Cattleman Brendan Abbey said he had preliminary environmental approval and was still seeking finance, conditional on all approvals being granted, for a $16 million development on 14 hectares west of Yass.

By 2021 more than a million sheep and 150,000 cattle are expected to go through the state-of-the-art South Eastern Livestock Exchange, forcing the closure of numerous old saleyards, including Goulburn, Braidwood and Oaks Estate.

“We are not out to close the Goulburn saleyards,” Mr Abbey said. “It’s just that the agents who sell there are all going to transfer their business up here. Agents and producers are dissatisfied with present selling centres.”

Kattle Gear Australia principal Bill Vowles bought Goulburn saleyards for $100 more than a decade ago, when the facility, then owned by the local government, was threatened with closure because of effluent pollution.

Kattle Gear builds and runs stock handling facilities in Australia and New Zealand, and Mr Vowles said Mr Abbey’s venture did not stack up because it depended on Goulburn’s closure.

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Mr Vowles said planners and the Sydney Catchment Authority thwarted his attempts to establish new saleyards in Goulburn.

“We do have an established business there; we are getting on top of our environmental issues and ultimately we may cover (the saleyards), so we have a soft floor and re-build on the current site,” he said.

Kattle Gear has spent millions of dollars on environmental controls and put through 45,000 cattle and 250,000 sheep every year.

Elders Goulburn livestock manager Steve Ridley said agents and farmers would go to Yass.

“It’s all about markets,” he said. “There is already a lot of cattle going to Wagga and Carcoar [saleyards]. The yardings in Goulburn have been quite small for some time and already a lot of stock is being transported to other centres anyhow.”

Mr Ridley said the trend over many years was to build up regional selling centre to increase volumes. Yass was ideal, particularly with the sheep populations.

“Once upon a time there was a lot of sheep on the eastern side of Goulburn, now there is virtually none,” he said.

“The big sheep numbers would be on the western side of Goulburn, and Yass and Boorowa.”

W.J. Gibbs & Co Queanbeyan manager David Reid said they would “battle on for as long as we can” with monthly sales at Oaks Estate in Canberra if the Yass project was approved.

Yass Valley Council’s planning director Paul De Szell said the Southern Joint Regional Planning Panel would determine whether to grant approval.

A council-funded feasibility study found the venture was viable, but it would be subject to environmental conditions, including ground water-monitoring bores.

Sales of prime cattle and sheep would be held weekly, store cattle sales would be held monthly and store sheep sales would be held every three months.