Pemberton Chamber of Commerce president and shire councillor to write to Premier about mill site future

A business leader and shire councillor will write to Premier Roger Cook for clarity on the Pemberton Mill site, with concerns the State Government’s intentions are not clear. The Pemberton Mill site has been cleared of the former mill, which burned down two years ago. However, Pemberton Chamber of Commerce and Industry president and Manjimup shire councillor Paul Omodei said what was to happen next was unclear. He said despite a prior commitment from Parkside Timber to update him and the Pemberton community, he had not received any information. “The Shire is seeking advice from Parkside, (and) I did approach Parkside and they gave a commitment that they’d let us know what is happening,” Mr Omodei said. “That hasn’t happened so far, so now I think it’s time the Government made their intentions clear on what their intentions are for the Pemberton Mill site. “It’s undeniable that Pemberton has a rich history in the timber industry going back to the beginning of the settlement, and that needs to be commemorated in a substantial way, which is why I’m writing to the Premier. “We believe the Government (through the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage) owns that site and it’s leased to Parkside, and we would like to see something that would be commensurate with the history of the timber industry (in Pemberton).” Mr Omodei said the site could be redeveloped into a light industrial area, which Pemberton did not currently have. “The site is quite a large site and it’s in the middle of town, and it needs some natural thinking about something innovative that has a historical aspect on it,” he said. “People are asking about the status of contamination on the site, what Parkside and the authorities are doing about that on the site, and we need to be able to advise them, as the chamber, along with the (shire) council. “The asbestos has been sent away to the refuse site, but there’s the rest of the buildings, and we need to establish who is responsible for the clean-up of the site. “It seems to have taken an inordinate amount of time for us to make some progress there.” A DPLH spokesperson said Mr Omodei was “well aware” of the structure of ownership between Parkside and the department. “Parkside holds the lease over the site and any future discussions on an alternate land use for the site will require consultation with DPLH and the shire of Manjimup,” the spokesperson said. “Demolition of the fire-damaged building at the Pemberton Mill site has been completed under the management of Parkside, as the lessee.” The DPLH has also assisted in progressing preliminary environmental investigation works.