A rail spur planned as part of the Agripower plant expansion at Charters Towers is a missing link in the area’s economic development, according to Mayor Frank Beveridge.
“In the wet season, every probably two to three years, the Burdekin Bridge between Townsville and Charters Towers goes under,” he said.
“And then we are cut for a number of days and we have dozens and dozens of semi-trailers either side. And it makes life very difficult. What is never cut off is the rail between Townsville and Charters Towers.”
However Cr Beveridge said there was no active rail freight facility in Charters Towers.
He was commenting after heavy rainfall this week left the city as an island, cut off by road.
Agripower Australia plans a $70 million package of capital projects at its Charters Towers fertiliser manufacturing plant.
The major elements will be the multi-user rail spur to link to the main Townsville-Mount Isa line and work to double plant capacity to 500,000 tonnes per annum of Agrisilica granules.
The company is also looking to install a facility to make a liquid silicon fertiliser.
Cr Beveridge said Charters Towers was in the middle of an economic boom and having a publicly accessible rail spur would aid its development.
“Obviously it’s going to have a positive impact on the town. We don’t know exactly what other businesses it will bring to town until it’s built there,” he said
Fuelling its growth were the city’s proximity to the Bravus Carmchael coal mine, a thriving gold industry and an Australia-Singapore Military Training Initiative training site, he said. The area has a strong beef industry and the Big Rocks Weir project is expected to aid further agricultural development.
Cr Beveridge said also the proposed Agripower rail facility was only a few kilometres from a 770ha block of council land that it was developing as an industrial park.
“And we’ve been in discussions with a cotton gin. There’s a number of them floating around North Queensland, a number of proposals, and one is seriously looking at Charters Towers.”
Cr Beveridge described Agripower as good corporate citizens of Charters Towers and said the council looked forward to the company expanding its business.
Agripower managing director Peter Prentice said the company was in the final stages of securing finance for the expansion.
The expansion will take the operation from producing about 100,000 tonnes of product this year to more than 200,000 tonnes next year.