Geelong Port development sparks grower anger

Grain groups and the VFF have united to oppose a proposed development of office space that would limit future expansion of grains infrastructure.

Hamilton Group hopes to build an office block on waterfront land at the Port of Geelong. Photo: GeelongPort

Grain groups have united in opposition to a major development planned for the Port of Geelong, which they say will create congestion and limit future expansion of grain infrastructure.

The Victorian Planning Minister is considering a proposal to allow 11,000 square metres of office space to be built on waterfront land at 50 Mackey St, north Geelong. Public consultation for the proposal closed on Monday.

Victorian Farmers Federation grains vice president and Minyip grower Ryan Milgate said he was frustrated the VFF had not been consulted on the proposal.

“(The development is) right on the waterfront. We’ve already got our grain ports of Geelong running, in good production years, at capacity, or even above now,” he said.

“So all of a sudden, we put an office block on the waterfront, it just rules out that bit of waterfront for expansion into the future.”

The VFF has united with Grain Growers Ltd and Grain Producers Australia to oppose the development.

“I can’t tell you off the top my head the last time GPA, GGL, and VFF all joined together and worked together on an issue. So that to me, that’s a real sign of how important we all believe it is,” Mr Milgate said.

Victorian Farmers Federation grains vice president and Minyip grower Ryan Milgate says Geelong Port is already at capacity in high production years. Picture: James Wagstaff

Grain Producers Australia southern region director Andrew Weidemann said traffic congestion was one of his major concerns with the proposal.

“It is a major export site for us in Australia. It’s our largest grain export terminal in Victoria,” Mr Weidemann said.

“If you start doing office blocks in there, you’ll get another 400 vehicles down there a day just for the staffing of that because it’s not an area that’s serviced by rail.

“We just don’t need any more movements down there than is necessary,” he said.

Grain Producers Australia southern region director Andrew Weidemann is concerned the development, which includes a proposal for 396 car spaces, will clog up the road into the port during peak delivery periods.

In a statement, Grain Growers Ltd chief executive Shona Gawel said traffic assessments supporting the development had been conducted on “select days during the October 2022 floods” and did not accurately reflect road usage.

“This is the main location for bulk grain export for Victoria and Southern New South Wales, with over two million tonnes exported from the GrainCorp terminal alone in 2020-21, representing 44 per cent of Victoria’s total grain exports,” she said.

The proponent of the development, Hamilton Group, said in a statement: “The proposal is the result of two years of extensive consultation and collaboration with Government Transport, Ports, Planning & Regional Development teams; local council, and key industry stakeholders.

“The traffic survey has been extensively reviewed as part of the process with Government and involved significant planning. It’s unreasonable and counter-productive to suggest that we could both predict the weather and co-ordinate an extensive traffic survey at a moment’s notice.”

Planning minister Sonya Kilkenny was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline.