Port and iwi in giant Waikato project
Go-ahead for inland container hub gives 480ha estate boost
The long wait for Ruakura’s inland port is nearly over with a deal between Tainui Group Holdings and the Port of Tauranga set to open the gates within two years.
Significantly, the deal also unlocks a start for Tainui’s adjoining planned 375-hectare logistics, industrial and distribution powerhouse, expected to create up to 12,000 jobs.
The whole Ruakura development, on Waikato-Tainui-owned land, will eventually be bigger than the Auckland CBD.
The 50:50 joint venture between TGH — the commercial arm of Waikato-Tainui — and NZX-listed Port of Tauranga will establish the inland port with an initial 50-year ground lease.
Operations will start with the opening of the nearby Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway, scheduled for the end of next year.
It’s been 15 years since TGH began planning a $3 billion-plus commercial colossus on 480ha at Ruakura.
The plan was throttled by red tape until a frustrated TGH went to the Government in 2012 to have it declared a project of national significance. A start on the first stage, the 30ha inland port, has been stymied by a delay in finishing the linking expressway.
TGH chief executive Chris Joblin said the ground lease would cover 9ha of the inland port site, with capacity for 57,000 containers. Development would start in October.
It is likely the joint venture will go on to lease all of the 30ha, he said. Ultimately the site would be able to handle one million containers.
“We will push on now with development of the logistics and industrial parcels of land. This gives people certainty. We’ve had to soft pedal a little bit with delays to the expressway, so there’s been a twoyear delay,” Joblin said.
About 190ha was earmarked for logistics and industrial use at this stage.
The balance of the 480ha estate, after inland port and eventual total commercial area development, will be green space.
Joblin declined to discuss the size of the joint venture investment but said it was significant.
An anchor customer for the inland port had been signed, and others were in the wings, he said.
“Only a small number of jobs will be created through the port itself. Where the real job creation is when we bring in that logistic, distribution and manufacturing.
“Some of those buildings will house 600 to 800 people.”
The inland port joint venture follows the signing of a rail service partnership between the pair in August.
That 30-year agreement provided for cargo trains running between Port of Tauranga’s Auckland inland MetroPort and Tauranga to service the Ruakura inland port, giving importers and exporters direct access to fast international shipping services calling at Tauranga. Port of Tauranga trains will initially call at Ruakura four times a day.
KiwiRail operates up to 86 trains a week between MetroPort Auckland and Tauranga. The route has unused capacity.
The Tauranga-Hamilton-Auckland “golden triangle” accounts for half of New Zealand’s total freight volumes with container numbers on the route forecast to grow 60 per cent by 2042.
The latest deal with the Tauranga port replaces a 2017 agreement between TGH and LINX Cargo Care Group to develop and operate the new inland port.
Joblin said the shared strategic interest with the Port of Tauranga had become increasingly obvious. There was a “particularly strong fit” with Port of Tauranga’s existing infrastructure and its broad connections with regional importers and exporters. TGH and LINX had parted ways amicably, he said.
“We are excited to enter this partnership. As for our iwi, it means we can make the inland port a reality in a way that retains the underlying whenua, which will never be sold.”
TGH’s modelling shows a potential 60,000 truck movements a year would be removed from the roads when Ruakura is fully developed.