People power stops Ebenezer plan

Ian Rickuss.

File

A CONTROVERSIAL high-impact industrial estate near Ipswich will not go ahead after the state government knocked back the proposal.

Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has announced that the 800-hectare estate investigation site at Ebenezer would not house toxic industrial factories.

The state government's investigation of the site drew the ire of Mutdapilly, Mt Forbes, Ebenezer and Rosewood residents concerned about having high-impact industrial land in their backyard.

News that the investigations had been abandoned will be welcomed by the hundreds of local residents who attended protest meetings against the proposal in recent weeks – including an information session in Mutdapilly on Sunday.

Mr Hinchliffe said a preliminary site report of the land, located south of Goebels Road, revealed the area was not suitable.

“As the department has clearly stated all along, extensive onsite investigations were vital in helping to determine the suitability of the site,” he said. 

“Expert consultants GHD have come back to us with clear preliminary findings that the site would have only limited overall suitability for the establishment of an industrial estate for multiple difficult-to-locate industries.”

He said the most telling constraint from the surveys of the site was the amount of vegetation regrowth that was not recorded in existing mapping.

Terry Houlihan, a committee member of the Mutdapilly – Mt Forbes Action Network opposing the proposal, said residents in the area would be “over the moon” with the news.

Member for Lockyer Ian Rickuss said it was a win for people power.

Planning work is continuing on the separate 5000-hectare Ebenezer Regional Industrial Area, north of Goebels Road and west of the Cunningham Highway.