GRIFFITH City Council will meet with the new state ports minister to ensure the dumping of Joe Tripodi from the portfolio does not derail plans to relocate the freight terminal.

Mr Tripodi, who was shunted to the backbench by Premier Nathan Rees on Sunday, made his support for the project clear during a visit to Griffith last month.

Council has been working for years on plans to relocate the terminal from the central business district due to concerns over public safety and the existing site's capacity to handle increasing freight volumes.

However, with the project estimated to cost about $15 million, it only became feasible when the NSW Government threw its support behind the plan as part of a strategy to secure Sydney Ports a share of the region's valuable cargo.

But the promotion of MP Paul McLeay to the ports portfolio has raised concerns over whether the momentum generated by Mr Tripodi's visit could be lost.

Deputy mayor Allan Bennett met with Mr Tripodi in September and said there was a risk of project stalling if the new minister did not share his predecessor's enthusiasm.

"It's a bit of a worry; hopefully the new minister is as keen as Joe Tripodi was," Cr Bennett said.

"But I guess at the end of the day, the bureaucrats are still the same, so hopefully it won't have a dramatic effect."

Cr Bennett said council would give Mr McLeay time to settle into his new role before trying to arrange a meeting early in the New Year.

"It would be prudent for our mayor (Mike Neville) to be down there and talking to the new minister reasonably soon," he said.

"The new minister will need a bit of time to find his feet, so we don't want to go rushing him too much.

"So probably early New Year would be an appropriate time."

Sydney Ports is working on a financial analysis of the relocation proposal, which will be presented to council at a later date.