Northland Transport & Infrastructure Forum

a number of our northern members took guided tours around NorthPort and Channel Infrastructure in Whangarei. It was a great opportunity to learn more about other key elements of our supply chain, and also how important it is that we have good infrastructure to connect our regional communities.

Whangarei may have lost its fuel refinery and processing capability, however the importance of its role in New Zealand’s energy supply chain is far from diminished. In fact, given its current and future storage capacity and its potential capability to play a role in new fuels, there’s a strong case that the importance of the infrastructure has increased. Similarly, seeing the investment in NorthPort and hearing about its future plans was exciting. As our economy grows it seems inevitable that port throughput will increase which further demonstrates the importance of the region.

We ended the day with an industry update and networking event (above) which included views from our Board Chair Cam Bagrie, Whangarei Mayor Ken Cooper and Lloyd Budd, National Party candidate for Whangārei.