Dandaragan is a quiet small town 33 km west of Moora & 17 km inland of Cataby on the Brand Hwy. When driving through Dandaragan you can be forgiven for thinking how does such a small town exist.
On the surface you would be correct because on a normal mid-week day you may see three or four cars driving through town at lunch time.
On Saturday afternoon and Sundays, you could use the main road for a cricket pitch or basketball court.
Looking closer you can feel genuine concern at the slowdown of the local existing mineral sands mine currently operated by Tronox.
But under the surface it’s a different story with these major projects in the Dandaragan Moora Region in planning stage and some already in construction:
- The Cataby Cattle Abattoir – in progress stage now and expected to employ 300 workers in 2017
- Dandaragan Camel Farm – Has first herd of camels on the farm now and milking expected mid-2016. This will expand to approx. 500 head of camels in 2017
- Iluka Mine Cataby – plans for opening a mineral sands mine is still on the radar
- The Waddi and Dandaragan Wind Farm projects regaining momentum now that the federal government is supporting wind power again.
- Solar farm south of Cataby also gaining momentum and nearing a construction date.
- Expansion and maturity of the existing Olive and Fruit orchards, employing in access of 200 staff regularly.
- Drilling of the Warro Gas Field at Badgingarra with continual promising results.
- The expressions of interest of arguably one of the best farms in WA, Yathroo is certainly an open topic of conversation. Will a local consortium re-gather the farm or will a large corporate body take advantage of the current cattle boom?
- Dandaragan Organic Beef getting world-wide recognition
These are all major projects and will require construction crews with ongoing staff and casual employees.
There is strong Foreign Business Ownership growing in the Moora Dandaragan region with Farming & Horticulture.
There is also a high demand for local and overseas employees at the large citrus orchard between Dandaragan and Moora.
This could become a problem as explained in the Feb issue of the NV News about the proposed Government backpacker tax.
Other unique interests in Dandaragan are:
- A star gazers paradise of clear night skies filled with billions of bright shining stars.
- Gateway into the heart of the West Australian wildflower trail.
Did you know the Dandaragan time zone is the same as or within an hour of:
- Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Hanoi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Osaka, Tokyo and Soul.
True story 🙂
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