Council has consistently sought to ensure that the available transport infrastructure in the Shoalhaven is matched to the expected use of its industrial lands portfolio. This has included:
- Successfully advocating for improvements to the crossing of the Illawarra escarpment to the west (Main Road 92) and the Princes Highway corridors;
- Upgrading of key “pinch points” to facilitate increased weight limits for key access roads;
- Working with existing and new businesses to successfully integrate their offerings to the needs of the broader business community;
- Advocating for improved rail connections, including a balance of both passenger and freight needs;
Whilst these logistics and related sectors are of high value to the regional economy on a per job basis, they also face a number of cost pressures with infrastructure capacity constraints, an aging workforce and continuing tightening of margins all causing significant business viability and industry productivity concerns.
To counteract these concerns there is a trend towards opportunities in more regional locations, opportunities that the Shoalhaven is ready to respond to, including:
- Space: much of the sector relies on large format spaces and plenty of room to manoeuvre;
- Access: both to market places and to other components of the distribution network; and
- Efficiency: particularly through the application of technological solutions.
While the logistics and related industry sectors may continue to grow in an ad-hoc manner within the Shoalhaven, the development of an effective strategy for the coordination of the sector has the potential to generate greater efficiencies, synergies between uses, and ultimately greater investment, employment generation and economic development.
These benefits will make the Shoalhaven an even better place to live and conduct business. But for these benefits to be realised the area’s unique benefits must be maintained, promoted and leveraged to enable growth to occur. This will ensure opportunities for the logistics and related industries to prosper into the future.
Moving your goods
Many hauliers are based within Shoalhaven and operate along the eastern seaboard and into the Ports at Botany and Kembla.
Access to/from air cargo centres at Mascot and Canberra are offered locally with these airports just two hours away.
Transport from door to door can be arranged readily for either a whole truckload, a container or just a couple of pallets.
Several warehousing options are available within the designated industrial areas across the Shoalhaven. Most local manufacturing operations can afford to have facilities to warehouse goods prior to consolidation and distribution. Several domestic and international businesses use warehousing facilities in Shoalhaven to hold goods prior to distribution, a less expensive option to metropolitan alternatives.