Steven Miles has superseded the Ipswich City Council over approval of the $50 million Wanless recycling park and landfill site.
Wanless waste management sought to construct a resource recovery and recycling precinct in Ebenezer, 60km south-west of Brisbane, before the local council rejected aspects of the application in September 2021.
But the Planning Minister has taken advice from the Planning Department to “call in” the Wanless proposal on the grounds there are several state interests of economic, environmental and regional planning to consider.
“The call-in enables state agencies to do a thorough evaluation of the project,” Miles said.
“The call-in requires Wanless to demonstrate its facility will support the state’s goal of reducing waste to landfill and increasing reuse and recycling and that the project can only be economically viable if all elements of the facility are approved.
“The call-in will allow the project to be considered in light of the Council of Mayors SEQ Waste Management Plan 2021, finalisation of the review of the waste levy, and the temporary local planning instrument.”
The reappraisal will also consider the Federal Government’s inland rail project and its land requirements as they become known around mid-2022.
Wanless hopes the project will create 300 jobs during construction and employ about 50 staff.
The Wanless website has described the proposed precinct as a resource recovery hub that will evolve as technologies emerge.
“The company’s vision is to transform this degraded site into a productive precinct that generates employment and training opportunities for the local community,” Wanless stated.
“This is a model they have tried and tested at Sydney Recycling Park, where up to 80 per cent of waste is now diverted from landfill.”
The precinct’s original proposal expected one million tonnes of waste would be processed with up to 45 per cent of it recovered and recycled.
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