The farmer, who has a successful business manufacturing compost and packaging garden products including mulch and potting mixes from sugarcane, said while his land was not for sale, as a business owner in the district and a local sugarcane farmer, he welcomed the opportunity to investigate any future uses for the area.
“The sugarcane farming side of our business is not doing as well,” Keith said.
“We have a sugar mill that only crushed 30 per cent of our crop last year due to problems with the neighbouring co-generation plant and then a fire in the mill. The future of the mill is very uncertain and what we all desire here in this area is certainty about the future,” he said.
“We would be happy to keep growing cane for at least another, 20 years but if we cannot crush our cane then what is the point?”
The estimated billion dollar parcel of farmland that could be up for sale is located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast and represents the interests of 40 cane growers in the region. The land in question covers a combined area of 6117 hectares and has attracted the attention of property developers from China and the Middle East who have put forward plans for a new city on the site complete with housing, theme parks, hospitals and schools.
The proposed deal, which has the support of the majority of sugarcane growers in the region, cannot proceed until the Queensland Government rezones the farmland for urban development, a process that could take up to five years.
Canford Property Group managing director Roland Evans told ABC Rural the tract of land was a very important piece of the jigsaw in closing up the area between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
The property group who is managing the sale on behalf of the 40 farmers who have decided to sell their land as one parcel, said investors were prepared to take a punt on the land prior to zoning approval, as long as there was a favourable indication from local, state and federal governments.
"We are estimating their due diligence cost will be in and around the $35 million figure. They have a lot of work to do very quickly to be able to work out what they can and can't do," Mr Evans said.
Canford has reportedly held meetings at the highest level with the local and state governments, and has met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo.
"All of which have been very supportive of the right outcome for the land, so we haven't had anybody tell us we can't do this,” he said.
The land is currently set aside for rural use only under the South East Queensland Regional Plan and could stay that way for the next 25 years if a draft update to the planning document remains unchanged. If successful in clearing rezoning and foreign investment hurdles the sale will be Australia’s most expensive agricultural land acquisition.
"The land acquisition itself is in excess of a billion dollars but the total investment will be several billion," Mr Evans said.
But Keith warned any development in the area will have huge obstacles to address.
“Our business will always continue to operate here. We will just have to source sugarcane mulch from other cane growing regions which we are already currently doing,” he said.
