Australia’s leading cotton planting seed and technology supplier, Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD) announces a $41m redevelopment plan of its Wee Waa processing plant in New South Wales. The site will get nearly 17,000 square metres of new warehouse space and a new laboratory, after receiving approval from Narrabri Shire Council and the JRPP.

The new plant is schedule for construction next January, with the plant to be operational for the 2018 processing season.

CSD chairman James Kahl said that the existing processing plant was able to meet the current needs of the industry; they need to be able to support the Australian cotton industry for at least the next 30 years.

They looked at various options for building a new plant, including relocating to a greenfield site, however their preferred option is to redevelop their current site at Wee Waa.

Upper Namoi Cotton Growers’ president Nat Grove said that the cotton industry had always been a forward thinking industry. A decision like this shows the money there is within the industry.

To have a world class lab set up in their backyard, and within middle of the cotton growing area, is going to be a real boon.

The benefit in breeding improvements is going to be a positive for the whole industry.

On top of the $41m investment for the infrastructure, CSD will invest a great deal more to install equipment in the new facilities over the next 18 months.

The Joint Regional Planning Panel, the body that assess regionally significant developments, said the development was “in the public interest” and would have “positive economic impacts for the community”.

Cotton production in the Wee Waa district generates approximately $140 million for the Australian economy, representing 34 million of the state's total production.