The Longreach Pastoral College.

PLANS for a community and business-backed bid to buy the Longreach Pastoral College and farm will be outlined at a public meeting in the central Queensland town this week.

The AAM Investment Group (AAM) is coordinating a Queensland agricultural consortium aiming to gain private control of the land and infrastructure assets of the former Longreach Pastoral College.

The college is owned by the Queensland Government and is currently for sale, with tenders through sale agents Jones Lang Lasalle closing on 23 February at 4pm.

At the Longreach Council Chambers from 6:30pm, Thursday 16 February AAM managing director, Garry Edwards, and members of AAM’s management team, will hold a community consultation session with interested local community members and key stakeholders on proposed plans for the site. The aim is to submit a formal tender for the facility.

On Friday 17 February, AAM representatives will be available in Longreach for further discussions with interested parties who wish to be actively and financially involved with this project.

Mr Edwards said he was committed to ensuring the former college was reinstated as a key source of knowledge sharing and skills development for the pastoral industries, as well as a hub for the local community and businesses to access and utilise. The consortium’s tender is expected to include the entire 17,511 hectares of land including Rosebank Station adjoining the college site, modern classroom and accommodation facilities and other practical agricultural infrastructure.

Mr Edwards said the tender would be made on behalf of the red meat and wool industries. He the current collaboration was intent on getting control of the asset after which industry sectors would be approached to determine what courses and activities would be undertaken.

He said the current collaborators are private companies and corporations involved in the meat and livestock sector who have expressed an interest to be involved because of the need to educate the sector’s future workforce and management.

“It’s not just about acquiring the asset, it’s about bringing it back to life.”

Mr Edwards said although the tender process was unrestricted, “ultimately we would hope that the government would see the community and industry benefit of having it kept for agricultural purposes.”

“We would hope that with the bid that we are going to put in that the government would see the ultimate benefit of it and work with us a bit.”

He said when Longreach Pastoral College was closed in 2019 it highlighted a major problem in Queensland in the need for modernisation and relevance of agricultural training.

“Losing facilities like this leaves a gaping hole in the state’s capacity to develop the skills of the workforce required by Australia’s thriving farm sector and took away what had, for more than half a century, been part of the lifeblood of the Longreach community,” Mr Edwards said.

“As part of our collective vision, the companies involved in the private consortium believe that the Longreach Pastoral College can be rejuvenated to become a trustworthy, viable and intergenerational learning centre, not unlike the renowned Marcus Oldham College in Victoria, offering a range of certified educational and training courses, whilst incorporating local tourism activities and educational activities for primary and high school students who don’t have the chance for exposure to regional Australia and our agricultural industries.

“We also see the site potentially being used for tertiary learning, veterinary studies and Research and Development, possibly in collaboration with Research and Development Corporations and industry groups, to become a source of employment, relevance and opportunity for all of Western Queensland,” he said.

“Australian agriculture is flourishing and rapidly evolving to be a sector that requires a vast diversity of skills and knowledge. We want to help be part of a solution that will meet this need, while ensuring a site, that has a legacy of education dating back generations, is used for its highest and best purpose.”

The public consultation meeting is open to all interested stakeholders and will be held at the Longreach Council Chambers from 6:30pm, Thursday February 16.

Email [email protected] to register your interest to participate in the public consultation event and note your interest in participating in the future of the Longreach Pastoral College.