THE Bowen Pipeline Company has had confirmation from the Queensland Government that its formal approval process can proceed, after the Ministerial Planning Application was lodged.
This small but significant step forward from the new LNP Government is warmly welcomed as a show of faith in the project, and the agriculture sector in and around Bowen, Project Director Sean Brown said.
The Bowen Pipeline Project is a 182km underground water pipeline starting 16km upstream from Home Hill (at the Burdekin River) and moving south to Bowen.
The project will allow for the creation of a reliable, secure water supply to the Bowen and Gumlu area, which produces 1/5th of Australia’s vegetables and is the country’s largest winter vegetable growing area.
Currently, the area grows more than 250 million kilograms of fruit and vegetables, each year, with a gate value of more than $650 million.
The Bowen Pipeline Project has 40 grower and industry investors who have, to date, invested about $2.5 million.
The project has also received a Commonwealth Grant for $5 million for engineering and design.
Most investors are growers, business owners and individual residents in the Bowen and Burdekin Regions, and project equity holders include the Juru People, who together with the Bindal People, form a cornerstone of the project.
Project Director Sean Brown said the project was on track to achieve the timeline of soil turning by Quarter Four this year.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Queensland Government and Sunwater to progress our approvals process and we hope to be able to finalise our approvals by Quarter Three 2025 and then progress to local council permitting,” Mr Brown said.
“It is unfortunate that the process was held up for so long, having initially lodged the application in March 2023, however, this show of leadership from the Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie MP will mean that we are well positioned to achieve our timeline of soil turning by Quarter Four 2025.”
Jarrod Bleijie MP is also the Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations.
“We want to take this opportunity to thank our broad range of supporters and stakeholders for their ongoing patience and faith in the project,” Mr Brown said.
“Like us, our supporters want to see North Queensland develop as a commercial and industrial hub and our project will deliver significant economic benefits during construction and operation.
“During construction, the Port of Townsville will receive 2,500 containers of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pellets for the onsite construction of the water pipeline and, when operational, the water will allow the export of 5,000 to 10,000 containers of produce out from the Port of Townsville.
“The project will create yearly economic gain of $300 million for North Queensland, 200 jobs during construction and 1,200 when operational.
“This excludes the potential ammonia (fertiliser), methanol and hydrogen projects that are being developed and funded by the South Koreans, Japanese and Australian companies, in the State Development Area.”
Supporters of the project include Indigenous Elders, business owners, farmers and growers, community leaders and residents.
