Minister welcomes passage of Wesbeam State Agreement

27/9/02
State Development Minister Clive Brown today welcomed the passage of the Wesbeam State Agreement Act through the State Parliament, clearing the way for the establishment of a new $80million plantation-timber manufacturing plant at the Neerabup Industrial Estate and the creation of 140 jobs in Perth's northern suburbs.
The facility will produce about 100,000 cubic metres of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) board, plywood and veneer each year, which will be used as a substitute for building products currently produced from hardwood timber from the State's South-West.
Pine logs, predominantly from the Gnangara Forest, will be supplied to Wesbeam under a 25-year contract with the Forest Products Commission.
"This is an exciting time for the plantation timber industry in Western Australia," Mr Brown said.
"With the State Government's decision to end logging in old growth forests, a demand has been created for a sustainable substitute, and the Wesbeam agreement will deliver just that."
Laminated veneer lumber is a high-value engineered wood product made from plantation pine timber. Pine logs are peeled into veneers and glued together to form thick sheets of reinforced lumber to produce LVL, a substitute for old growth hardwood timber.
Laminated timber veneer lumber has been successfully used in heavy structural engineering applications such as roof structures and other weight-bearing beams.
Mr Brown said clearing the pines would also reduce pressure on the Gnangara Mound, one of Perth's most valuable water resources. The LVL project was expected to result in the eventual clear felling of the Gnangara pine plantation, which would increase recharge to the Gnangara aquifer by about 36 gigalitres a year.
He said that, while he was delighted at the passage of the agreement Act, he was puzzled at the decision by the Greens (WA) to vote against the Wesbeam LVL development.
"The Wesbeam project is a great example of a project with significant triple bottom line benefits," Mr Brown said.
"The project will create 140 jobs, create sustainable substitutes for products currently produced from our native hardwoods, return 36 gigalitres a year to the Gnangara aquifer and see the return of the Gnangara Forest to natural vegetation.
"I would have thought this was a project Greens MLCs could find no reason to oppose?"

Minister's office: 9222 9699