This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PORT Kembla Copper (PKC) is offloading the former smelter site at in Port Kembla, on the NSW South Coast, following 20 years and more than $40 million of investigation, remediation and demolition works to make the site usable.
Funds from the sale of the 21.77-hectare Military Road site – one of Port Kembla’s largest industrial development sites – will go towards rehabilitating around 300 nearby homes affected by toxic heavy metals.
“We have gone through a long process with the EPA and now have an agreement in-principle that we will divert a proportion of the sales revenue towards remediation of off-site contaminated properties. Hence why we have placed the property on the market now,” PKC executive advisor Ian Wilson told Australian Property Journal.
He said PKC will continue to focus on its testing and remediation program in residential areas of Port Kembla, which will “ensure nearby properties affected by historic smelting activity are remediated using best practice methods, overseen by environmental experts”.
PKC operated the smelter from 2000 until its closure in 2003, ending nearly 100 years of smelting activity at the site, predominantly undertaken by other companies.
The site was famous for its 198-metre-high copper smelter stack, which was demolished in 2014 after numerous reprieves. Wollongong City Council had claimed the stack held heritage significance, and also held concerns that demolition would lead to asbestos contamination.
Since closing the smelter, PKC has undertaken investigation, remediation and demolition works on the site which were reviewed and approved by independent experts and regulated by the EPA. PKC has also been working on a voluntary basis with the NSW EPA, NSW Health, Wollongong City Council and an independent expert NSW EPA-accredited site auditor to assess and manage off-site soil and dust contamination that may be related to airborne emissions from historical smelter operations.
The site is zoned for industrial use, and is split over three lots with large road frontages and proximity to one of Australia’s major ports.
Wilson said the site had been remediated to be suitable for a variety of industrial and commercial uses, providing “a strategically rare and substantial site offering genuine scale and development opportunities for future occupiers or developers”.
Port Kembla is an international trade gateway for bulk agricultural, construction and mining industries, is NSW’s motor vehicle import hub and home to the state’s largest grain export terminal.
The site also offers deep-water access to Port Kembla’s outer harbour, Port Kembla train Station, the Princess Highway and M1 Motorway.
Tim Jones and Travis Machan of MMJ Wollongong along with Jason Edge and Tom Rourke of CBRE are the marketing agents.
Jones described the site as “one of the most significant industrial properties in the state”.
“Our expectation is that we will be working with enquiries from a local level, right through to an international level because it is such a unique offering,” Edge said.
Expressions of interest for close Thursday, September 12th.
