United Malt Group has unveiled plans for a $70 million upgrade of its Welshpool processing facility.
The City of Canning has recommended the Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel approve the proposal when it meets early next week, subject to a suite of conditions prior to obtaining a building permit, including the submission of plans for landscaping, odour management and parking.
The proposal would involve the demolition of the existing 43-year-old facility at the 43,700 square metre site at McDowell Street in order to build new kilns, more than 20 silos, germination vessels, and cleaning facilities.
The company has also confirmed plans to build a new wastewater treatment facility in Forrestfield, capable of recycling up to 50 per cent of the inflow water back into the malting operations.
With the kilns set to be constructed within the proposed flight corridors of Perth Airport’s new runway, the proponent has been asked to provide an assessment of the plume exit velocity to ensure site operations will not pose a risk to aircraft.
The construction of the new facility would be carried out in three stages over a five-year period in order to ensure operations could continue, with the company hoping to begin construction this month.
United Malt Group owned entity Barrett Burston Malting has been delivering malted barley for more than a century, with three sites across Australia, more than 100 employees and an annual production capacity of 240,000 tonnes.
The company was previously part of GrainCorp before its demerger into two ASX-listed companies last year; GrainCorp and United Malt Group.
GrainCorp acquired malt producer Kirin Australia, which owned the Welshpool asset, from Japan's Kirin Brewery back in 2011 for $10.5 million.
