SPOILBANK MARINA —
PORT HEDLAND
996. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to royalties for regions
funding of $71.5 million for the Port Hedland Spoilbank marina.
(1) Has a business
case been prepared for the project; and, if yes, will the minister table the
business case; and, if not, why not?
(2) What are the expected annual operating costs of
the marina and who will be responsible for the ongoing costs?
(3) Has there been any consultation
with port users regarding the Spoilbank marina?
(4) If yes to
(3), which port users were consulted and what issues did they raise about
Spoilbank marina?
(5) Have those issues now been
resolved to the satisfaction of the port users; and, if not, why not?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1) The previous
state government approved a business case requesting $72 million for the
development of the Port Hedland Spoilbank marina in 2012. This business case
was revised in 2016. In October 2018, cabinet approved a variation to the
project to progress a re-scoped, scaled back and more operationally affordable
design. The cabinet submission included a revised business plan and supporting
design, cost estimate and risk assessment documentation. The Spoilbank marina
ministerial task force will now progress the project to a detailed design
stage, including refined capital expenditure and ongoing operational cost
estimates. This material will be incorporated into a final business case for
cabinet consideration. At this time, the business case remains a cabinet
document.
(2) Advice from
independent marine engineers, in consultation with Department of Transport, is
that annual operating costs are estimated at an average of $830 000 per annum
over the first 30 years of the project. Cost estimates will be refined during
the detailed design stage. The state government will transfer $15 million to
the Department of Transport to create a special-purpose account to contribute
towards the future operational costs of the marina. The state government is in
negotiations with the Town of Port Hedland and major port users about funding
capital and recurrent costs associated with the marina.
(3) Yes, the project has involved
stakeholder engagement since its inception.
(4) In May 2018,
an independent two-day marine risk assessment workshop was undertaken in Port
Hedland to assess interaction of recreational craft and large ships at the port
of Port Hedland and examine the risk mitigation strategies. Attendees included
representatives from 30 key stakeholder groups, including the Port Hedland port
authority, port users, the Town of Port Hedland, industry, recreational vessel
user groups and a number of independent experts. The two-day workshop afforded
port users an opportunity to raise issues and concerns and, importantly, to
inform the decision-making process regarding the two marina concept plans
shortlisted for consideration by the Spoilbank marina ministerial task force.
(5) The consensus
of the risk workshop acknowledged that the existing boat launching facilities
at Richardson Street are over-utilised and located too close to the main
shipping channel, which presents a high-risk factor for recreational boat users
and the operations of the Pilbara Ports Authority. The risk workshop concluded
that the proposed concept plan, which includes a new channel separate from the
existing Pilbara Ports Authority channel, provided a significantly lower risk
to users and potentially valuable risk mitigation cost savings to commercial
and industry users.