Controversial Grantham Quarry hits the market after rebranding
THE controversial Grantham Quarry - the backdrop to some high-profile legal action in the wake of the 2011 flood - is on the market.
But the sales pitch is all about its fertile future as part of the Lockyer Valley food bowl rather than digging up the past.
The wall of the derelict quarry 100km west of Brisbane was breached at the height of the devastating 2011 flood. Twelve people died at Grantham.
Its former owners, Toosite woomba’s Wagner brothers, have won defamation cases and been awarded substantial payouts for comments and reports by radio broadcaster Alan Jones and Nine Network’s 60 Minutes over incorrect accusations and insinuations.
A commission of inquiry found the breaching the quarry wall had no exacerbating role in the fatal flood.
Its existing owner, locallybased concrete and quarries firm Zanows, is selling the 79ha after extensive remediation works with a view to its “rebirth” as an agribusiness asset.
“After almost three years of rehabilitation, working closely with the community and council for the best outcome, the property is now ready for a new life,” said Zanows boss Steve Pyne.
As part of the marketing campaign, the property has been rebranded as the “Lockyer Agri Centre” reflecting the future vision for the holding.
Scan Property Consultants’ Matthew Richards, who is handling the sale, said the site had “untapped opportunity” for large-scale intensive agribusiness ventures - such as aquaculture, vertical farming, horticulture and feedlotting - providing jobs and investment into the area.
“It’s former resource was sand and gravel but it’s new resource value proposition is its bulk water … an increasingly scarce and valuable commodity,” he said.
Property records show Zanows bought the site in 2015 for $825,000 from Boral Resources, which purchased it in 2011 for $1 million from the Wagners. -