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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1359 asked in the Legislative Council on 26 November 2020 by Hon Colin Tincknell

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

INDUSTRIAL LAND — COLLIE

1359. Hon COLIN TINCKNELL to the Minister for Regional Development:

I refer to question without notice 1295 of 12 November. I note that the land referenced in the answer, the Shotts Strategic Industrial Area, is available for mining-related industry only, the land in Kemerton is not within the Shire of Collie and the land in the Collie Light Industrial Area is not available for heavy industry. Noting this government's stated commitment to diversifying the economy of the Collie region, can the minister outline what plans the government has, if any, to address the lack of land available in the Collie shire for either lease or purchase for the operation of job-creating heavy industry not directly related to the mining sector?

Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:

I thank the member for the question.

Some months ago, the Collie steering committee resolved—I think it was approved by cabinet—to proceed to change the zoning for that heavy industrial site. Currently, it needs to be a coal-related heavy industry. We are now going through the process of advertising the change to the local planning scheme. We agree that it should not be limited to coal. That process is underway at the moment. The comment period closes on 18 January. In the meantime, if anyone is looking at that, we will be treating this as if that has already gone.

In addition, the South West Development Commission has commissioned an engineering assessment for current and potential industrial land in and around Collie. The assessment seeks to identify current capability and constraints on industrial land, including access to water, power and wastewater, and to inform potential industry attraction and development strategies. That assessment, which has been going on for some time, is due to be completed in January 2021. As the member would be aware, we have already invested in excess of $50 million to that diversification project. Some of those projects are showing great success, in particular, the WesTrac Piacentini and Son project, but many more are underway.