Truckies and transport companies are being asked to have their say on the benefits of a proposed mega-truck stop on the Eyre Highway at Kimba, SA.
The site and design for the Eyre Hub has been in the planning stages for the last eight years, with the voluntary local committee behind the concept now looking for more industry support to help secure government funding.
To take part, just scan the QR code below and answer a few short questions about the project which include whether you’d use it, what facilities you’d like to see there and what general challenges you face while travelling on the Eyre Highway.
“We have identified that the most critical need is for a safe, well-equipped, heavy vehicle and truck driver rest area with high end fatigue management services,” said project manager Kathleen Tierney.
“The more industry support and input, the better design and case will be for good facilities for truck drivers and transport companies.”
The plans include a gym, lounge, local healthy food op-tions, ‘click and collect’ access to local business products, and toilets and showers with attention on female truck driver safety. Organisers are billing it as a “state-of-the-art” transport fatigue management centre.
“In Kimba, we see many road trains and trucks drivers without proper facilities to rest, repair and do changeovers in a safe manner.
“However, the more input we have from the industry, the better we can demonstrate the true need for these facilities.
“It is for the truck drivers and freight companies; the Kimba community is building these facilities for them. Transport drivers will be the ones using these facilities, and hopefully, really benefitting from having their own place to stop, refresh and rest, we need their input, it would be extremely disappointing to build great facilities if they don’t intend to use them.”
The Eyre Hub team is working with industry representatives as well as the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), the Centre for Automotive Safety (Adelaide University), and various government agencies to ensure the design of the fatigue management facilities are world class.
“We hope that Eyre Hub will become a national research centre of excellence for rural road safety, and the fatigue management facilities will set a new benchmark for heavy vehicle rest area design,” Tierney added.
With more than 40 hectares and co-located with grain accumulation facilities, it is hoped that the Eyre Hub will include truck changeover facilities, a light industrial precinct, freight distribution facilities, 24-hour services, a public weighbridge, and fuel station.
There are substantial benefits of routing from/to WA to the eastern states with changeover/turnaround at Kimba, said Tierney.
Situated on the A1 Eyre Highway on the east-west freight corridor, the national trucking route sees more than 3000 trucks pass through every week, up from 1200 just five years ago.
“Given the increasing need for safety, growing shortage of drivers, and current industry challenges, the Kimba location could help long haul truck drivers reduce time away from home and family, freight companies could improve productivity and money savings, customers may benefit from an additional day’s shelf life of fresh produce.”
Meanwhile, Tierney is hoping the survey feedback will help the not-for-profit organisation behind the proposal with its pitch for a slice of funding from the Australian Government’s $400 million regional Precincts and Partnerships Program (rPPP) that is now open for applications.
The first stream offers grants of between $500,000 to $5 million, and the second, for precinct delivery, of between $5 million and $50 million.
Tierney said the Eyre Hub is predicted to cost around $30 million when completed and is expected to be funded by a mix of government and commercial interests.
Kimba was in the news last year when the federal government abandoned a proposed low-level nuclear waste dump near the regional SA town.
The decision came after the Federal Court ruled in favour of the area’s traditional owners, the Barngarla people, who had argued they were not properly consulted by the former Coalition government about the decision to pick up the site.
For more information on the Eyre Hub, visit eyrehub.com.au, or email Tierney at admin@eyrehub.com.au.