Gracemere Industrial Precinct
© SPIIRT of Regional Australia - 2013
Queensland’s newest industrial precinct near Rockhampton is being sort after by national firms, after the recent opening of a $50 million overpass funded by the Queensland State Government and Aurizon (QR National).
The overpass, which spans major rail lines, has paved the way for safe and easy road access for transport using the Gracemere Industrial Area and underpins its expanding role as a logistics hub for the region and the mining provinces to the west. The overpass, which commenced construction in February 2012, was officially opened on 24th May.
The Gracemere Industrial Area is already home to nearly 50 businesses including Pacific National and Leighton Contractors. Recent approvals by Local and State Governments have created an opportunity for the development of 1,100 hectares for additional industrial sites for new businesses to establish. The additional sites will cater for some fifteen years of growth.
Melbourne-based Gibb Group has secured a 25-hectare site at the entrance of the overpass on Somerset Road on the Capricorn Highway heading west from Rockhampton and has plans for a major industrial hub, already securing national transport firm Toll NQX as their anchor tenant.
Local property development company KPG (Kele Property Group) has also announced an $18 million industry hub and has secured Aurizon (QR National) as their anchor tenant.
Ironically, while the State’s coal mining sector seems to have eased back from the exponential growth of 18 months ago, the steady growth that still surrounds Rockhampton in the Bowen, Surat and Galilee Basins, teamed with the gas industry in nearby Gladstone, has well and truly secured the future for developing the Gracemere site.
The region’s peak economic development organisation, Capricorn Enterprise recently released its updated Major Project Status Report which reveals $159 Billion worth of projects underway or planned over the next decade in Central Queensland. That figure represented nearly a 10 per cent hike in the value of major projects underway and planned for the area since April 2011 and categories include Coal, Minerals, Energy, Rail, Road and Development.
Capricorn Enterprise CEO Mary Carroll said, "In 2009 we hit $100 Billion worth of projects for CQ, which grew in 2011 to $146 Billion. Now in 2013, despite recent downturns, we still have a massive $159 Billion worth of projects underway and planned for the next decade. CQ continues to be the economic powerhouse of the state."
