Albany developing a fine balance

There's an excitement in the air around Albany even the cold winter wind that whips off the Southern Ocean can’t diminish.

Things are really happening in this town, once famous for whaling but now promoted as a whale-watching destination.

Freight trucks roll through town on their way to and from the port, construction work is under way in both the town centre and around the business district, and locals are brimming with excitement over their property prices and the amount of investment coming into the area.

Albany is reaping the benefits of many things. An influx of people chasing a sea-change lifestyle, increased attention from the State Government, and not least from the timber plantation industry, which is in the early stages of a 10-year upswing, driving jobs, investment, exports and growth in the town.

And the list doesn’t stop there.

Grange Resources has announced a $13 million feasibility study to mine magnetite ore 90 kilometres north-east of Albany, expected to be completed by the end of this year.

If the project goes ahead, port expansion will be necessary and new berths created to cater for the magnetite ore, which would be mined at a rate of 17.8 million tonnes a year and transported to the port through a slurry pipeline.

Also at the port, CBH is in the process of a $90 million upgrade, creating additional silos and upgrading facilities around the terminal.

WA Business News last week reported that Lignor Limited is a step closer to developing a $200 million engineered lumber plant at Albany, after completing a $5 million capital raising.

The capital raising comes after five years of preparatory work and $3.3 million of research and testing by the privately owned company.

Lignor has recently agreed to acquire a 26-hectare site in Landcorp’s Mirambeena industrial estate, just north of Albany, where the Japanese-owned Albany Plantation Forest Company of Australia (APFC) operates a woodchip mill.

The APFC mill is also currently being utilised by Great Southern Plantations on a contractual basis, while the two companies are producing smaller volumes of timber in their formative years in Albany.

Great Southern acknowledges the APFC mill will be unable to cope with volumes once harvest levels become significant over the coming years.

A representative from Great Southern Plantations said a site near the APFC may be used for either an expansion of the APFC mill or for construction of a new Great Southern chip mill, at a cost of around $15 million.

Also mooted for the Mirambeena industrial estate is the Great Southern Bio-Energy project, which involves Beacons Consulting International’s plan for two 36 megawatt biomass-fuelled power stations at a cost of between $70 million and $80 million each. 

The plants also propose to filtrate water to a potable state and utilise by-products to produce activated carbon fertilisers.

But the development in Albany isn’t just industrial.

The State Government recently committed more than $40 million to a waterfront development that will include an entertainment and convention centre.

Economic analysis indicates the development, a LandCorp project, will generate close to $400 million for the Albany region through to 2020.

Retirement villages are also taking an active interest in Albany, with Kingopen Pty Ltd developing a $52 million lifestyle retirement village, neighbourhood shopping centre, bulky goods showroom and service station, and RAAFA currently developing a $17 million lifestyle village.

And with a 34 per cent increase in median house price in the past year, to $255,000, buyers are flocking to Albany.

Merrifield Real Estate managing director Kevin Marshall said there had been an influx of investors from Perth and overseas, as well as those looking to buy and move to the town.

“People from overseas are buying properties without even seeing them, and there is just a real shortage of supply,” Mr Marshall said.

“The blue gum industry coming to town has been fantastic, and will really put us on the map in 15 to 20 years. Otherwise we probably would remain a tourism and retirement town.”

He said a lot of farmers were leasing their land to plantations and receiving excellent returns.

Another project, Timber 2020, a partnership between the federal and state governments and the plantation industry, aims to triple plantation estate timber by 2020.

Executive officer Julia Levinson said the annual payroll of the industry was $40 million, which would increase with the harvest volume and addition of value adding.

“The plantation industry here is leading the way when it comes to processing and exporting,” Ms Levinson said.

But the rapid growth in the plantation industry brings problems of its own, with road infrastructure and port access among the contentious issues facing the city.

Former chairman of the Lotteries Commission and director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for 10 years, Lloyd Stewart, has recently traded life in Perth for a quieter existence in Albany.

“I have been a part of St Georges Terrace for so long I just wanted to take control of my diary, and now I can’t imagine living anywhere else, it’s just fantastic,” Mr Stewart said.

As the first settlement in Western Australia, it is important Albany’s heritage is maintained, according to city CEO Andrew Hammond.

“There are a lot of major projects happening right now and the challenge we face as a planning authority is to retain Albany’s sense of place and maintain the fabric that makes us unique, while facilitating development,” Mr Hammond said.

Prominent Perth town planner Patrick De Villers has been engaged by the city to run an architectural forum and develop guidelines for buildings in Albany that are complementary to its unique history.

Mr Hammond said the balance between community and industry was often a fine one.

“There really is a genuine love of the city by the residents, and we have taken the view that if there is quality civic infrastructure and a positive environment for investment, things will work out well,” he said.