HANSARD EXTRACT
| Statements by
Members: Hume Highway |
| 9 May 2007 |
Mr HAYES
(Werriwa) (9.36 a.m.)—Today I
rise to speak about the campaign to widen the Hume Highway between
Ingleburn and Campbelltown. The widening is not simply to deal with
the increased commuter traffic, although it will contribute to
managing the effects of urban growth in south-west
Sydney.
The draft AusLink Sydney-Melbourne corridor strategy indicates that,
on the outskirts of Sydney, traffic levels currently exceed 80,000
movements per day, including 6,000 trucks, and this is expected to
grow by two to three per cent per year, in effect doubling the
traffic flow over the next 20 years. Sydney’s population is likely
to hit five million over the next 25 years and 20 per cent of that
growth is expected to occur in the south-west fringes of Sydney. The
south-west growth centre will include new communities, providing
homes for up to 250,000 people and approximately 10,000 hectares of
employment land.
The economic case for widening the Hume Highway between Ingleburn
and Campbelltown revolves around the establishment of intermodal
terminals and their connectedness with not only the M7 corridor and
other freight transport networks but also Port Kembla, which is set
to expand and include the importation of cars under the New South
Wales government’s three-ports strategy. Without widening the
section of road between Campbelltown and Brooks Road, the congestion
at this bottleneck will be exacerbated as a result of increased
freight movements from the intermodal facilities around Ingleburn
and Minto. The possible construction of another intermodal facility
on the defence land at Moorebank will add further pressure to local
road networks and, more importantly, the Hume Highway.
The draft AusLink Sydney-Wollongong corridor strategy indicates that
the relocation of car importations to Port Kembla will result in
250,000 vehicles arriving annually. It is expected that at least 50
per cent of those vehicles will be shipped by B-double road
transport to Minto or Ingleburn for pre-delivery inspection and
distribution to retailers throughout south-west Sydney. For local
job creation and managing the growth in freight transport between
Sydney and Port Kembla it is important that the road be widened.
This will allow for the expansion of Campbelltown based industries,
with the associated growth of local jobs. It will also allow the
benefits of the F5 to be fully realised. I hope some of the $22.3
billion earmarked in the budget for roads and rail finds its way to
the widening of the F5. (Time expired)
Return
to Speeches Menu
