Tabro Meat to expand

TABRO Meat abattoir in Lance Creek is set to make a $26 million upgrade and double its workforce from 160 to 320 full-time employees.
The abattoir received approval from Bass Coast Shire Council to expand production at Wednesday night’s ordinary council meeting in Wonthaggi.
Tabro Meat will increase capacity and is expected to triple its production from 500 to 1500 head of cattle per day.
Tabro Meat was taken over by the Chinese owned company HY Holdings Australia last year.
In 2014, export sales accounted for 90 per cent of beef sold from Tabro Meats.
Cr Bradley Drew spoke in favour of the application to council.
“Tabro Meat has been a great economic driver for our local community,” he said.
“I see this overall as a very good proposal for our community and for our branding on a bigger stage.
“A $26 million upgrade in Bass Coast Shire can’t go unnoticed.
“I can’t remember the last time a business had the confidence to invest $26 million.”
Cr Drew said expansion of the abattoir would increase employment opportunities in the area.
“The output is only going to increase the opportunities to learn a skill,” he said.
Council approved the permit application with a number of conditions, including the development of an environmental management plan and landscape plan, truck movement time restrictions, and a daily limit of the number of animals processed.
Truck and van deliveries must occur between 6.30am and 9pm, Monday to Sunday, and the abattoir is limited to processing no more than 1600 animals per day, unless with the prior written consent of the responsible authority.
Council’s acting general manager for sustainable development and growth, Jodi Kennedy, said council also took into consideration four objections from the community.
“The main points of the objection covered the key issues of noise, odour, truck movements, water run-off, water contamination and transport movements to and from the site,” Ms Kennedy said.
“The applicant, GHD, also spoke with and offered to meet each objector to discuss their concerns.”
The new rendering plant, waste digesters, cogeneration plant and gas boiler will incorporate noise and odour reduction features.
The cogeneration plant will remove the need to place paunch waste (grass from cattle stomachs) to compost in the surrounding fields. In the future paunch waste will be processed by the cogeneration digester.
Cr Phil Wright raised concerns about maintaining the quality of nearby road surfaces, which would come under pressure from increased truck traffic to Tabro Meat, and said he thought it was difficult for council to plan appropriate locations for future industrial plants in the shire when council can only judge applications one by one.

By Laura Gibb

Council approval: Cr Bradley Drew of South Gippsland Shire Council spoke in favour of Tabro Meat’s application to expand.

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Posted by Laura Gibb on Feb 24 2015. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry