April 17 - According to a statement from Government of Western Australia, the heavy haulage industry will benefit from a new 'one stop shop' for heavy vehicle permit matters and a AUD250,000 (USD259,020) State Government initiative to bury power lines ove
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.
The eight powerlines consist of two in Bindoon, three in Miling, and one in Pithara, Dalwallinu, and Wubin.
"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 (sic) 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 6.5 m, 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 percent 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 AUD15,000 (USD15,541) 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."
