Exciting opportunity to rethink

By Tony Rayner, Longreach Mayor

The sale of the Longreach Pastoral College was inevitable once the decision to close the college was made in 2019. It is an exciting time to repurpose the college over the next few years.

The new owners will have a mix of business development, which should include using the college for its original purpose of training students for the agricultural sector. It is fit for function and can also be used for training in all sectors where there is demand, specifically hospitality and tourism. There are multiple other uses for the college, including commercial development for accommodation and industrial uses. A fully-operating small abattoir is in place to provide fresh sheep and beef to local outlets and restaurants. This facility also has the capability to be expanded.

The Longreach Pastoral College opened in 1967 and provided practical training for young students interested in a career in the livestock sector. The demand for this training has resurfaced due to a critical shortage of skilled workers and there is a genuine demand for short-course training, which could develop into longer accredited courses in both agriculture and hospitality, as well as other sectors.

The five agricultural colleges in Queensland all had reduced enrolments over the past 20 years due to a mix of reasons, including fewer sheep numbers and long-term drought. Some large pastoral companies now do their own training. The best outcome was repurposing the college through private commercial acquisition to allow the opportunity to use the asset for multiple purposes.

The closure of the colleges did contribute to a shortage of training venues for the agricultural sector, as well as a lack of skilled workers and an economic loss for each community where the colleges were located.

Longreach reluctantly understood the necessity of the sale but wanted it to be conditional to the successful tenderer including community benefits in multiple uses of the college including training and education, as well as other community benefits.

The potential is there for the new owners to deliver on their stated proposals in their submissions for the benefit of the town, region and state, as well as creating a modern business model that is both sustainable and beneficial for our agricultural and tourism sectors.