I've read a few recommendations on Parkes...and plans to make it a transport/freight hub...possibly with an international freight airport. It's on the main east-west rail line, and on the Newell Highway with many trucks moving between Melbourne and Brisbane. It also has employment from large mining operations nearby and income from agriculture and and livestock industries. You would really need to do your research...I've always thought of it as a large nondescript country town (though I'm told its population means its classed as a a city). Best thing it used to have going for it when I was a young kid was the annual Parkes Show...every year they would have one of the original Batamn series batmobiles. Their claim to fame is the Parkes radio telescope....and the role it played in the lunar landing (an equally strange claim to fame imo). You can stay at the Moonraker motel if you wish...just to get into the spirit of it all.
Info on the transport hub below
http://www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/economic/7022.html
"Transport Hub
As a consequence of the emerging trends in Australian logistics and the unique location of Parkes, considerable interest has been generated in the Parkes Multi-Modal National Transport HUB. Parkes Shire Council has completed extensive investigation and consultation to provide the appropriate zoning for over 500 hectares of land specifically designed for 24 hour, 7 days per week operation of a Multi-Modal Transport facility.
The HUB development will be a National Transport Node, which seeks to provide the modal interfaces to allow modal choice and complete freight logistics chain management. It provides the largest greenfield intermodal site in New South Wales.
A PowerPoint slide show further detailing the Parkes Hub concept (without sound) is available for download . Contact Council's Economic Development Manager for a full copy, including sound, on CD.
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Parkes Industrial "HUB" Zone - 27 Sep 2006
Parkes Shire Council has completed extensive investigation and consultation to provide the appropriate zoning for over 500 hectares of land specifically designed for 24 hour, 7 days per week operation of a Multi-Modal Transport facility. more ..
Rail Freight - 27 Sep 2006
Parkes is situated on the Transcontinental Railway linking Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. This rail corridor provides 62-hour freight transit time to Perth. Readily accessible rail connections to Melbourne, Wollongong (Port Kembla), Sydney (Port of Botany), Newcastle (Port of Newcastle) and Brisbane as well as regional branch lines, further define the strategic locality of the Parkes Transport HUB project. more ..
Rail - The NEWell Alternative - 26 Sep 2006
A study into the inland freight rail link, commissioned by the Department of Transport and Regional Services, found favourably for the construction of an inland route via Parkes. The study was launched by the Minister, Mr Warren Truss and is the most comprehensive study conducted on the line. A conference was held in Parkes to discuss the Study. more ..
Road Freight - 27 Sep 2006
The Newell Highway is the major freight route between Melbourne and Brisbane and currently carries 1,400 heavy vehicles per day, 40% of which are B-Doubles. The operation of higher mass limit vehicles from the Newell Highway to the HUB has recently been approved, which will assist in meeting the increasing freight volumes and the efficiency of the HUB. A fourfold increase in freight is forecast by 2020. more ..
Sea Freight - 27 Sep 2006
Shipping is the mode of choice for long haul bulk movement, and accounts for over 99% of imported and exported freight, by volume. Integration of shipping services into the logistics network is clearly imperative for Australia to remain competitive. Parkes, being situated at the intersection of major rail freight corridors, provides readily accessible rail connections to all the major Australian ports. more ..
Air Freight - 27 Sep 2006
The Economic Evaluation of the Parkes International Freight Airport Facility prepared by DJA Maunsell and CARE, July 1997, provide a comprehensive viability assessment of the Inland Marketing Corporation (IMC) proposal and concluded that under the IMC, against all existing gateway airports, Parkes offers a cheaper cost structure for air exports for all NSW agricultural production areas and offers a transport Benefit Cost Ratio of 2.14. more ..
Parkes Airport Development - 27 Sep 2006
The Parkes Airport Development proposal involves the upgrade and expansion of the existing Parkes Airport to facilitate the direct export of perishable agricultural produce from the Central West region of Australia. The following information has been provided by Connell Wagner to answer questions about the proposal. more ..
Telecommunications - eLogistics - 27 Sep 2006
Parkes is fortunate in having fibre optic telecommunications infrastructure with a high level of redundancy providing the perfect platform for the development of a “Communications HUB for National Freight Logistics”. more ..
Ecological Sustainability - 27 Sep 2006
The Parkes HUB planning controls will aim to ensure a transport-logistics industry predicated on ecologically sustainable development (ESD). more .. "
http://www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/planning/5108/5109.html
Regional Growth
At a time when many rural communities are struggling from prolonged drought Parkes Shire continues to expand … and its resilience and diversity are the cornerstones of its economic strength.
While the gold rush and then the railway and agriculture provided the early impetus, Parkes has evolved dramatically over the past two decades thanks to mining and the development of a transport hub which has positioned Parkes to become a national freight distribution centre.
Opened in 1994 the Rio Tinto Northparkes mining operation continues to flourish, with State Government approval recently announced for the E48 venture which will expand the longevity of the mine to at least 2017.
Three key transport operators, ( FCL, Transtank & SCT Logistics ) have established in Parkes in the past decade, to capitalise on the unique ability to deliver to 82 per cent of Australia's population within 12 hours. Parkes rail culture is strengthened by the presence of Pacific International, Silverton and ARTC. One more significant player, Terminals Australia, has received Government approval for the $135 million first stage of its project in the Parkes hub which will ultimately provide for up to 600 additional employment positions.
The search is now on to attract skilled employees in transport, logistics, metal fabrication and mining to effectively service these major companies. A $120 million federal budget allocation for a detailed economic-engineering study of the Melbourne-Brisbane inland rail corridor, with which Parkes is integrally linked, has further enhanced Parkes' transport profile.
Specialist staff are also required for the $100 million Parkes Garden Estate for which development approval has been provided. A start to work is imminent for this exciting aged care facility which ultimately will accommodate up to 900 new residents of the town. This project will provide opportunity for general practitioners and specialised health care personnel.
Community facilities commensurate with this development continue to expand. Already there are three retirement/aged care facilities and three child care centres in Parkes and design planning for a new hospital is about to commence.
Sporting and recreational facilities provide for the most diverse need; Education too is paramount with six schools, supplemented by the nationally acclaimed birth to kindergarten reading programme.
Parkes is accessible … just 50 minutes on a direct airline service by Regional Express three times a day from Sydney with 30,000 passengers annually. Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane are comfortably accessed by road thanks to Parkes' strategic location on the Newell Highway, the nation's inland motoring corridor.
Tourism is now worth $40 million annually, thanks to the annual Elvis Festival in January, the equally eminent "Dish" which attracts 130,000 visitors each year, the Newell and a diverse range of sporting and community events and festivals.
Parkes enjoys its international status. Its sister city link with Coventry is the oldest of the 505 such links in Australia and dates back to 1938. Polish is the second most commonly spoken dialect in the region thanks to the influx of migrants who made the Parkes Airport RAAF base their home in the early 1950s and then settled in their adopted home town.
Parkes is a tolerant, welcoming and inviting community. Our demographics are changing to meet the economic momentum we enjoy.
Ajax
