CBH Group acquires land in Avon Industrial Park for Meenaar site

The CBH Group has acquired 105 hectares in the Avon Industrial Park to secure the future of the Meenaar receival site for the increasing grain deliveries in the area.

Currently used as a temporary grain storage site to cater for last year’s record harvest and this year’s significant crop, Meenaar will be converted into permanent storage.

Meenaar currently consists of four temporary open bulkheads, sample hut, mobile weighbridge and Drive Over Grid (DOG), with approval to build a further five temporary open bulkheads for harvest this year, bringing total storage of 374,660 tonnes.

CBH Chief Executive Officer Ben Macnamara said the Avon Industrial Park is in a strategic location and the Meenaar site supplements the nearby Avon receival site and surrounding sites in the Kwinana South catchment area.

“CBH is pleased to have made this investment and is looking forward to working with DevelopmentWA and the Wheatbelt Development Commission to develop the site and bring economic benefits to regional communities,” Mr Macnamara said.

“The additional grain storage at Meenaar takes the pressure off neighbouring sites and provides benefits for the network and all growers. This large site will future proof the potential to cater for long term growth in the region.

“We have plans to develop a large, long-term site for grain receivals, which will include permanent storage with fixed inloading infrastructure, a permanent sample hut and weighbridge, and rail outloading infrastructure, subject to approvals.”

The Meenaar site is one of 11 CBH sites to receive a portion of the $200 million of funds from State and Federal Governments through the Agricultural Supply Chain Initiative (ASCI). The Government funding contribution will go towards constructing new and extending existing rail sidings which will further improve outloading to deliver more tonnes to port and on to customers.

“We are pleased to see the State and Federal Governments support and fund critical transport infrastructure, which will help revitalise regional economies and enable Western Australian agricultural produce to reach export markets more efficiently," Mr Macnamara said.

“We are looking forward to continuing working with all stakeholders and delivering these Package 1 projects, and developing other ASCI packages in the future.

“Further development of CBH’s Meenaar site is part of the co-operative’s $4 billion investment in the network over the next 10 years to improve our supply chain’s capacity and associated infrastructure.

“Our goal is to increase monthly export capacity from to 3 million tonnes by 2033, when we celebrate the co-operative’s centenary. This elevated level of investment in our network is needed to match the pace with the increasing crop size produced by WA growers and meet export market demand.”