Tri-gen assurances for brewery redevelopment

Planning Minister Kristina Keneally has moved to quell concerns over the viability of the tri-generation project on the Chippendale Carlton & United Breweries redevelopment. City News received an assurance from Frasers COO Nicholas Wolff, repeated by the Minister to Greens Councillor Chris Harris, that any sale of the Frasers Broadway site, or parts thereof, would be bound by concept plan consent conditions requiring the provision of tri-gen.

The uncertainty arose after an extraordinary Council meeting on June 29, which confirmed plot divisions could risk tri-gen plans for the site. Councillors heard that with the approved proposal to reduce the number of plots from twelve to eight, there were no iron-clad legal stipulations obliging entities who bought plots from Frasers to commit to the tri-generation scheme.

However, a Frasers representative at the meeting said that this should not pose a great concern, as the project was commercially viable on its own merits.

Tri-generation refers to the practice of simultaneously producing power, heating and cooling from a single heat source, in this case natural gas. Frasers has publicly declared a target of zero net carbon emissions for the development.

But Lindsay Charles, co-convenor of the Friends of Carlton United Site (FoCUS) group, expressed concerns about the possibility that sub-dividing the lots could risk the viability of tri-gen on the site. As an expensive process, it would require the commitment of all partners.

“There’s a lot of people who think they are bound by it in the conditions of consent, and others who are not sure,” she said.

Charles said that the main concern revolved around the possibility of Frasers selling off large packets of land to owners who were not necessarily committed to the tri-generation project. “Until I know [for certain], it makes me nervous,” she said.