Industry has given a lukewarm response to moves by Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan to amend the Transport Coordination Act.
The amended act would require the use of rail transport for the haulage of timber products in the South West.
Timber companies will need to apply for a permit to cart woodchips and logs via road to the Port of Bunbury if rail transport is not a viable option.
The regulation aims to make rail transport more competitive with road, and keep the rail network in place and operating on a commercially viable basis.
It also aims to reduce the number of road trains sharing country roads with passenger cars.
But WA Plantation Resources general manager Ian Telfer said the lack of detail provided by the government as to whom the regulation would apply and how permits will be issued has caused widespread confusion among the industry.
“We’re still evaluating what the decision means from the company’s point of view and at an industry level,” he told WA Business News.
“I don’t think it’s helpful; if anything it will muddy the waters and cause confusion and slow down the process of getting product onto rail.”
Mr Telfer said he was concerned the approach was too heavy handed, with the permit application process yet another level of bureaucracy for timber companies.
WestNet Rail commercial manager Paul Larsen believed the regulation was introduced as a way of shoring up support for the government’s $14.45 million investment in constructing the Greenbushes Intermodal Facility and other associated rail infrastructure catering for the timber industry, announced last August.
He said the government project struggled to get off the ground because it was unable to secure sufficient volumes of timber product.
The amendments are expected to take effect from December 1, giving the rail operator time to make the track ready for the increase in traffic.
Mr Larsen said a sufficient amount of government and private sector funds would be spent on ensuring the track’s operation for the next 10 to 12 years.
