Search on for port operator
Tainui Group Holdings, the property arm of Waikato-Tainui, is on the hunt for an operator for its yet to be built inland port.
Tainui chief executive Chris Joblin said that the port operator would have input into the construction of the port, which would start later this year.
Joblin said it had taken several years of planning and hearings, but Ruakura was now ready from a zoning and resource consents point of view.
‘‘TGH is seeking a world class port operator who shares our vision to shake up the freight economics in the upper North Island and change the game from plant-to-port for the region’s rapidly growing importers and exporters as well as increased movement of domestic cargoes,’’ Joblin said.
The successful operator will have the option to invest in the site infrastructure, including loading and unloading areas adjacent to the planned rail siding.
The 480 hectare Ruakura development incorporates a 33ha inland port and 84ha logistics zone in response to a forecast 60 per cent increase in freight volumes in the region by 2042.
Over the past three years all zoning and major resource consents have been secured for the first stage of the inland port and logistics hub, Joblin said.
‘‘Ruakura offers a large-scale, greenfields, fresh start for major exporters, importers and domestic cargo owners. We have ‘designed in’ efficiency from the word go and we are looking for the best operators in the business to help us maintain excellence in every aspect of operations.’’
Joblin said key players in the export and imports sector had approached Tainui.
These links include a dedicated interchange to the new Waikato Expressway, which is under construction, and a proposed four track rail siding at Ruakura for the efficient turnaround of trains to Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga.
Container volumes through the port will initially be relatively modest 100,000 by the third year . However, the port would have the capacity to manage more than a million container moves a year when it was completed.
Extensive measures to mitigate light and noise have been factored into Ruakura including more than 50ha of open space and extensive native plantings to shield neighbouring suburbs.