from Canberra to Singapore four times a week as well as direct flights to New Zealand. ‘Each leg is capable of transporting 20 t of freight; that’s up to 80 t each week to Singapore and New Zealand,’ Mrs Sargent said. ‘Canberra Airport can operate over 24 hours and that gives the region a logistical advantage. ‘These flights offer the potential to export lo-cally sourced fresh produce, particularly seafood which is time sensitive. Oysters from NSW’s South Coast could leave Canberra Airport late at night for Asian markets such as Singapore and China the next morning.’

T he ACT freight strategy, Build-ing an Integrated Transport

Network – Freight, was presented to SEATS delegates at the Shell-harbour meeting and prompted some robust discussion. Senior Planning Officer Robert Sorbara said much of that discussion centred on opportunities for the ACT to collaborate with stakeholders to achieve an inte-grated ‘whole of region’ connection with freight infrastructure in south-eastern NSW. Stakeholders include relevant NSW and Victorian Gov-ernment departments, local coun-cils, SEATS and industry. ‘That’s one of the Freight Strategy’s key actions,’ Mr Sorbara said. ‘One way we’re doing this is by engaging with the Canberra Region Joint Organisation (CBRJO), formerly known as the South East Regional Organisation of Councils (SEROC). Issues include the possible location of

Strategic Network document published

S EATS’ Strategic Transport Network has been completed. It identifies where additional infra-

structure is needed and provides a strategic con-text. It is an invaluable resource for:

SEATS’ members when preparing submis-sions for infrastructure funding

politicians and government agencies by providing them with a logical and consid-ered strategy for future transport infrastruc-ture in this region.

Reproduced from the ACT Government’s recently released Freight Strategy: ‘Building an Integrated Transport Network – Freight’, p. 30

ACT Freight Strategy reaches out

Courtesy Canberra Airport

What is SEATS?

South East Australian Transport Strategy (SEATS) aims to stimulate and facilitate investment in transport and infrastructure in south eastern NSW, eastern Victoria and the ACT. Its 50 members represent councils, industry and other organisations from Wollongong to Dandenong.

Eden Port gets $NSW The NSW Government has allocated $27.5m towards the redevelopment of the Port of Eden to ensure large cruise ships can visit. This is ex-pected to boost regional tourism.

Pre-election lobbying SEATS contacted candidates and political parties in south-eastern Australia and outlined priority trans-port infrastructure projects within the region’s various electorates.

Vic Regional Network The Victorian Government has re-leased its first ever Regional Network Development Plan. It sets out priori-ties for public transport services, in-frastructure and investment in each region over the next 20 years.

SEATS meetings 18-19 August: Hosted by VicRoads at San Remo on Bass Coast. AGM. 17-18 November: Hosted by Bega Valley Shire Council at Bega.

2017 17-18 February: Hosted by East Gippsland Shire Council. Details TBC 18-19 May: Hosted by Eurobodalla Shire Council. Details TBC

SEATS Executive

Chairman Cr Jeanette Harding (South Gippsland), Deputy Chair-man Cr Sue Whelan OAM (Queanbeyan), Sec. Cr Graeme Mid-dlemiss (Latrobe), Treasurer Mark Burnett (East Gippsland). Victorian representatives: Cr Bob Wenger (Wellington), Cr Deb Brown (Baw Baw), Cr Marianne Pelz (East Gippsland). NSW representatives: Cr Neil Burnside (Eurobodalla), Greg Pullen (Shoalhaven), Cr Marianne Saliba (Shellharbour).

SEATS June 2016 Newsletter page 4

Cove development, reputedly the biggest coastal development by a council in Australia. It covers over 387 ha and is in partnership with Frasers Property Australia, (formerly Australand). Delegates saw progress on the construction of the artifi-cially created boat harbour with 300-berth marina (begun 2013 expected completion 2018). It is funded from the sale of the 3,000 housing lots surrounding it. The development also in-cludes an 18-hole golf course, parks and commercial, retail and recreational facilities. The tour ended with an enjoyable visit to the impressive aircraft collection at HARS Avia-tion Museum at Albion Park Rail.

SEATS tours Shellharbour region

D elegates to SEATS meeting at Shellharbour were

treated to a fascinating tour. First stop was Shellhar-bour Council’s huge $1.5b Shell

Open roads to HPV

C ouncils were urged to open up their road networks

to high productivity heavy vehi-cles (HPV) wherever possible to optimise the freight task. The National Heavy Vehi-cle Regulator’s Tim Hansen and Simone Reinertsen told delegates higher productivity vehicles meant fewer trips for the same freight, less conges-tion and less emissions. ‘Our ultimate goal is to add routes to the approved road network as less permits reduces red tape for industry and councils,’ Mr Hansen said. ‘Councils also have the option to pre-approve routes which still allow them to control access, but gave business more certainty. ‘The NHVR is here to work with councils and industry to improve productivity and safety in the freight task and keep local economies strong.' Contact tim.hansen@nhvr.gov.au or

simone.reinersten@nhvr.gov. for more

information.

A highlight of the Shellharbour tour was a visit to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) Aviation Museum. Shown are budding jet fighter pilot SEATS Treas-urer Mark Burnett, left, and Cr Bob Wenger from Wellington Shire.

Courtesy NHVR

pavement condition

maintaining safe traffic flow in urban centres.

It then sets out short, medium and long term priorities. The RMS recognised that its strategy needs to be consis-tent with the Victorian Govern-ment’s strategy for the Princes Highway. The draft noted it is an important freight link between the forestry industry in north-eastern Victoria and the Port of Eden. SEATS EO John Duscher said the Strategy embraces a lot of what SEATS has been advo-cating for the past 20 years.

Princes Hwy Strategy Continued from page 1