KiwiRail regional freight hub

We expect appeals to open in late May 2022.

Photo shows huge concrete area with tracks, trains, trucks and sheds, surrounded by green space and trees.

KiwiRail is proposing to develop a new intermodal rail and freight hub near Bunnythorpe.

In April 2021 KiwiRail lodged a Notice of Requirement to designate land for constructing and operating the freight hub.

Submissions were invited and the public hearing, overseen by independent commissioners, finished on October 15, 2021.

Decision of KiwiRail Holdings Ltd on the Palmerston North City Council Recommendation Report

KIWIRAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED decision on the Commissioner Panel’s report was received on 11 April 2022.

All submitters, directly affected parties, landowners and occupiers have been notified of this decision.

The period for lodging an appeal with the Environment Court  is 15 working days from receipt of the notification (May 9, 2022 indicative date). 

Kiwirail Freight Hub Decision 11 April 2022(PDF, 893KB)

Commissioners' recommendation

Project info

More information about this project is available on the KiwiRail website.

If you have any questions about the project, please email the KiwiRail project team at regionalgrowthhub@kiwirail.co.nz.

If you have any questions about the process to designate the land, please contact Craig Auckram, PNCC Senior Planner at craig.auckram@pncc.govt.nz

Notice of Requirement and supporting information

You can access the notice and supporting information below, or view hard copies at the following locations: Ashhurst Library, Bunnythorpe School, Feilding Library, Palmerston North Central Library, and the Palmerston North City Council customer service centre.

Volume one: Notice of requirement form and accompanying plans

Volume two: Assessment of environmental effects and appendices

Appendix F: Multi-criteria analysis report and supporting documents

Volume three: Technical assessment reports and appendices

 

Further information: S92 requests and responses

First request and response

Council officers reviewed the Notice of Requirement and identified a number of areas where more information is needed to understand the effects of the proposal. We issued a further information request to KiwiRail on 14 December 2020, which you can read here.

KiwiRail provided a response on 15 February this year.

These documents weren't submitted with the s92 response, but are referred to:

Second request and response

We issued a second request for further information on 28 April 2021:

Third request and response

We issued a third request for further information on 7 May 2021:

 

Council reporting team technical reports for hearing

Below are Council's section 42A technical reports on KiwiRail's Notice of Requirement. These reports consider submissions, and information provided by KiwiRail, on a range of technical topics relevant to the Notice of Requirement. Each report contains an executive summary which captures the conclusions and recommendations of the author.

 

Key documents referred to in the technical reports

Good practice guide for assessing discharges to air from industry(PDF, 1MB)

Impacts of Palmerston North integrated transport initiative on key regional projects(PDF, 2MB)

Palmerston North integrated transport initiative network options report(PDF, 27MB)

Palmerston North-Manawatū strategic transport study(PDF, 6MB)

Plan change 15E [northeast industrial zone extension] intersections assessment report(PDF, 2MB)

Te tangi a te manu: Aotearoa New Zealand landscape assessment guidelines(PDF, 1MB)

KiwiRail technical reports for hearing

Acoustics evidence, Stephen Chiles(PDF, 732KB)

Archaeology evidence, Daniel Parker(PDF, 535KB)

Contaminated land and air quality, Paul Heveldt(PDF, 227KB)

Corporate evidence, Olivia Poulsen(PDF, 174KB)

Corporate evidence, Todd Moyle(PDF, 148KB)

Design, construction and operation, Mike Skelton(PDF, 194KB)

Ecology evidence, Jeremy Garrett-Walker(PDF, 7MB)

Economics evidence, Fraser Colegrave(PDF, 606KB)

Economics evidence, Richard Paling(PDF, 477KB)

Geotechnical evidence, Andrew Mott(PDF, 69KB)

Landscape and visual evidence, Lisa Rimmer(PDF, 288KB)

Landscape and visual evidence, Lisa Rimmer [Appendix A: viewpoint 1-10](PDF, 7MB)

Landscape and visual evidence, Lisa Rimmer [Appendix A: viewpoint 11-29](PDF, 15MB)

Landscape and visual evidence, Lisa Rimmer [Appendix B, C and D](PDF, 6MB)

Lighting evidence, John McKensey(PDF, 16MB)

Planning evidence, Karen Bell(PDF, 1MB)

Social impact evidence, Kirsty Austin(PDF, 6MB)

Stormwater and flooding evidence, Allan Leahy(PDF, 296KB)

Transport evidence, Mark Georgeson(PDF, 1MB)

Electronic Hyperlinked Evidence On Behalf Of Kiwirail Part1(PDF, 25MB)

Electronic Hyperlinked Evidence On Behalf Of Kiwirail Part2(PDF, 23MB)

Electronic Hyperlinked Evidence On Behalf Of Kiwirail Part3(PDF, 25MB)

Electronic Hyperlinked Evidence On Behalf Of Kiwirail Part4(PDF, 2MB)

Submitter evidence for hearing

Brady Nixon on behalf of Foodstuffs North Island Ltd: 23 July 2021(PDF, 267KB)

Michael Nixon for Foodstuffs North Island Ltd [Transport] 23 July 2021(PDF, 12MB)

Paul Thomas for PMB Landco Ltd, Brian Green Properties Ltd and Commbuild Property Ltd: 15 July 2021(PDF, 188KB)

Sarah Downs for Waka Kotahi: 23 July 2021(PDF, 206KB)

KiwiRail rebuttal evidence

Rebuttal statement of evidence of Mark Georgeson: Transport(PDF, 13MB)

KiwiRail legal submissions

Memorandum of counsel on behalf of KiwiRail: 6 August 2021(PDF, 20KB)

Bundle of authorities for Kiwirail Holdings Limited dated 6 Aug 2021 part 1(PDF, 30MB)

Bundle of authorities for Kiwirail Holdings Limited dated 6 Aug 2021 part 2(PDF, 30MB)

Bundle of authorities for Kiwirail Holdings Limited dated 6 Aug 2021 part 3(PDF, 30MB)

Bundle of authorities for Kiwirail Holdings Limited dated 6 Aug 2021 part 4(PDF, 1MB)

Electronic hyperlinked evidence on behalf of Kiwirail part 1(PDF, 26MB)

Electronic hyperlinked evidence on behalf of Kiwirail part 2(PDF, 23MB)

Electronic hyperlinked evidence on behalf of Kiwirail part 3(PDF, 23MB)

Legal submissions on behalf of Kiwirail(PDF, 337KB)

Visual simulations v1(PDF, 2MB)

Submissions

We received 98 submissions in total.

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 1 to 10 - Mar 21(PDF, 14MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 11 to 18 - Mar 21(PDF, 14MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 19 to 22 - Mar 21(PDF, 9MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 23 to 30 - Mar 21(PDF, 13MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 31 to 46 - Mar 21(PDF, 18MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions 47 to 52 - Mar 21(PDF, 13MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions 53 to 62 - Mar 21(PDF, 21MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 63 to 71 - Mar 21(PDF, 22MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 72 - Mar 21(PDF, 21MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions 73 to 90 - Mar 21(PDF, 22MB)

KiwiRail NOR Submissions - 91 to 98 - Mar 21(PDF, 20MB)

         

 

Discussions

Timeline

Publicly notified

26 February 2021, 12:00 AM

Submissions period

26 March 2021, 12:00 AM

Hearing

15 October 2021, 12:00 AM

KiwiRail decision

11 April 2022, 05:00 PM

PNCC notifies all submitters, landowners and occupiers

13 April 2022, 09:00 AM

Appeals period begins

Any appeals to KiwiRail’s decision must be lodged with the Environment Court within 15 working days of receipt of notification (9 May indicative)

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