The proposed Northern NSW Inland Port at Narrabri is ‘a generation changing project being driven by Narrabri Shire Council and partnering heavily with the State Government to see it come to fruition – for the benefit of generations to come’, Council’s general manager Stewart Todd said in his presentation to the audience at the prospectus launch.

The Northern NSW Inland Port is designed to make the most of opportunities offered by the Inland Rail .

Mr Todd outlined the progress which has brought the council to the current position in the project.

“Council established a set of objectives covering leverage of competitive advantages, economic diversification and jobs growth through value adding and manufacturing opportunities.”

The GM said the council had examined the competitive advantages of the site, obtained options on it, pitched the concept to State and Federal governments and undertaken preparation of a strategic business case, feasibility study and prospectus.

A highlight of the launch of the prospectus for the Northern NSW Inland Port, the industrial and logistics hub designed to meet the needs of locally established and new industries, was the screening of a video which gave  an insight into what the future may look like at the Port. The 240 ha Inland Port will be designed to take maximum advantages of the opportunities offered to business by the Inland Rail project and will have the capability of hosting 950 jobs in a range of value adding businesses at the complex.

Council had bought the 240 ha site on the Culgoora Road.

The analyses had looked at ‘gas and non gas’ options for the facility and identified a positive benefit cost ratio with the potential for 950 jobs and a 7 percent increase in population.

The features of the site will include high voltage power, potable water, high speed telecommunications, and the connectivity offered by the Inland Rail and key road freight routes.

There was a diverse range of potential ‘attractable’ industries which included a micro liquefied natural gas plant, fertiliser and explosives industry, bricks and cement production, refrigeration, plastic pipe, water tanks and plastic wrappings, gas engine replacement on diesel engines, windows and glass, train building facility, insulation materials, chemicals, polymers and rubber.

The council was currently in discussions with a potential ‘anchor tenant’ which if realised would provide 700 construction jobs and 200 ongoing jobs.

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