DON’T TURF US ALL OUT
A LETTER from the Co-ordinator General to Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch reveals 39 landholders fall within the boundaries of a proposed state-sanctioned industrial park south of Cairns.
Among the long list of cane growers within the State Development Area are turf farmers Michael and Melissa Denney, who took over Harden Park Lawns in 2002.
Their business falls on the northernmost edge of the buffer zone and would not be subject to the high-intensity industrial activity proposed to cover about 40 per cent of the 840ha area.
But, like the majority of Wrights Creek landholders, they are concerned about the possible impacts the project could have.
“It’s not ideal having an industrial park right next to us. We need to make sure we can still produce turf in the way we are now, without anything inhibiting us from supplying our customers,” Mrs Denney said.
The correspondence to Mr Entsch, dated August 18, stated the SDA was considered necessary because Cairns Regional Council’s planning scheme allowed for sufficient low-impact industrial land, but would not meet the demand for medium and high-impact industry in the long-term.
“With respect to the Edmonton Business and Industry Park site (including Pregno land) it is considered that the area is mostly identified as low-medium impact industry, subject to flooding overlays, potential acid sulfate soils and infrastructure co-ordination issues with the Bruce Hwy upgrade,” it continued.
The impact on the Mulgrave Mill was also downplayed, with the Co-ordinator General estimating farms within the area produced between 23,000 and 31,000 tonnes of sugarcane per year – about two per cent of the mill’s total supply.
The effects were considered “manageable”, given the uptake of land was to be gradual over about 30 years, depending on market demand.
“Quite frankly, the response I got raises more questions than answers,” Mr Entsch said.
“It gave me no confidence in the whole process. I’ll back the landholders.”