Holcim and Hanson have been told they have one year to lodge development applications to relocate their Perth concrete batching plants to alternative sites.
The two companies currently have concrete batching plants in East Perth and have been given a deadline of December 2027 to physically relocate their operations by the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC). They had applied for seven-year extensions that were turned down by the government and were offered a reduced time frame to avoid impacting the market.
“The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage commissioned an independent report by consultancy firm Pracsys which found that closing the plants immediately could create short-term ‘price shocks’ in the concrete market which would impact major CBD construction projects,” the WAPC stated.
“Rather than support the seven-year extension the operators had applied for, the WAPC instead today approved half that period – three-and-a-half years – along with a time-bound series of conditions.”
The decision was handed down late last week with strict deadlines the plants’ operators must meet to progress relocation. These include both operators lodging a development application for an alternative site and reduce operating hours for the East Perth plants by 1 July 2025; a building permit must be lodged within six months of receiving DA approval at an alternative site; and by 31 December 2027 at the latest, the East Perth plants must cease operating but there are caveats in place to these conditions.
Improvement plans for the currently occupied area include revitalising the land after decommissioning the plants so that residential and commercial structures can be built due to the central location.
About the author
Desi Corbett
Desi is the Editor of Concrete in Australia and at the helm of our magazine for 8 years. She was behind the Institute's weekly news bulletins from 2016-2021 and is now writing our focused news items. Desi has been an engineering news and features journalist/editor across all disciplines since 2013 - part of a 30-year career writing for a wide range of industries.