Chair quits Renewables

• David Hamilton departing Dorset Renewable Industries.

By Tony Scott,
June 23, 2021

The company running the Ling Siding industrial site is looking for a new leader after the abrupt departure of chairman David Hamilton from Dorset Renewable Industries.

Dr Hamilton and deputy chair Dale Jessup confirmed the resignation after a general meeting on Saturday.

Dr Hamilton said he would remain chair of the Dorset Renewable Co-operative, the entity set up to market membership and buy-in of a business to manufacture wood pellets.

“The advantage of the change is I’ll be able to concentrate more on the co-operative and press on with fund raising,” he said.

Mr Jessup said it was hoped a new chair and director would be elected at a meeting on July 7.

He praised the service of Dr Hamilton, who had led the organisation for nine years.

“It was through his energy and commitment we’ve got to this point, but there’s likely to be a slight change in direction.”

In the wake of the closure of the Gunns softwood mill at the site and the eventual demise of the timber giant, DRI received a $2.8 million Federal Government grant about 10 years ago to refurbish the Ling Siding site and prepare it for an integrated timber processing hub.

The area has attracted 16 tenants of diverse operations, but with an underlying theme of being renewable and eventually that the by-product of one enterprise might be the raw material of another.