One of the parties involved in the Wumbulgal freight hub is worried there is not enough demand for two facilities 10 kilometres apart.
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However, the company behind the proposed Widgelli Rail Hub says it won’t be a direct competitor.
The Western Riverina Intermodal Freight Terminal (WRIFT) had been planned for Wumbulgal, with a development agreement reached between Patrick Portlink and Australian Grain Link (AGL) more than two years ago.
Paul Pearsall, managing director of AGL said that having a transport hub at Widgelli could jeopardise funding from the state government, meaning that Patrick’s may be forced to wait before it could fully develop the site. Meanwhile, he said, the region would miss out on the economic benefits an intermodal ‘supersite’ could provide.
"The real risk is you end up with two inefficient rail hubs, we need something that can survive and thrive for 25 to 50 years,” Mr Pearsall said.
Earlier this year, Ettamogah Rail Hub submitted a development application to Griffith City Council to build a rail hub at Widgelli, less than 10 kilometres from Wumbulgal.
Rob Perkins from Ettamogah Rail Hub, part of the Colin Rees Transport Group, said the Widgelli site would complement AGL’s existing grain loader at Wumbulgal.
“We are rail terminal operators, we have a long history of running rail services and rail transport right around Australia,” Mr Perkins said.
“While existing services out of the region have been very successful, there is still a tremendous amount of freight and a lot of growth in the area that doesn’t touch rail at all.
“The opportunity to provide an alternative to the owners of that freight is pretty real.”
Mr Pearsall warned that if Griffith City Council approved the development at Widgelli, WRIFT may not be developed for some years, meaning Patrick’s would continue their presence in Griffith’s CBD.
Griffith Mayor John Dal Broi said if council were to pick and choose who could go in to business, it would be a very dangerous path to go down. He said council’s role was simply to consider the development application and decide whether it met requirements.
Local MP Adrian Piccoli said that the Wumbulgal site should be the only transport intermodal in the region, rather than two so close together.