Mountain Blue lodges DA that will move blueberry packing facility from Tabulam to Lismore
The $1.2 million project will see major changes to the way the company operates.
Lismore
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A $1.2 million project will see major changes to the way a local blueberry company operates.
Mountain Blue, which has farms at Lindendale and Tabulam, is a family-owned and operated company which has been around for more than 40 years.
Currently the fruit packing work is conducted "on farm" at Tabulam.
But in a major change, the business is planning to move the packing facility to an industrial building in Habib Drive at South Lismore.
A development application for alterations to the building has been lodged with Lismore City Council.
According to documents lodged by town planners Newton Denny Chapelle, the work would cost $1.2 million.
"The building will be used to pack and store blueberries," the report states.
"The fruit will be picked at the Tabulam farm and transported to the new South Lismore premises, where it will be packed and stored within cool rooms.
"The blueberries will then be transported via trucks to wholesale customers located nationally and internationally.
"There is no washing, drying, spraying, or chemical treatment proposed to be undertaken within the facility."
As part of the DA, cool rooms would be built on the ground flood and refrigeration units would be located externally on the east and west elevations.
Steel frames are to be constructed on the eastern side to raise the height of the units above the flood planning height.
The fruit-packing facility would operate from 7am until 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Staff numbers would vary seasonally, with a maximum of 40 workers on site at any one time.
"It is anticipated there will be on average, two to four semi-trailers and two rigid trucks for pick-ups and deliveries per day," the DA report states.
"The majority of deliveries will be fruit delivered from the Tabulam farm that will be scheduled so only one truck at a time will be at the site.
"Similarly, pick-ups will be scheduled so that only one vehicle at a time is on site."
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