Ipswich dog kennels to pave way for greyhound industry hub despite 6000 submissions against it

The state’s greyhound industry is set to take off west of Brisbane with tentative approval for new dog breeding kennels to be built near the state’s $39 million greyhound track, The Q.

The Q is Queensland Racing’s newest greyhound track, which is set to open in Ipswich next year. Picture: Queensland Racing

A greyhound breeding facility for 125 dogs and puppies will be built at Ipswich despite animal welfare groups’ outrage over the plans which generated a staggering 6200 submissions.

Ipswich City Council gave preliminary approval to Snow Catton’s application for the greyhound dog breeding and training facility, which will be built on Ipswich Boonah Rd at Purga, eight kilometres from the state government’s state-of-the-art $39 million greyhound track, The Q, due to open next year.

The greyhound facility will feature 103 kennels with attached dog runs, six pup yards, two exercise yards, a 200m running track for onsite dog training, a 12m bullring, and four parking spaces.

Its approval is likely to pave the way for more animal husbandry applications in the area, expected to grow as a centre for the greyhound industry.

Thousands of international animal rights activists lobbied the council, claiming the facility would put animals’ lives at risk.

The proposed greyhound breeding facility will be 8km from The Q and will pave the way for a greyhound precinct at Ipswich. Picture: Google

However, the council was able to grant tentative approval after the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission reviewed all submissions and advised that it had addressed all concerns in the submissions and that the council was not the assessable authority for animal welfare.

The integrity commission will play a pivotal role in overseeing the facility’s operations, including monitoring animal welfare practices.

It will have the authority to inspect the facility at any time to ensure compliance with welfare standards and to manage the number of dogs on-site, which is capped at 125 adult dogs.

The council received 57 submissions from Ipswich residents, with the main concerns about the potential for noise from dogs barking and the environmental impact on local wildlife, particularly koalas.

The proposed site spans 22ha, with the facilities occupying about 5 per cent of the land.

To mitigate noise, a 1.8m acoustic fence will be built around the kennels and restrictions will include limiting operations to between 7am and 6pm along with capping the number of greyhounds outside at any one time to 40.

Construction at The Q at Ipswich, near the proposed greyhound breeding kennels. Picture: Contributed

The kennels must also be at least 50m from documented koala habitat, to meet strict Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act regulations with some adjustments already made to the site of the exercise yard.

Despite the strict controls and the role of the integrity commission, there remained concerns about the adequacy of the noise impact assessments and the lack of local council control over animal welfare.

Mayor Teresa Harding raised her concerns about gambling, property values being decreased and the lack of council control over regulating animal welfare.

Ipswich is set to become the new home for greyhound racing in Queensland. Picture: Contributed

Officers told her environmental health and safety officers and the council would still issue licences for the commercial kennels and breeding facilities, but would have no direct control over breaches of animal welfare.

“We’re satisfied that the proposal can meet the acoustic criteria with the mitigations in place, that’s where we can move forward,” an officer said.

“Even if the report isn’t perfect, it might be 90 per cent of the way there,” he said.

The matter will be brought before the full council to vote on next week.