Govt cuts red tape to assist heavy haulage industry

• Creation of a 'one-stop shop' for heavy vehicle permit matters
• Govt to provide $250,000 to underground 8 power lines crossing Gt Northern Highway

The heavy haulage industry will benefit from a new 'one stop shop' for heavy vehicle permit matters and a $250,000 State Government initiative to underground power lines over the Great Northern Highway.

Transport Minister Troy Buswell said the creation of the one stop shop at Main Roads WA would end the need for transport operators to deal with three or four separate agencies to obtain permits for a single shift.

"Feedback from the industry was that red tape was causing significant delays when planning the movement of over-sized loads across the State's road network," Mr Buswell said.

"Given the significance of the resources industry to the Western Australian economy, we need to make sure Government does what it can to allow the heavy haulage industry to operate as efficiently as possible.

"The creation of the one stop shop for permits will mean that a transport operator will only have to make one application to Main Roads in order to obtain an Oversize Load Permit, book a Police Escort and get a referral to Western Power for power line clearance."

The Minister said the industry had complained to Government for several years about the cost of the temporary lifting of the lines to allow oversized loads to pass through.

"Each time the lines are lifted, the industry must pay Western Power or Horizon Power and, with the increase in movements of oversize loads, this cost - which is passed on to customers - is also increasing," he said.

"To assist the industry the State Government, through Main Roads WA, has provided funding to Western Power to underground eight lines which cross Great Northern Highway between Perth and Newman.

"The heavy haulage industry agrees that these eight lines, which have a height clearance of less than 6.5m, are problematic for efficient operations.

"Given there were 849 oversize permits issued for loads travelling this route in 2011, the undergrounding of these lines will mean up to 90 per cent of these loads will no longer require Western Power supervision."

Mr Buswell said work to underground the lines was expected to be completed by the end of May 2012 and could potentially save operators up to $15,000 per trip.

"Once completed, Main Roads will look to identify other areas where this initiative will provide benefits to the transport industry," he said.

"I expect that these benefits may mean Government can work with the industry to develop a funding mechanism to be used for future similar projects."
 

      Fact File

• There were 849 oversize permits issued for all loads travelling between Bindoon and Wubin with a height greater than or equal to 5.55m in 2011. Of these, 90 permits were issued for loads with a height greater than or equal to 6m. Therefore, providing a minimum power line height of 6.5m would mean 759 of these loads would not need Western Power supervision
• The eight power lines to be undergrounded are:  2 in Bindoon; 3 in Miling; and 1 in Pithara, Dalwallinu and Wubin
• The $250,000 cost of undergrounding the lines also includes the underground connection to affected properties

Minister's office - 6552 6400