Novara takes the lead in logistics

With far greater peaks, as witnessed for example by Fedex's 200,000 square metres or Kering's 150,000 in Trecate, where the luxury group employs a thousand people.

Il sito Kering di Trecate

Al lavoro nel complesso mille addetti

Il primo magazzino certificato Leed Platino in Europa

Nel sito dove opera Kering uno dei più grandi impianti fotovoltaici in Italia

Large spaces, yet smaller than the project that should take shape in the Pernate district (4300 inhabitants, halfway between Novara and Galliate, in the direction of Milan). A 150-million project (+20 between urbanisation charges and ancillary works) for a covered area of 242,000 metres adjacent to the current freight village, Ciom (Centro Interportuale Merci).

Development that re-proposes the issue of the trade-off between land consumption and development/employment, a debate in which supporters of the benefits in terms of employment and induced activities are confronted with those who instead highlight the environmental damage (two warehouses, each 450 metres long, 50 metres from the houses, explain the city committee that opposes the project, highlighting the presence of one hundred hectares of cultivated land that would be lost to make room for the project) and the drift towards low-quality jobs and low wages, protests that have led to two appeals to the Tar.

A wide-ranging project, including warehouses, roads and connections, urbanisation charges, and 'compensatory' green, which aims to create direct synergies with the freight village, effectively creating an extension of it. "Clearly for us, the Pernate initiative is a positive one," explains Cim president Cristoforo Canavese, "which will inevitably bring work and additional traffic to our trains. The investment was developed by Develog and not directly by Cim, which is nevertheless involved in the operation, as is evident from the Strategic Industrial Development Plan, a document presented with a double signature to the Novara municipality, and a joint protocol for the development of the integrated hub.

A plan that could create over a thousand jobs, with expressions of interest already received from several companies ready to set up in the new spaces, but which at this point is on stand-by. The crux of the matter, beyond the Tar, is the position of the neighbouring municipality of Galliate (the approval of the 'conterminous' municipalities is required, even though they are outside the area involved): the entire project cannot start without the go-ahead of the junta, which has just been installed after the recent administrative elections.

"We have not changed our mind from what we said in the election campaign," explains mayor Alberto Cantone, "and at the moment our position is against it, because we see only negative repercussions. Starting with the terrible impact on local mobility created by the additional trucks that would arrive here. In any case, we will go to the comparison table, there will be a way to learn more about every detail".

The position of companies is different, as they see these logistical developments as elements in favour of local growth.

'Beyond the individual project, which I will not go into here,' explains Confindistria Novara-Vercelli-Valsesia president Gianni Filippa, 'I observe that today a territory cannot do without industry and industry cannot do without logistics. Which should not be seen as an isolated 'world' but as a primary service for manufacturing. Novara is a crucial junction for two European corridors and if we want to aim for development, playing the game of territorial competitiveness, this is an asset to be exploited. The impact on the territory? It goes beyond individual jobs in transport: Amazon, for example, is also developing new automated machinery here in the area, and jobs with high added value are also created'.

For Filippa, the course is set and there are currently open negotiations with other groups as well, in order to build new settlements in addition to the existing ones.

In the area, the impact in terms of employment is significant: according to Liuc's estimates, taking into account the average handling required for the warehouses present (6200 trucks per day), the direct employees for logistics are over 6,000, rising to 8,000 in the Randstad report on the sector.

'I see this sector as an engine of development and a resource,' explains the mayor of Trecate and president of the province of Novara Federico Binatti, 'also because the impact on employment goes beyond the handling of goods in the strict sense. We are also looking for professionals, engineers. Here in Trecate, for example, the before and after effect of Kering's investment is evident, with an all-round relaunch of services and commercial activities. The other relevant aspect, I won't deny it, is on the revenue side for the authorities, the urbanisation charges. Figures that make it possible to provide services that would otherwise be more difficult to provide. On the Pernate project, I believe we should proceed, taking into account the go-ahead of both the two municipalities involved and the services conference. Of course, while respecting the rules, always paying attention to dialogue and confrontation'.

If the projects in the field go ahead, Novara will quickly break through the two-million-square-metre threshold of covered surface area, a leap of more than 30 per cent compared to current levels. Also on the starting blocks is Engineering 2K's project (the developer of Amazon's site) another 120 thousand square metres, the size of seven football pitches, also located, like Kering, in Trecate.

"This is the province with the highest growth rate in logistics spaces," explains Fabrizio Dallari, head of the Liuc Observatory on the topic, "an attractive area for several reasons: there are lower costs compared to the hinterland of Milan, and in addition, compared to the Lombard capital, there is also greater ease in finding labour. If then the rail connections with Genoa were to proceed as planned, Novara would become the most important destination as a sorting hub'.