Residents are growing weary of the inaction over the site's future and fear a repeat of the Leitchville experience, where the former dairy factory, owned by Murray Goulburn, was locked up and not offered for sale for 10 years.
Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said the site had left a huge empty hole in the middle of the town, and was becoming a monument to the decline of the dairy industry.
He said dairy companies were reluctant to release assets that could be used by a competitor when there was such a demand for milk, and this may be why the new owner was reluctant to sell the site.
However he said he doubted the factory, devoted to cheese and milk powder, would be that attractive for today's dairy industry which was focused on more higher value products.
The factory closed in 2018, and in 2019 new owner Saputo suggested the site would be prepared for sale.
Lino Saputo Jr, the chief executive officer, told Country News in 2019 that the site was likely to go on the market the same year.
Mr Saputo said the company’s global practice on redundant factories was to close them and remove the equipment and machinery, and then sell the property.
Asked about the plans for the factory, Saputo released an anonymous statement on June 14, saying:
“Saputo Dairy Australia is in the process of repurposing equipment and machinery from the closed Rochester factory, with a view to undertake a sale process for the site.”
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