Meatworks in danger of falling into creek

The owner of a Southern Downs abattoir in southern Queensland says major stabilisation works are needed to prevent the building falling into a local creek.

The Carey Brothers Abattoir is near Swan Creek, about 20 kilometres east of Warwick.

The recent wet weather has caused significant erosion along the banks of the creek.

Owner Greg Carey says relocating is not a viable option.

"To relocate [would cost] $10-12 million," he said.

"It'll be a much cheaper option to try and repair/stabilise these creek banks but that's going to be up to a cost of a million dollars to do it property.

"They're talking about putting in big concrete pylons into the areas where the erosion is taking place and then dumping huge big rocks in there and trying to get some sort of growth of grass that'll go in there and just stabilise that area."

He says the erosion was not the only damage.

"We've had fences knocked down," he said.

"We hold lambs here, probably up to 1,000 lambs at any one time we'd be holding here in stock pens, and nearly every one of those fences received damage.

"So we need to get those back and running soon.

"But the major problem is the erosion to the creek banks.

"We're looking hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of repairs to those creek banks to say that we'll be still here in 20 years' time."

Source: ABC News, 4 February 2013