$500m investment a boost for business

GERALDTON is on the cusp of benefiting from more than $500 million in investment, rebounding strongly after several years of sluggish activity.

Admittedly, the bulk of that spending has come from the State Government, but there are signs that local investment is growing.

With that investment, confidence is returning to the local business scene and plans are in place to add tourism as another arm to Geraldton’s agriculture, fishing and mining economic base.

There also are plans to make Geraldton a hub for the mining industry, utilising the newly deepened port, the town’s lifestyle benefits, and the recently completed sealing of the Mt Magnet to Leinster road.

The town is experiencing a real estate boom and a project is under way to make better use of its foreshore.

Talk abounds of real estate investors from the eastern States hitting town in search of well-priced ocean-front real estate.

Alternative industries such as pearl and yellow fin tuna farming are starting to emerge, to bolster the traditional powerhouse western rock lobster fishery.

The strong winds that have led to the affectionate labelling of Geraldton as the ‘windy city’ have also brought $200 million to the area, with work to start on a windfarm, the electricity from which will be sold by Alinta.

Most business people in Geraldton agree that the town has been in the doldrums for several years. One of the main contributors to that malaise was the collapse of Kingstream, a project many business people thought would bring widespread investment and prosperity to a town that had traditionally relied on agriculture and fishing as its mainstays.

While Kingstream may be gone, Mt Gibson Iron Ore and the Midwest Corporation have brought iron ore mining back to the forefront.

Both companies also have plans for downstream processing, just as Kingstream did.

Mt Gibson is already exporting iron ore through the newly deepened Geraldton Port.

That $100 million port expansion, which is close to completion, is widely seen as a catalyst for the economic rebirth of Geraldton.

Geraldton City Council CEO Rob Jefferies said the council hoped to make tourism another major economic earner.

The $24 million foreshore redevelopment is one of the key parts of that tourism push.

It ties in with the $88 million Southern Transport Corridor project due to start next week. That project will result in the removal of the railway line that has cut Geraldton off from its foreshore.

The sealing of the Mt Magnet to Leinster road has already brought tourist benefits because it provides an alternate route to the Mid-West for eastern States tourists.

Mr Jefferies also chairs a working group that is promoting Geraldton as a mining hub.

The other working groups are concentrating on making Geraldton a fly-in fly-out hub, a supply and service centre, and a skills base for resource companies.

Mining company Golden Grove already uses the town as a fly-in fly-out hub.

Diab Engineering and JG Engineering carry out a lot of mining service work already and there is scope for other local businesses to follow their lead.

Westnet and Marketing Creations have also emerged as strong businesses from Geraldton.

Marketing Creations designed and operated the Skywest website through a difficult operating period for the airline. It is also behind the Ocean to Outback website, which has been nominated for a WA Internet Award.

Westnet has its main office in Perth these days but is still acting as one of the main Internet service providers to the Mid-West.

The town is experiencing a real estate boom and a project is under way to make better use of its foreshore.