The delay to a new $12 million piggery development at Harden will be taken up when Cootamundra MP Katrina Hodgkinson today seeks answers from her Coalition counterpart, Environment Minister Mark Speakman.
Ms Hodgkinson says the future of the Blantyre Farms project at Harden needed to be dealt with expediently.
“I want to see this resolved and see it resolved quickly,’’ Ms Hodgkinson said. She has requested a meeting with Mr Speakman in his ministerial offices in Sydney today.
“We [the Cootamundra electorate] need pork production and we need to process it as well. The problem is the hold-up, it’s not acceptable with new jobs on the line.’’
Ms Hodgkinson had met with the piggery’s proponents and the neighbours at “Eulie” affected by the development. She understood some neighbours had concerns about parts of the intensive pig farm operation. But she said the project was too valuable to lose to the region.
Chris Manchester, a former Harden mayor and now chairman of a local regional committee, said he supported the project, but there were legitimate concerns about where it was intended to be built. He preferred a site further away from the town. He also agreed a decision on the project should have been made some time ago. He said it was proper of council to seek more information.
The application by Blantyre Farms has been with Hilltops council for almost 12 months. It replicates the company’s piggery operation at Young. The new “Eulie” project is about 6.3 kilometres from Harden. It comprises two sites, a breeder site with 7400 pigs and a grower site with 18,000 pigs. Proponent, Edwina Beveridge, “Eulie”, Harden, said she had spent almost $250,000 on reports supporting the development application. Council was not satisfied with the original material and gave Blantyre until November 11 to supply extra material to be sent on to the EPA. The development application is expected to go on public exhibition from today until January 3. Mrs Beveridge fears when the development is exhibited she will be attacked again by animal liberationists over her company’s intensive farming techniques.
Her Young operation sends pigs for slaughter to Melbourne, and then for sale to supermarkets. She said the Young abattoir (run by BE Campbell) had expressed interest in opening a pig floor if Mrs Beveridge could get the new Harden project up and going. Mrs Beveridge said the piggery would bring another 20 full-time jobs to Harden. Blantyre Farms employs 40 people at Young.
She denied her project was too close to Harden and the piggery was on the most suitable area on the grazing property, owned by herself and husband Michael. Hilltops general manager, Anthony McMahon, said it was important to reiterate that council could not approve the proposed development without the general terms of approval of certain state agencies.
