Northern UNISA members welcome freight study

Upper North Island councils are working together to reduce the cost to do business in New Zealand.

​UNISA, the strategic alliance of seven upper North Island Councils, is collaborating with Auckland Transport, KiwiRail and the New Zealand Transport Agency to improve freight efficiency and reduce the cost of doing business in the upper North Island.

The upper North Island of New Zealand is a critical platform to New Zealand’s economic success.  More than fifty five percent of New Zealand’s freight travels through the Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions, and collectively these regions generate over fifty percent of New Zealand’s gross domestic product. Ten upper North Island organisations have decided to join forces to better support the economic performance of New Zealand.

The Upper North Island Strategic Alliance (UNISA) is made up of Northland Regional Council, Whangarei District Council, Auckland Council, Waikato Regional Council, Hamilton City Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Tauranga City Council.  UNISA is collaborating with Auckland Transport, KiwiRail and the New Zealand Transport Agency to work together on initiatives to reduce the cost to do business in New Zealand - through an upper North Island lens.

The goal is that by delivering freight efficiencies, this will in turn reduce costs of trade – with the upshot of this being  cheaper goods for New Zealanders and a competitive advantage for New Zealand importers and exporters.

Improved Freight efficiency would be a huge benefit for Northland businesses as the cost of getting our products to the country’s larger population centres would be reduced.  This in turn will provide incentives and encouragement for new ventures to be established in Northland.

The region has a lot of offer and any moves to remove barriers to profitable business is something all Northland authorities will support whole-heartedly.

The organisations involved share the view that to invest smarter and deliver better certainty for industry and investors, they need to understand the picture at an upper North Island scale and work together on the critical priorities that will add the most value.

For Northland it is important that our businesses have the flexibility to choose between road and rail when looking to move freight - particularly between our region and our largest trading partner – Auckland. NRC and WDC are pleased to see this work taking place that will benefit the entire region.

The region currently has a thriving export port which will, with the addition of direct rail access through the Marsden Point Rail Link, be of great assistance as the freight task in the upper north island is ever increasing.

This approach has and continues to involve discussions with industry, operators and Ports, to ensure their views are included, and that their needs can be better understood.