Gympie Saleyards at centre of Gympie council, Aurizon deal

A five-year deal is in the works between the Gympie council and freight operator Aurizon as part of a push to keep cattle rail services sustainable

Gympie’s Saleyards are at the centre of an expected deal between the council and Aurizon to keep cattle rail services sustainable.

Gympie’s Saleyards are primed to become a rail transport hub for cattle headed into the region as part of a deal expected to be struck between Gympie Regional Council and freight operator Aurizon.

Under the proposed deal, which will be put to councillors at Wednesday’s meeting, about 440 head of cattle will be moved through the yards every week.

The cattle will then be moved on to their final destinations by truck.

Aurizon has proposed bringing 20 rail wagons of cattle in every week; the council is suggesting a minimum weekly payment of $1132 from the freight company to cover staffing costs, totalling almost $300,000 over the proposed 5-year length of the deal.

They will be brought in on Tuesday and Friday evenings, and trucked out of the Saleyards on Wednesday and Saturday mornings by B-doubles.

Anything more than this would be too much for the region’s roads around the yards to cope, the report says.

“Any larger scale transporting facility would not be advisable without further … consultation, traffic impact studies and network improvements to cater for such an increase,” it says.

Originally published as Gympie Saleyards at centre of Gympie council, Aurizon deal