Development of a new $120m renewable energy plant will enter the next phase as Grant District Council has approved Altus Renewables to acquire a portion of road reserve to enable access to the new facility.

The plant is proposed for land along Hutchinson Road at Mingbool, adjacent to the Mount Gambier Regional Airport.

In his April monthly report, council’s chief executive Darryl Whicker said as part of the pellet plant development, the intersection between Riddoch Highway, Airport Road and Hutchinson Road would require realignment.

He said this would be required to minimise traffic impact as a result of the increase in heavy vehicle traffic.

As a result, council received a request from Altus requesting to close and purchase the current Hutchinson Road, with a view to realign to the south in accordance with the concept designs compiled by Wood Beca.

In a 74-page planning report and environmental impact assessment prepared by Wood Beca, transport access and traffic impact were highlighted.

The report stated the T-junction at the intersection of Hutchinson/Airport Road and Riddoch Highway would need to be upgraded to a four-arm intersection.

This will include a reconfigured median strip in order to provide access from Hutchinson Road, which will need to be upgraded from an unsealed single-track road to an asphalt sealed two-way road.

According to the proposal there will be a B-Double turning in to the site every 12 minutes for 16 hours a day.

Mr Whicker said council’s works manager Adrian Schutz has considered the proposal and deemed the road reserve was of negligible strategic value to council.

“The benefit of the realignment outweighs any negative considerations for closing the portion of road reserve,” he said.

Mr Whicker said Altus has agreed, in principle, to council’s recommendation that any approval be subject to the condition that a right of way be granted to existing land holders who may be impacted by the realignment.

Meanwhile, council has calculated the value of the land.

“Council’s Disposal of Land and Other Assets Policy requires the purchase price to be calculated using the site value of the adjoining property,” Mr Whicker said.

“In this case the adjoining property has a value per hectare of $16,400.

“At a total of road reserve area of 17,185 square metres (1.7185 hectares), this would give the parcel a value of $28,183.”

Mr Whicker said discussions with a local real estate firm had indicated that farm land was generally achieving a sale price of around $16,000 – $22,000 per hectare.

“However, given the particular use and interested parties, they agree that $16,400 per hectare is a reasonable value for the parcel,” he said.

Mr Whicker said the purchasers would also be responsible for the costs of amalgamating the parcel into their existing Certificate of Title, including around $6000 – $10,000 of surveyor fees.

At council’s April meeting it was agreed Mr Whicker will seek a formal agreement with Altus Renewables for the transfer of road reserve at $28,183.

Wood Beca has been working with Altus since 2018 to progress the development of the project.

Altus aims to operate the facility around the clock, producing up to 300,000 tonnes of white wood pellets per annum.

According to Altus, once open, the plant will not only be the largest pellet manufacturing facility in Australia, it will also be the first of its kind to be completely powered by biomass.

This will enable the plant to be stand-alone and operate independently from the power grid using fully renewable fuel.