Major abattoir Beef City approved by Toowoomba Regional Council for freezer expansion

The Toowoomba Regional Council has approved plans by a major meat processing facility to expand its storage capacity.

JBS Beef City.

A major beef abattoir just outside Toowoomba has been approved by the council for what appears to be its first significant expansion in more than a decade.

Beef City, which is owned by JBS Australia, earned the green light last week from the Toowoomba Regional Council’s planning department to extend its facility along Cockburn Road at Purrawunda.

The expansion to the northwest corner of the abattoir was to add new plate freezers to the facility, adding an extra 195 sqm to the site’s gross floor area.

The applicant argued the “minor change” to its 2008 approval for an extension was due to “the need for additional meat storage on site”.

“The proposed extension will be of a size and style in keeping with the existing facility,” town planner Andrew McLean said in his letter to the council.

Plate freezers, which consist of large banks of horizontal freezing plates positioned within a steel frame, are used by virtually all major meat producers, including JBS.

According to industry reports, plate freezers cost millions to buy and install, but are more efficient than conventional blast freezing tunnels.

The facility will also move a giant storage container currently on-site, demolish an existing stand-alone store, and move nine car park spaces around to cater for the extension.

TRC planning officer Geoff Broadbent recommended the minor change be approved.

“The proposed development is considered to achieve compliance with the applicable assessment benchmarks,” he said in his assessment report.

“On this basis, the proposed development is recommended for approval subject to the conditions in the recommendation.”