$26m for Lansdown precinct

MILLIONS of dollars have been committed for water projects across the North and North West as part of the state budget.

The state government has committed $26m to the Lansdown Eco-industrial Precinct for enabling infrastructure, including a reservoir and a 13km pipeline, connecting the precinct and pump station to the Haughton Pipeline.

The budget says the cash will be held centrally and subject to assessment and contribution from the federal government.

An additional $2.4m will be released for Lansdown this year to help fund road and rail infrastructure. All up, the road and rail infrastructure projects are expected to cost $12m.

Mayor Jenny Hill said the funding promised matches funding pledged during the federal election by the Albanese government.

“This will ensure the construction of key trunk infrastructure is funded through the state and federal governments,” Ms Hill said.

“It shows the value of this project to the Queensland government’s vision for the state to become an advanced manufacturing and hydrogen-producing powerhouse.”

The Hughenden community will benefit from $25.6m for the development of the Flinders Shire Council’s Hughenden Water Bank project.

This project includes a 7000ML, off-steam water storage and distribution system to support the development and expansion of irrigated agriculture and industry development. Regional Development and Water Minister Glenn Butcher said these funds could be released quickly, once the projects had been assessed and the relevant business cases, which are nearly complete, had been submitted.

“We’ve heard from regional Queenslanders these are the projects important to them.”