Enterprises that have been waiting to throw their hat in the ring and purchase the training venue once known as the Longreach Pastoral College, and the land that goes with it, will be able to start the process from Monday, December 12.
That's when the open tender process, announced at the end of July, gets underway.
The 17,511ha site and its onsite campus is being offered in a range of configurations following numerous purchaser enquiries showing interest in a variety of different options to suit individual business needs.
The configurations include the whole property; the campus area only; grazing land south of the Landsborough Highway, excluding the campus; all land south of the Landsborough Highway (grazing land and campus area); grazing land north of the Landsborough Highway excluding the farming land parcels; and the improved farming land adjacent to the Thomson River.
Longreach agents Rural Property and Livestock, operated by Wally and Sally Cooper, have been appointed to market the property on behalf of the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and tender details will be available on the RPL website.
Tenders close on Thursday, February 9, 2023.
Agriculture Minister Mark Furner said regional community benefit would be one of the aims of the sale.
"The tender process will consider both the price offered and the proposed Longreach and regional community benefit component resulting from the acquisition and repurposing of the site," he said.
The decision to sell the Longreach property follows a decision by the Longreach Regional Council in late 2021 not to purchase the land and its buildings.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries engaged a probity advisor to provide support throughout the tender process.
AgForce sheep and wool representative Mike Pratt stressed the need for ongoing rural training at meetings with the department earlier in the year, seeking to ensure agricultural training would still have a place in any sale option.
He also said the government could earn itself a lot of 'brownie points' in the region by considering opportunities for independent living spaces for disabled residents in the process.
Mr Furner said the government was investing $9.75 million in training infrastructure for the agriculture sector across Queensland over the current and next financial years, including $3.4 million for an Agricultural Centre of Excellence in Bowen, $2 million for an Aquaculture Training Centre in Cannonvale, $3.35 million for a new Agriculture and Horticulture Centre in Bundaberg and $1 million for stage 2 of the Rural Centre of Excellence in Toowoomba.
Additionally, in the 2021-22 state budget, almost $76 million is allocated to RD&E activities through Agri-Science Queensland, supplemented by more than $69 million in investment from industry and other sources.
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Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
