The last abattoir on the Fleurieu closed its doors on Wednesday. There is hope however that the closure may be temporary.

Strath Pastoral who operated the abattoir for many years has sold the property to local beef and veal producer Terry Steed. 

Mr Steed does not want to operate the abattoir himself but is looking for someone to operate the plant once legal settlement of the property occurs on the 11^th of January.

He told ABC Radio Adelaide this morning, “All the working plant is still there so it’s just a matter of walking through the door, getting the licence and getting it running again.”

Strath Pastoral took the decision to cease their operations on Wednesday 11 December, resulting in the immediate loss of 15 jobs.

The closure has created problems for local meat producers with the Lobethal abattoir in the Adelaide Hills already running at capacity. 

Trevor Paech of Gum Park Beef in Mount Jagged told ABC Radio Adelaide that the effects of the closure would be far reaching.

“It actually affects the whole Fleurieu and a number of restaurants throughout the McLaren Vale region and through out Adelaide as well,” he said.  

Chris Williams of Fleurieu Prime Alpacas at Mt Compass is faced with having to find another abattoir that has a camelid licence which allows them to process alpacas. 

“If we can find someone that will process for us it just means more time that the alpacas are going to spend in the float or in the van going to the abattoir so it’s a little bit more stress on the animal," he said.

“We know that stress on any species certainly has an impact on the final product, in the meat. We want the very best for our animals and we want the very best for our clients,

Both Trevor and Chris sell their products direct to the public via markets and other outlets.

The Strathalbyn abattoir became the last one on the Fleurieu when the Normanville plant closed four years ago.