Company plans to close the location by December 2022, but license is set to expire this year
Ingham’s Group has applied to renew its feed mill license in Wanneroo, Western Australia, but city officials are seeking input from the public first, according to a report.
Perth Now reported that Ingham’s existing license will expire on October 7. The company said it still plans to close the feed mill and hatchery at the location by December 2022, even though plans to build a new feed mill in Muchea were blocked by the Supreme Court in 2020. The company has since made alternative arrangements for pelleting operations, and the city said that if the license were renewed, it would be set to expire in December 2022.
When the company announced its plans for the Muchea feed mill in 2017, Chief Commercial Officer Quinton Hildebrand said the new investments of more than AUD70 million (US$54.2 million) would contribute to the company’s strategy to expand its farming, feed milling and processing volumes in Western Australia over three years.
The Wanneroo Department of Water and Environmental Regulation will accept feedback on the renewal application until April 21.
Locals have raised concerns about odor and noise from the facility, although Planning and Sustainability Director Mark Dickinson said the city has not received complaints about the odor since 2019, when the poultry barns at the location were closed. Ingham’s still has hatchery operations at the site, the report said, which it has plans to relocate to a AUD20 million (US$15.5 million) facility under construction in Muckenburra that would accommodate up to 1.5 million day-old chicks and create 20 jobs.
According to Feed Strategy’s Top Companies database, Inghams Enterprises Pty. Ltd. is one of Australia’s largest producers of poultry meat. Ingham Feeds & Nutrition is the company’s feed division, and has 12 feed mills that produced 1 million metric tons of feed in 2019.
Jim Leighton stepped down as the company’s CEO, effective March 29, and Andrew Reeves was selected to be his replacement.
