A brewery and 280 seat capacity restaurant is proposed for Calga.
The “beerfarm” is based on the applicant’s similar facility in the Margaret River region of Western Australia.
To cost about $4.6M, the business would be built at 45 Cooks Rd, Calga.
The proposal is defined as Rural Industry.
Patrons will be able to undertake brewery tours and tastings of beer produced at the brewery in addition to other agricultural produce (including beef from the grazing of Angus cattle) grown on the surrounding rural property.
“The facility provides for an additional tourist facility in a location where there is already a cluster of tourism opportunities offered by other third parties including Glenworth Valley Outdoor Adventures and Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary. Beerfarm can act as both a destination and a meeting place for patrons and tourists both locally based and external to the Region,” the application states.
“Beerfarm is committed to a philosophy of reuse, recycle, upcycle and will engage various practices in its east Coast development, building upon the practices and lessons learnt from its existing West Coast facility.”
Measures include;
Spent grain from the brewing process will be used as stock feed.
Wastewater from the brewing process, which is high in nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus)
will be ‘fertigated’ (irrigated) within predetermined land application areas, where fodder will be harvested for stockfeed;
Sorting of material (cardboard, glass, suitable plastics) for recycling
A new access to site is proposed from Cooks Road for visitors, designed in a loop to ensure pedestrian safety.
A secondary access is proposed from Peats Ridge Road for staff and service vehicles.
An upgrade to the intersection of Peats Ridge Road and Cooks Road is proposed.
The proposal is currently with Council with public comment closing on September 29. Go here for details: https://www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/council/council-news/current-development-applications
