THE Scenic Rim Regional Council has approved a land rezoning application to enable work to start on a new green energy and manufacturing hub in the region.
In late September Council endorsed Kalfresh’s Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct (SRAIP) plan to build Australia’s first closed loop bioenergy ecosystem.
The $291-million project, which promises to create up to 641 full time equivalent jobs during construction and 475 full time equivalent long-term operational jobs, received State approval in May.
Scenic Rim Mayor Tom Sharp congratulated everyone involved.
“This project creates jobs, attracts investment and continues to grow the region,” he said.
It was declared a ‘Coordinated Project’ in 2019 and the State Government, in consultation with Council, created the SRAIP Development Plan.
It will culminate in a regionally significant 16-lot agri-focused precinct for food, beverage and fibre manufacturing on Kalfresh’s 40ha site on the Cunningham Highway near Kalbar.
The new SRAIP Development Plan varies the effect of the Planning Scheme by specifying types of development that may occur within the project area, level of assessment and benchmarks for development assessment.
Kalfresh CEO Richard Gorman said receiving Council approval was a significant milestone.
“Council has approved our application to vary the planning scheme and establish a hub for agricultural-industrial businesses to be based at Kalbar,” he said.
“This means we can now move to deliver the project, which is about future-proofing agriculture in south-east Queensland by providing a dedicated place for manufacturing and value-adding of the agricultural products grown locally.
“We thank the Council staff and elected representatives for their work to help reach this milestone and look forward to making the vision a reality.”
One part of the precinct will be an Australian-first 10MW Bioenergy Facility using anaerobic digestion to co-digest feedstocks, including agricultural and food waste and energy crops, to create green electricity, biofertiliser and renewable compressed natural gas.
These energy sources can be used as a diesel-replacement for trucks, buses and industry.
“Co-locating manufacturing and bioenergy production is a proven and established model overseas and has transformed regional communities in Europe, the US and Canada. We look forward to partnering with Australia’s leading agriculture, manufacturing, energy and transport businesses to deliver this for the Scenic Rim,” said Mr Gorman.
