AU: Booming business call for red carpet over red tape
With only a single horticulture business currently exporting product overseas, council is looking for ways to encourage a local boom that it believes could drive commercial and population growth.
The secluded Mountain Blue Farms at Pretty Gully is at the epicentre of the blueberry industry in Australia and the only horticulture business in the Tenterfield shire that has openly targeted an Asian market.
Chief Executive of the Pretty Gully farm is Ridley Bell, considered by many as the godfather of the blueberry industry having worked on the earliest research project into the crop back in the 70’s.
Farm manager Ray vander Heijde runs the expansive crop on a day to day basis and agrees that swelling their own business and welcoming new ventures could lead to future growth for the area.
Mr Heijde said the dry humid conditions provided a perfect climate for growing blueberries and other similar products. “We’re set to undergo a lot of expansion – over the next 12 months we’ll be in the process of growing the business here,” he said.
With interests in Morocco, partners in the USA and a goal to provide Asia with a 12 month supply – the group are piecing together a global strategy.
With the number of employees varying at any given time, Mr Bell said accommodation would be one of the greatest hurdles in enticing more like-minded businesses to the area. “We need more accommodation – we try and employ locals but there aren’t enough and people don’t like driving distances,” Mr Bell said.
Mr Heijde said that roughly 75 per cent of staff were backpackers flowing in and out of the region. “We don’t want to be looking for council road blocks – they need to put out the red carpet, not red tape,” Mr Bell said.
Water security and increasing frosts were two other areas Mr Bell identified as being potential trouble areas. “Soils and water is a big thing that we are certainly taking seriously – we need secure water. With our frost machines it’s made it easier,” he said.
Mr Bell estimated they had 25 frosts this season as opposed to three last year and one before that.
On Monday Mr Bell held meetings at the Pretty Gully farm with Australian Macadamia Society CEO Jolyon Burnett. Mr Bell kept the purpose of the meeting close to his chest.
Council general manager Lotta Jackson said while they would welcome any prospective horticulture business into the shire, they were constrained in what they could do to help.
“Our role is to open up the community – we’ve done that with our LEP (Local Environment Plan). Our job is letting the community know what we have to offer – that’s council’s role, no more than that,” Ms Jackson said.
Source: tenterfieldstar.com.au
