Plane Creek Sugar Mill
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Plane_Creek_Sugar_Mill%2C_Sarina%2C_2016_01.jpg/220px-Plane_Creek_Sugar_Mill%2C_Sarina%2C_2016_01.jpg)
Plane Creek Sugar Mill is a sugar mill in Sarina, Queensland, Australia. It is owned and operated by Wilmar Sugar Australia.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/StateLibQld_1_198039_Plane_Creek_Sugar_Mill%2C_1928.jpg/220px-StateLibQld_1_198039_Plane_Creek_Sugar_Mill%2C_1928.jpg)
The Plane Creek Sugar Mill opened in 1896. It was owned and operated by the Plane Creek Central Mill Company Limited. It was funded with a loan of £65,000 from the Queensland Government under the Sugar Works Guarantee Act. The mill machinery was built by Walkers Limited in Maryborough. A 15-mile tramline connected the mill to a wharf at the mouth of Louisa Creek (21°16′15″S 149°15′58″E / 21.27083°S 149.26611°E / -21.27083; 149.26611 (Louisa Creek, Mackay Region, Queensland)) for shipping the sugar.[1]
The loan from the Queensland Government was fully repaid in 1920.[1]
In 1925, a factory was built next to the mill to process the molasses produced by the sugar refining into ethanol. Ted Theodore, the Queensland Premier, hoped to use the ethanol as a motor fuel.[1]
In 1926, a wier was built on Plane Creek to provide a more reliable water supply to the mill, with a second weir built in 1935.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/View_across_sugar_cane_fields_towards_the_mountains%2C_Carmila%2C_2016.jpg/220px-View_across_sugar_cane_fields_towards_the_mountains%2C_Carmila%2C_2016.jpg)
In the 1920s, construction of the North Coast railway line enabled sugar cane to be transported to the mill from a more widespread area, as far south as Flaggy Rock.[1]
In 1974 it was sold to Pioneer Sugar Mills and then sold in 1987 by CSR Limited.[1] As of 2016, it is one of the 8 sugar mills in Queensland owned by Wilmar Sugar.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Plane Creek Sugar Mill". Mackay Historical Society and Museum Incorporated. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ "Our mills". Wilmar Sugar. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
External links
Media related to Plane Creek Sugar Mill at Wikimedia Commons
21°25′42″S 149°12′58″E / 21.4283°S 149.2162°E / -21.4283; 149.2162