Industry News

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has released findings that show the managed funds industry had $1,869 billion, recording an increase of $84.9 billion, or 5 per cent, on the December 2011 quarter.

The figures were driven by the increase of $67.2 billion in consolidated assets of managed funds institutions.

The asset types to increase during the quarter were shares, $28.5b (7%); overseas assets, $15.9b (7%); deposits, $10.8b (6%); units in trusts, $5.4b (3%); bonds, etc., $4.1b (6%); short term securities, $2.4b (3%); land, buildings and equipment, $1.5b (1%); and loans and placements, $0.5b (1%). These were partially offset by decreases in other non-financial assets, $1.2b (6%); and derivatives, $0.4b (20%).

The main valuation effects that occurred during the March quarter 2012 were as follows: the S&P/ASX 200 increased 6.9%, the price of foreign shares (represented by the MSCI World Index) increased 10.9% and the A$ appreciated 1.3% against the US dollar.

ABS Building Approvals show that the number of dwellings approved fell 8.7% in April 2012, in seasonally adjusted terms, following a rise of 6.0% in March.

Dwelling approvals decreased in April in Western Australia (-46.7%), South Australia (-27.8%), New South Wales (-15.3%) and Queensland (-2.7%), but increased in Victoria (13.0%) and Tasmania (9.6%) in seasonally adjusted terms.

In seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for private sector houses fell 11.1% in April, with falls in Western Australia (-36.7%), South Australia (-26.4%) and Queensland (-11.6%). Private sector house approvals rose in New South Wales (2.0%) but were flat in Victoria.

The value of total building approved fell 5.4% in April in seasonally adjusted terms, and has fallen for 3 months. The value of residential building fell 6.7% while non-residential building fell 2.8%.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au

The latest ABS Retail Trade figures show that Australian retail turnover fell 0.2% in April 2012, seasonally adjusted, following a rise of 1.1% in March 2012.

The largest contributor to the fall was Household goods retailing (-0.8%), followed by Other retailing (-0.7%), Department stores (-1.0%) and Clothing and footwear and personal accessory retailing (-0.1%). There were rises in Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.4%) and Food retailing (0.1%). 

The state which was the largest contributor to the fall was Victoria (-1.6%), followed by Western Australia (-0.2%), Tasmania (-0.6%), the Australian Capital Territory (-0.6%) and the Northern Territory (-0.9%). There were rises in New South Wales (0.7%), South Australia (0.5%) and Queensland (0.1%).

In trend terms, turnover rose 0.3% in April 2012. This follows a rise of 0.3% in March 2012 and a rise of 0.3% in February 2012.

More detailed industry analysis and further information on the statistical methodology is available in Retail Trade, Australia 

James MacKenzie has announced he will stand down from the role of chairman of Pacific Brands after serving four years in the role.  

Current non-executive director Peter Bush will replace Mr MacKenzie, while Mr MacKenzie will stay on as a non-executive director.

The company’s Board thanked Mr MacKenzie for his service, recognising his ‘very significant’ contribution to the business and welcoming his decision to stay on the board. 

Capital expenditure has increased across the economy, with the mining sector driving the majority of 6.1 per cent growth according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The trend volume for estimated building and structures rose an estimated 10.5 per cent seasonally adjusted, while the trend volume for investment for equipment, plant and machinery fell by 0.1 per cent,

The trend estimate for Mining rose 10.0% in the March quarter 2012. Buildings and structures rose 10.5% and equipment, plant and machinery rose 3.5%. The seasonally adjusted estimate for Mining rose 14.0% in the March quarter 2012. Buildings and structures rose 15.6% and equipment, plant and machinery rose 7.1% in seasonally adjusted terms.

Estimate 6 for 2011-12 is $158,028m. This is 27.5% higher than Estimate 6 for 2010-11. Estimate 6 is 2.3% lower than Estimate 5 for 2011-12.

The Victorian Government has announced the formation of the Gippsland Tertiary Education Council (GTEC) to champion better co-ordination between tertiary education providers and the future needs of industry in the Gippsland region.

State Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall announced the formation of the 11 member council, which is a key recommendation of the Gippsland Tertiary Education Plan (GREP).

"GTEC will gauge what is needed to ensure that the Gippsland community is equipped with the necessary skills for a productive and bright future,” Mr Hall said.

Mr Hall said the State Coalition Government would also create a network of Technology Enabled Learning Centres, another key recommendation of GTEP.

"By ensuring our students have access to these Technology Enabled Learning Centres' high-tech study spaces, we can broaden the depth and breadth of courses in Gippsland and help students study locally instead of relocating to the city to access tertiary study," Mr Hall said.

Infrastructure supply specialist UGL has announced it has secured $190 million in new orders to supply and maintain freight locomotives to a number of blue-chip Australian customers.

Under the new contracts, UGL will deliver 38 new locomotives to customers including:

• GE Evolution locomotives to support Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia
• C44ACi locomotives to supplement Xstrata Coal Australia’s locomotive fleet operated by Freightliner Australia in the Hunter Valley. The order includes an eight year maintenance support program for these locomotives and associated wagons
• C44ACi locomotives to QR National
• C44ACi locomotives to PN Rail in Victoria.

“These significant new locomotive orders reflect UGL’s market leading position in the rail freight market and are testament to our capabilities in comprehensive rolling stock delivery and asset management,” UGL’s CEO and Managing Director Richard Leupen said.

“We continue to experience strong demand for locomotive rolling stock supported by resources related investment on both the East and West coasts of Australia. A large pipeline of locomotive supply and maintenance opportunities is visible and we expect to participate in a significant proportion of these new opportunities as they are awarded.”

The Australian Government will trial the participation of energy networks and major greenfield sites as part of the Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) Program to assess the potential energy savings available to these sectors.

“Under the existing EEO Program industry participants have reported annual net cost savings in 2011 of over $800 million and it is important that we spread the benefits of this program to other sectors where it can be proven there is a net benefit,” Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson said.

The trials for energy transmission and distribution networks, major greenfield sites and expansion projects will be undertaken over the next 12 months and will include thorough consultation with industry throughout the process to ensure the development of an effective assessment and reporting framework.

“While the expansion of the EEO Program offers potential energy saving benefits to these sectors, the Government recognises the need to work collaboratively with industry to optimise outcomes for program participants,” Minister Ferguson said.

“During consultations undertaken earlier this year industry raised the need for more time to fully understand and appreciate how the application of the EEO Program will operate when applied to both energy networks and greenfield sites and the Government has taken this feedback on board.

“The trials will better inform how the program should be applied and the relative costs and benefits of program participation to these sectors.”

In addition, the Government will undertake a statutory review of the first five year cycle of the EEO program. This review will assess the effectiveness of the program in building energy management capability and identifying and implementing cost effective energy efficiency opportunities.

“In 2011, EEO Program participants reported that they have or will implement energy savings of almost 90 Petajoules of energy.  This represents 1.5 per cent of Australia’s total energy use and is the equivalent energy use of 1.8 million Australian households,” Minister Ferguson said.

“While these are good results, it is important that we look at how we can further streamline the EEO program with the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting requirements to reduce the regulatory burden on industry while still delivering energy savings to business.”

The necessary EEO regulatory amendments to facilitate this trial will be tabled by the Government in due course in preparation for participation of the networks and greenfield sectors. The Government will consider further regulatory changes as required following the outcome of the trials and following industry consultation and feedback.

The Department will soon release additional details on the timing of the program expansion, including industry consultation and any expressions of interest from industry to participate in the trials.

Further information about the EEO program is available at www.ret.gov.au

A new research facility located at Monash University will drive world-first research into the early detection of cardiac disease using ultra-sensitive biomedical imaging equipment supplied by Siemens.

Supported by a $7 million grant from the Victorian Government, the Monash Biomedical Imaging (MBI) centre was officially opened today by the Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, Louise Asher.

The facility features state-of-the-art Siemens equipment, including pre-clinical and clinical scanners, which will be pivotal in assessing how imaging can detect plaque formation in the carotid arteries of elderly patients.

MBI Director, Professor Gary Egan said the facility's unique co-location with the Australian Synchrotron Imaging and Medical Beam Line, enabled advanced imaging techniques to predict cardiac function and disease onset in the elderly.

“The research at MBI could result in ground-breaking discoveries that may lead to the early detection of markers associated with the prevention of neurological and cardiovascular diseases including stroke," Professor Egan said.

Professor Egan said the facility would provide coordinated access and operational support to biomedical imaging infrastructure, as well as research training and advanced technological development in close collaboration with researchers and industry partners including Siemens.

Vice-President of Siemens Healthcare, Richard Guest, said there was an increasing demand for collaborative treatments incorporating imaging and drug therapies to assist in the goal of advancing human health.

“There is a significant shift in medical research towards the use of highly advanced body imaging which literally provides clinicians with a virtual 3D replica of the cardiovascular system, to detect and prevent disease,” Richard Guest said.

“This partnership allows for Monash and Siemens to join forces to identify these key indicators. Using world-class technology increases the accuracy significantly and places Monash amongst the leading biomedical imaging research centres in the world,” Mr Guest said.

The opening of MBI marked the establishment of a new node of the Victorian Biomedical Imaging Capability (VBIC) – a collaboration between Monash University, Swinburne University, The University of Melbourne and the Florey Neuroscience Institute - which the State Government granted a further $8.5 million in support.

The Government also recently announced $26 million for a further four years of operational funding for the Australian Synchrotron facility at the Clayton campus.

The research into predictors of cardiac disease will be undertaken as a sub-study of the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly trial. 

The universe contains substantially more atomic hydrogen – the fuel that keeps stars burning – than previously thought according to new research conducted by the CSIRO.

CSIRO astronomer Dr Robert Braun conducted the first accurate measurement of the gas in galaxies close to our own.

The gas, which formed in the aftermath of the big bang, is responsible for the formation of galaxies and, if we get a better idea of what forms the gas, will provide a clearer picture of how the universe was formed.

The study also shows that the gas is distributed very differently from how it was in the past, with much less in the galaxies' outer suburbs than billions of years ago.

"This means that it's much harder for galaxies to pull the gas in and form new stars," Dr Braun said.

"It's why stars are forming 20 times more slowly now than in the past."

The new finding doesn’t help solve the problem of "Dark Matter" — lots of mass, detectable by its gravity, that we haven't yet identified.

"Even though there’s more atomic hydrogen than we thought, it's not a big enough percentage to solve the Dark Matter problem. If what we are missing had the weight of a large kangaroo, what we have found would have the weight of a small echidna," Dr Braun said.

Australia’s economic global competitiveness has slipped for a second consecutive year according to a report released by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). The report found Australia slipped from 9^th place to 15^th in world competiveness rankings.

In releasing Australia's 2012 World Competitiveness Yearbook results, CEDA Chief Executive, Professor the Hon Stephen Martin said key factors in Australia's poor ranking for labour market competitiveness included the high Australian dollar, skills shortages and the re-emergence of industrial relations as a key national issue, with a number of high profile disputes.

"The high Australian dollar and strong terms of trade have resulted in a drop in Australia's international trade competitiveness which has occurred at the same time as many other countries' economies have slowed," he said.

"With the exception of the mining sector, this has made Australian exports less competitive and negatively impacted industries such as tourism, retail and manufacturing.

"These industries were already struggling with rising global competition and a structural readjustment has been occurring in our economy as a result, with the strong Australian dollar further exacerbating this change.

Despite the slip in rankings, the committee warned against governmental interference with subsides, but rather urged a reduction in regulatory burdens placed on businesses, coupled with a targeted investment in skills and innovation.

"In two years Australia has slipped from five to 15 in global competitiveness rankings and if we are to help protect Australia from future declines we need to increase investment in business innovation and skills," Professor Martin said.

The rankings can be found here

A senate committee lead by former Federal Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has recommended the dropping of a bill that seeks to make a range of changes to planning requirements for mobile phone towers.

The laws surrounding the mobile phone tower construction have been a concern for local government bodies since their inception in 1997, with exemption of state and territory planning requirements causing particular concern amongst local government bodies.

The committee also heard that the bill may have a range of unintended consequences relating to the deployment and maintenance of telecommunications infrastructure, such as emergency communications facilities, simple maintenance and state and territory planning legislation.

The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) argued that the rollout of telecommunications infrastructure should be subject to planning and regulations that best serve the interest of the local community.

The ALGA also supported a greater emphasis on heath and safety concerns relating to electromagnetic radiation, welcoming Senator Brown's intention to mandate the precautionary principle and on placing a greater emphasis on addressing health and safety concerns.

Legislation to establish an independent expert scientific committee to provide advice on impacts of coal seam gas and large coal mining proposals on our water resources has passed the House of Representatives.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said the legislation would allow for more rigorous scientific assessment of coal seam gas and large coal mining proposals, in particular how these proposals will affect underground water resources and our rivers.

"I know that there is significant community concern about the impact of coal seam gas and coal mining developments on our water resources," Mr Burke said.

"That's why the Gillard Government has acted to create The Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development.

"We want to make sure that decisions by governments in relation to coal and coal seam gas developments are informed by the most rigorous scientific evidence available, in particular where those developments are likely to have a significant impact on water.

"The Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development will play a vital role in ensuring that independent scientific advice is available to all governments when they consider applications for these types of developments.

"In this way, we have established the independent committee and we have funded it.

"It will provide local communities and other stakeholders with accessible and reliable information as well as giving the coal seam gas and mining industries greater guidance on the sustainable management of water resources in areas where they propose developments."

An interim committee was set up in January pending formal establishment of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee. The interim committee has already provided valuable independent advice to the Australian Government and will continue until it hands over to the new committee from 1 July, 2012.

The legislation, which amends the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 to set up the committee, will now be introduced into the Senate.

Mr Burke said the committee would provide advice on research priorities that address critical gaps in scientific understanding, and oversee research commissioned by myself in line with those research priorities.

"When requested, the committee will provide further evidence to inform regulatory decisions made by governments," Mr Burke said.

"It will provide advice on options for increasing the quality and accessibility of knowledge available on the impacts to water resources from coal seam gas and large coal mining developments, for example, in the collection of data.

"The committee's work will be supported by a national partnership agreement with relevant state and territory governments that will require them to seek and take account of the committee's advice when considering approvals for coal seam gas and large coal mining developments.

"So far Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia have signed the agreement – negotiations with Victoria and the Northern Territory are continuing."

Mr Burke said the committee would also provide advice on the priority areas for bioregional assessments and oversee their delivery. The interim committee has started work on the first five bioregional assessments in regions facing significant levels of coal seam gas and coal mining developments, such as the Galilee, Gunnedah, Gloucester and Clarence-Moreton basins.

The Australian Government has provided $200 million to establish the new Independent Expert Scientific Committee and assist states that are parties to the national partnership agreement to introduce the necessary reforms to seek the committee's advice when deciding on coal seam gas and coal mining applications.

For more information visit www.environment.gov.au/coal-seam-gas-mining.

RMIT University has led an international consortium of universities and the CSIRO in a research breakthrough that improves a solar panel technology's efficiency by at least 30 per cent.

Researchers used dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) rather than the traditional silicon. This dye adsorbs light energy and produces a current that is transferred into a metal oxide, niobia. Niobia is an inexpensive, chemically stable and environmentally friendly material.

The work at RMIT was conducted by PhD student Jian Zhen Ou and supervised by Associate Professor Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The four other universities involved were the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA); the University of New South Wales and the Korean Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology.

Mr Ou has received multiple awards during his PhD program including the 2011 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Student Abroad.

Associate Professor Kalantar-zadeh said that for the first time, using niobia, they obtained a high conversion efficiency at least 30 per cent higher than those of the traditional DSSCs which had mainly used the metal oxide, titania.

"The key to this huge success lies in structuring niobia into our desired nano-architecture by using a simple, highly-controllable and large-scale producible technique," he said.

"Interestingly, this so-called anodisation technique is widely used as a conventional method in various industries for generating hard coatings and glazed surfaces, but rarely in nano-niobia production.

"Our work suggests that niobia can be used as the star material in DSSCs and provides a viable solution to boost the conversion efficiency to the values that far exceed that of silicon-based solar cells."

The findings were published in the journal ACS Nano.

The Federal Government has announced ‘reward’ funding of more than $147 million for States and Territories for their progress in literacy and numeracy targets.

The funding will be distributed as follows:

• Victoria: $48 million
• Queensland: $41.2 million
• Western Australia: $27.4 million
• New South Wales: $12.9 million   
• South Australia: $6.4 million
• Northern Territory: $ 5.7 million
• Tasmania: $3.5 million
• ACT: $2.2 million

 A report by the COAG Reform Council (CRC), released by School Education Minister Peter Garrett, confirmed that the  Literacy and Numeracy National Partnership was helping to lift achievement standards in 1200 schools.

“The CRC report found that schools participating in the partnership generally improved their performance in literacy and numeracy. The results for indigenous students were particularly pleasing – for example, indigenous students in Year 7 in Western Australia recorded a 16.9 per cent improvement in reading, while Year 3 reading in the Northern Territory improved by 16.1 per cent,”  School Education Minister Peter Garrett said.

“The majority of states and territories have either met or are making good progress towards most of their targets, which is reflected in the reward funding the Gillard Government will allocate.”

The CRC report highlighted that states and territories either made good progress towards, or fully achieved, 83.8 per cent of their agreed NAPLAN targets and 76.1 per cent of local measure targets to improve literacy and numeracy.

Mr Garrett said $147.3 million of the $211.5 million available in reward funding has been allocated this year.

He said that of the unallocated funding, $40 million would be directed towards boosting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in around 200 schools through the ‘Focus Schools’ program.

“This means that all 900 schools identified in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action plan will receive extra funding ….to boost literacy and numeracy results, engagement and attendance among indigenous students.”

Under the Literacy and Numeracy National Partnership, schools received funding to develop and trial a range of programs to help improve reading, writing and maths. Schools have been able to hire literacy and numeracy coaches; develop individual learning plans for students who need extra help; and purchase resources to assist students struggling with core skills.

“Around half a million students across the country are benefiting from funding provided through this partnership.  Since 2008, many participating schools have improved the proportion of students performing above national minimum standards,” Mr Garrett said.

“We’ve also made available an additional $243 million over the next 18 months to advance the work that has already taken place.”

For more information on the Smarter Schools National Partnerships, visit www.smarterschools.gov.au.

Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, has introduced the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) legislation to Parliament following agreement between the Gillard Government, the New Zealand Government and states and territories.

The GEMS legislation will regulate energy efficiency and labelling standards for appliances and other products. It will also give effect to commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to adopt national policies and measures to mitigate climate change and limit Australia’s anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, and to promote the development and application of technologies and practices that control anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases.

The Bill establishes a national framework for regulating the energy efficiency of products supplied or used within Australia and permits the Australian Government to set mandatory minimum efficiency requirements for products, to drive greater energy efficiency for regulated products. The Bill also allows the Australian Government to set nationally-consistent labelling requirements, to increase Australians’ awareness of options to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.  The national framework will replace seven state and territory legislative frameworks, harmonising Australia’s equipment energy efficiency regulations. 

GEMS will incorporate the Equipment Energy Efficiency Program (E3) that set has minimum energy performance standards for more than 20 years to remove inefficient products from the market. The E3 Program has proven so successful that in 2005, 83% of all Australian consumers surveyed reported referring to the Program’s Energy Rating Labels when purchasing major household appliances. In 2010, the energy savings arising from the more efficient air conditioners and refrigerators required by the E3 Program was calculated at 6.6 terawatt hours, a benefit valued at over $1 billion.

The GEMS legislation expands and addresses inconsistencies in the E3 Program.

The Australian Government committed $37.1 million over four years in the 2012-2013 Budget to fund the Australian Government’s share of the cooperative E3 Program. This funding will be supported by contributions from New Zealand and Australian state and territory jurisdictions that participate in the E3 Program.

The GEMS legislation is available at: www.aph.gov.au/bills.

Additional information about the background to the GEMS legislation can be found at: www.climatechange.gov.au/

A report released by the mental health advocacy group Inspire Foundation has found that mental illnesses in young men is costing the Australian economy $3 billon each year.

The Counting the Cost: The Impact of Young Men’s Mental Health on the Australian Economy builds on previous research conducted in 2010 and aims to better understand the mental health help-seeking attitudes and patterns in young men.

The report found that mental illnesses in young men aged between 12 and 25 cost the Australian economy $387,000 every hour and results in over nine million working days lost per year. The Federal Government covers 31 per cent on these costs via direct health costs, disability welfare payments, unemployment support and direct costs associated with imprisonment, with the private sector accounting for the rest of the costs.

“For the first time we are starting to understand that there are productivity opportunities and risks associated with the mental health of young men. The failure to act presents a serious threat to Australia’s future productivity and to the individual prosperity of young men affected by poor mental health,” Inspire Foundation CEO Jonathan Nicholas.

“Until such impacts are made clear, the mental health of young men would continue to be seen as primarily a health issue for the attention of the government and community sectors. Helping young men with mental illness with education and training opportunities will assist higher wages and productivity for the economy.”

Federal Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, said more must be done to ensure the problem does not further escalate.

“Two thirds of mental illness emerges before the age of 21. If that illness is left untreated, it can impact on a person’s education, and later in life on their future career prospects and financial security,” Mr Butler said.

“The clear message from Counting the Cost is that we must intervene early and invest smarter to reduce the cost and impacts associated with young men’s mental illness. We stand to gain from both a happier, healthier population and increased productivity.” 

The report makes three main recommendations, including:

• improving educational outcomes for young boys and adolescents;
• improving employers’ understanding of mental health and reducing the stigma that some workers with mental health difficulties face in their jobs; and
• improving understanding around Government investments in mental health

The full report can be found here

Mowbray College, a large private school in Melbourne’s outer west, has been put into voluntary liquidation after its $18 million debt dragged the school under. The college, with a student population of over 1,200, is unlikely to open its doors after the end of the current school term. 

In an attempt to keep the school operational for the coming weeks, the Victorian Government has brought forward a $400,00 grant to ensure it completes the school term.

Unpaid school fees are rumored to be in excess of $2 million.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released key construction findings for the March quarter, which show that engineering work has lead a modest growth in the construction sector.

Despite overall building, residential and non-residential all recording drops, engineering recorded a healthy 5.4 per cent increase from the previous quarter, and a 32.9 per cent increase from the same time last year.

Building work done slumped 2.2 per cent, while residential fell 1.5 per cent. Non-residential work done recorded the biggest slump, posting a 3.1 per cent contraction.

Seasonally adjusted, engineering work done rose 13.3 per cent to $23,849.6 million in the March quarter.

The Liverpool City Council is continuing to campaign against the Federal Government’s proposed $587 million Moorebank Intermodal Terminal project, calling for community representatives for its No Intermodal Working Party.

The working party has been established to undertake the following:

• To develop a centralised and collaborative approach to coordinate Council's response to the Moorebank freight intermodal proposals.
• To assess detailed information and studies relating to the proposed applications for the intermodal facilities.
• To investigate and act upon opportunities to lobby Federal and State Ministers and Departments.
• To initiate and develop partnerships with relevant stakeholders, environmental groups, and key organisations.
• To make recommendations to Council regarding the utilisation of resources to best effect.

The Federal Government is pushing ahead with its planned terminal, planning to have the facility operational by 2017. When operational, the terminal would house one-and-a-half million shipping containers on site.

The council fears that the massive increase in freight movement will equate to a substantial increase of trucks on the surrounding roads.