Chapter 5 Construction of New Warehousing Facilities at Wadsworth Barracks,
East Bandiana, Victoria
5.1
The proposed construction of new warehousing facilities at Wadsworth
Barracks, East Bandiana, Victoria, aims to provide a modern purpose-built
facility to enhance operational capability and provide efficient logistical and
warehousing support for the Department of Defence (Defence). The project also
aims to reduce Occupational, Health and Safety issues and operational
inefficiencies associated with the existing facilities. The estimated cost of
the project is $36.369million (excluding GST.)
5.2
The proposal was referred to the Committee on 18 March 2008.
Conduct of the inquiry
5.3
The inquiry was advertised in The Border Mail 19 April 2008 and in The Australian on 9 July and 23 July 2008. The Committee received four submissions to the inquiry and one confidential submission detailing
the project cost estimates. A list of submissions can be found at Appendix A.
5.4
The Committee undertook a site inspection, in-camera hearing and public
hearing on 7 August 2008 in Wodonga. A list of witnesses can be found at
Appendix B.
5.5
The transcript of the public hearing as well as the submissions to the
inquiry are available on the Committee’s website[1]. Plans for the proposed
works are detailed in Submission 1, Department of Defence.
Need for works
5.6
The warehousing facilities in Bandiana provide both national and
regional support for maintenance, storage and distribution of Defence items and
is currently supporting a range of operational deployments. Joint Logistics
Unit (Victoria) supports an inventory value of over $1.368 billion located at
East and North Bandiana and Wirlinga. The main function of the warehousing
facilities at Bandiana is to store combat clothing, personnel equipment, repair
parts for armoured vehicles, artillery pieces, weapons systems, and wheeled
vehicles, for the Australian forces deployed internationally. The warehousing
facilities also provide logistic support to regional units.
5.7
The current warehousing facilities at Bandiana include the Freight
Distribution Centre (20,000m2 storage capacity) at East Bandiana,
nineteen warehouses (63,900m2 storage capacity) at North Bandiana,
and seven warehouses (13,100m2 storage capacity) at Wirlinga,
located approximately ten kilometres from East Bandiana. There are no works
required at Wirlinga as part of this project. The North Bandiana warehouses,
built in the 1940s/1950s, are light timber-framed buildings that are in various
states of disrepair. The Freight Distribution Centre at East Bandiana is a
modern facility completed as part of the Bandiana Stage 1 Development in
1995/96 and is capable of storing 54,000 live stock items in multi-level
racking and vertical storage carousels.[2]
5.8
The output of the Joint Logistic Unit (Victoria) in support of its
national, regional and operational responsibilities has increased significantly
in the past ten years, but there has been no commensurate increase in
facilities to cope with this increased output. As a result, there are
significant constraints on the ability of the Joint Logistic Unit (Victoria) to provide effective warehousing support to the Australian Defence Force, due to the
age and the inefficient operational layouts of the existing warehousing
facilities. The current warehouses at North Bandiana fall well short of modern
warehousing standards and are not suitable for storing many of the highly
technical stores and major equipment held in today’s Defence inventory. These
World War II era warehouses do not cater well for movement of stock in, out or
between the warehouses due to their design, construction and layout, and the
warehouses no longer comply with current standards and practices. [3]
5.9
The consolidation and centralisation of a large portion of the
warehousing operations at the East Bandiana warehousing precinct will result in
significant reduction in resources, in particular materiel handling equipment
duplication, travel time between warehouses, stock movements, faster distribution
and transport costs.[4]
5.10
Defence advised that particular operational efficiencies arising from
the proposal include:
n reduced double
handling of stock;
n improved cubic
capacity storage within the building footprint;
n reduced truck
movements, minimising the impact on major roads; and
n improved response
times.[5]
Scope of works
5.11
The proposed scope of works is detailed in Submission 1, Department of Defence.[6]
In short, the works propose the following:
At East Bandiana:
n Construction of a new
soldier support warehouse (15,000m2) dedicated to clothing and
soldier support items. This building will include a:
- pallet
racking and block stacking area;
- restricted
access storage area;
- suspense
and dispatch consolidation areas;
- office
administration;
- materiel
handling equipment charging area; and
- dedicated
issues and receipts area.
n Provision of materiel
handling equipment for the soldier support warehouse;
n Construction of an
awning extension over and an upgrade of the existing receipts and issues area (2,378m2)
for the existing Freight Distribution Centre; and
n Upgrade of existing
infrastructure to support the additional facilities. The infrastructure work
will involve:
- An
upgrade and modification/relocation of portions of the existing storm water and
sewer services, including the existing sewer pumping station;
- Separating
the domestic and fire fighting water supplies to the new building to provide a
dedicated fire service, as required by the Country Fire Authority (CFA);
- Installing
a new substation to meet the increased power demand;
- Constructing
roads to new buildings;
- Providing
security fencing to the new facilities; and
- Landscaping
of the site.
n Relocation of items
to the new soldier support warehouse.
At North Bandiana:
n Undertake stock
rationalisation to consolidate remaining Defence items within existing
warehouses;
n Up to eight soldier
support warehouses (from existing 19 warehouses) will be demolished post the
stock rationalisation; and
n Upgrading works to
address high priority Occupational, Health and Safety issues identified in the eleven
remaining warehouses at North Bandiana. [7]
5.12
The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts reviewed
the proposal and raised two concerns: separation between metering on energy
usage between areas of different purpose and controls on energy use zones.[8]
Defence has now satisfactorily addressed these concerns.[9]
5.13
The Committee has assessed the scope of works and finds them suitable to
provide the facilities necessary to meet the need for upgraded and enhanced
warehouse facilities for the Joint Logistic Unit (Victoria).
Cost of works
5.14
The total out-turn cost of this work is scheduled to be $36.369 million
(excluding GST) which includes construction costs, professional fees, furniture
and fittings, materiel handling equipment, relocation, stock rationalisation,
demolition works of vacated warehouses at North Bandiana, minor upgrade works
to remaining warehouses at North Bandiana, and a contingency sum.[10]
5.15
The Committee received detailed cost plans for the project and held an
in-camera hearing with the Department of Defence on the full project costs.
5.16
The Committee was satisfied that the costs were appropriate.
Project issues
Community issues
5.17
Defence arranged two community information sessions chaired by the
Deputy Mayor of the City of Wodonga. During the first session, Defence outlined
the proposal and a number of members of the community raised concerns about the
proposals regarding the possible overshadowing of existing dwellings by the new
warehouse and the consequent effect on temperature, disruption to television
and mobile phone reception in the area and the environmental standards of
run-off water from East Bandiana.[11]
5.18
Defence commissioned shadowing studies which indicate that the ‘new
warehouse is located to the south of Killara, and the overshadowing from Mount Huon in the late afternoon would precede any shadowing which may occur from the new
warehouse.’[12] Further, the nature of
the new building makes it unlikely that it will act as a heat sink in summer
causing any appreciable temperature difference in the surrounding area.[13]
5.19
Defence undertook surveys which indicate that there will be no impact on
television and mobile phone services.[14] Defence has further
undertaken to survey and document existing services before the commencement of
construction of the new warehouse and after construction is completed to
identify any degradation in services.[15] This information will be
provided to residents and Defence may be able to provide advice on improving
reception.[16]
5.20
A stormwater detention system and downstream defender units are being
constructed in a parallel project to deal with run-off from the roads within East Bandiana.[17]
Clean rainwater off the roof of the new warehouse will go directly into the
billabong. The Director General Infrastructure Asset Development Branch,
confirmed that ‘all run-off from the road surfaces and the surrounding
countryside would be passed through the stormwater treatment detention system
and only in compliance would clean water be discharged into the billabong.’[18]
5.21
Defence provided a copy of the shadow analysis, communication impact
analysis, and the ‘First Flush project’ drainage project overview to the
Committee.[19] Defence also undertook
to further expand on those reports including developing perspective drawings,
further shadow modelling, thermal modelling and television and mobile phone
reception studies. Once those studies are finalised, Defence plans to conduct a
third meeting with concerned residents.[20]
5.22
The Committee notes the views of the local residents on the proposed new
warehouses at East Bandiana as expressed to Defence and in evidence to the
Committee. The Committee would like to see that their concerns about the
development are adequately addressed by Defence.
Recommendation 4 |
|
The Committee recommends that the Department of Defence report
to the Committee on the outcomes of Defence’s third community consultation meeting
for the proposed new warehousing facilities at Wadsworth Barracks, East
Bandiana, Victoria. |
Committee comment
5.23
Having examined the purpose, need, use, revenue and public value of the
work, the Committee considers that it is expedient that the proposed works
proceed.
Recommendation 5 |
|
The Committee recommends that the House of Representatives
resolve, pursuant to Section 18 (7) of the Public Works Committee Act
1969, that it is expedient to carry out the following proposed work: Construction
of new warehousing facilities at Wadsworth Barracks, East Bandiana, Victoria. |
Mark Butler MP
Chair
August 2008