Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun says the Planning and Assessment Commission report about the Moorebank Intermodal had justified council and the community’s concerns that the plans were deeply flawed and failed to recognise significant problems with the site.
On September 29 the Planning and Assessment Commission limited the first stage of the SIMTA intermodal terminal to 250,000 containers in the first instance, and would only approve an additional 250,000 if the operators could prove that the capacity of the transport network had not been exceeded. The company had sought to push one million containers through the site each year.
Mayor Mannoun said the report vindicated council’s stand that the Moorebank site posed significant problems for a freight terminal and was a deeply flawed proposal.
“The PAC report is not the green light for development at Moorebank,” Mayor Ned Mannoun said.
“There are significant hurdles before development could even begin. SIMTA can’t build or dig, and there is an immense amount of work to do to address the raft of issues outlined by the PAC.
“The report highlighted what we have been saying all along about the lack of planning for the entire two-terminal site, and the combined effect of both of them if they should go ahead.
“The Commission has rightly stated that the MIC proposal will have to be assessed in light of the SIMTA proposal and that a master plan for the precinct should have been undertaken in the first place.
“In Council’s opinion it makes the MIC proposal even more problematic.
“The report recognises that key intersections on Moorebank Avenue and the Hume Highway will need significant investment and redesign to address traffic impacts as they are already at full capacity.
“The report also identified significant problems relating to air quality, construction and operational noise impacts.
“These are all major concerns which vindicate council and the community’s position against the intermodals at the Moorebank sites.
“This is the wrong location and will have long-ranging consequences if this goes ahead.
“I believe that the announcement of an airport at Badgerys Creek demands a rethink of the plans and would provide the perfect location for an intermodal.
“With significant government infrastructure scheduled for the new airport, Badgerys Creek has the potential to be a true intermodal for road, rail and air,” the mayor said.
