Federal Labor has promised to fund a multi-million-dollar agricultural hub at Parwan if it wins this weekend’s election.
Earlier this year, Moorabool chief executive Rob Croxford and mayor Allan Comrie pitched the Parwan employment precinct – with an expected 1200 jobs – to the federal government.
Land for the project has been identified, but the council needs federal support to get it going.
Ballarat MP Catherine King visited Parwan on Sunday to announce federal Labor would invest $1.5 million in the first stage, which includes an 8.4-kilometre gas pipeline to the Tilleys Road site.
The precinct could house abattoirs, bulk food distributors, saleyards and hydroponic glasshouses, and give Parwan and Moorabool a vitally needed jobs and economic boost.
Businesses currently at the site include a mushroom grower, a chicken farm, a quarantine facility and logistics depot.
“We want people to be able to stay, work and live within Bacchus Marsh and the Moorabool shire without having to commute as much,” Ms King said, adding the funding would be “immediately” released if Labor was elected, although she would not identify a timeline.
Moorabool council hopes extending the gas pipeline from South Maddingley Road to the new precinct will help businesses grow and encourage new ones or relocation.
East Moorabool ward councillor John Spain said council hoped the state government, local businesses and gas companies would come on board with the employment precinct.
“It’s important because it’s local jobs. Two- thirds of our workforce travel outside the shire, which means they’re away for 12 to 13 hours a day. They’re excluded socially.”
