By Luke Voogt
Geelong’s half-billion-dollar shipping industry could be under threat from encroaching developments such as a planned office complex nearby, a maritime expert has warned.
“We’re keen to ensure that whatever development takes place around the port it doesn’t impinge on port activities,” Victorian Regional Channels Authority chief Michael Harvey said.
Businesses moving goods through the Port of Geelong relied heavily on transport corridors to get cargo to the wharf, Mr Harvey said.
Development too close to the port could lead to harmful curfews and limits on truck movements and size, harming businesses already operating on fine margins, he explained.
“We need to ensure we don’t cut off growth options by cutting off land access.
“When you get residential developments people don’t like industrial activity happening nearby.”
The warning comes as the authority draws up a new development strategy for port’s future.
In 2016-17 13.5 million tonnes of cargo, worth $7.8 billion, passed through the port generating $570 million for the local economy and supporting 1700 jobs.
But more bulk and liquid cargoes, like grain, fertilizer and oil, were coming to Geelong each year as the Port of Melbourne grew busier, Mr Harvey said.
Victoria’s second container port was 37 years away meaning this figure would continue to grow, he said.
But competition for land use near the port threatened this growth, Mr Harvey said.
He was taking a “keen interest” in plans to redevelop the disused Powerhouse building in North Geelong into a seven-storey office complex, he said.
“You’ve got a lot of vehicles and truck movements in that area.”
The building would overlook the port, posing security risks for shipping activities, he said.
“We are certainly in discussion with that developer on how that might impact port activities.”
Geelong’s council is yet to approve a planning permit for the proposal after public advertising concluded on 3 May.
But the company behind the project, David Hamilton Property Group, wanted to avoid impacting on port activities, according to managing director Cameron Hamilton.
“In fact we want enhance them,” he said.
“The whole premise of our existence is to exist and operate within the constraints with the port.”
The company would work closely with surrounding industries and groups to create a “growth plan for Geelong that benefits everyone and doesn’t impact existing land users,” Mr Hamilton said.
