The derelict wasteland of the former Gunns sawmill in Scottsdale has been given a new lease of life by the local community. Source: The Examiner
The once thriving mill employed 180 people in its heyday, but after the turn of the millennium, the apparent downturn of the forestry industry spelt the end for the site, or so it seemed.
When Gunns went into receivership, the mill was gutted, with everything, down to the wiring, ripped out.
It was a time when the town had the highest unemployment rate in Tasmania, and Scottsdale appeared to be in wind down mode. But instead of turning their backs on the town, locals banded together and looked at new opportunities for the site.
And out of the rubble, Dorset Renewable Industries was born.
Recently the company unveiled the refurbished site, made possible by a $2.8 million federal government grant, declaring it “ready for business”.
“Part of trying to improve things ourselves is to make us masters of our own destiny,” DRI chairman David Hamilton said.
“We have our eye on local benefits all the time, so we tried to put all the work that we’ve spent the grant on, on local contractors, as much as possible and we’ve tried to buy local. And we want to encourage local ownership of the businesses here as much as we can.”
But the idea behind the rejuvenated mill was not to fall back into old traditions. It was about supporting the local community through more renewable, smart and cost-effective industry practices, Mr Hamilton said.
That included several businesses operating from the site and sharing resources.
“By putting timber businesses together, they can pass materials to each other, there’s less waste because what’s waste for one will become stock for another, and then they can share some services like engineering, maintenance, quality assurance.
“The long-term vision is a network of locally-owned businesses that work together to create value for the state and that try to meet local needs first. While there may be export opportunities, the main aim is meeting local needs so that the money stays circulating within the local economy.”
And there were a number of ideas in the pipeline that looked at safeguarding Tasmanian resources to meet the state’s needs.
One example DRI was looking at was the production of ethanol made from wood.
“It could provide enough ethanol to turn all of the petrol in the state to E10,” Mr Hamilton said.
