General News
21 May, 2025
CopperString woes: Local businesses demand better from contractors
A special investigation into the fallout from the sudden halt of the CopperString project, which revealed major issues at a local level.
CopperString was sold to North West business owners as a once-in-a-generation investment in their communities. But, in the months following the start of early construction, Richmond and Hughenden locals began raising concerns about the true cost of doing business with state government-owned Powerlink and its contractors UGL and ATCO. North West Weekly spoke to a range of business operators in the two townships who feel they have been left behind in the fallout of the stalled transmission line project. And while all expressed strong overall support for CopperString, many felt they had been left in the dark ...
North West business owners believe CopperString contractors UGL and ATCO are enforcing unnecessary safety measures and
onerous procurement procedures that exclude the local community.
They also believe Powerlink has stopped informing impacted residents about the future of the CopperString project since it cancelled its last public meeting in early March.
Discussion has been rife for months in Hughenden and Richmond as locals have exchanged stories of their dealings with UGL and ATCO, which are the major contractors employed by Powerlink to construct work camps on the outskirts of both towns.
Locals told North West Weekly there were warning signs that CopperString was in trouble long before the announced scale back of works by the Crisafulli government amid cost blowouts on the now $14 billion transmission line project.
Despite this, the Hughenden work camp is nearing completion and there are still contractors in Richmond.
But with the CopperString rollout to Richmond now in serious doubt, no one seems to know what their plans are.
Richmond residents said alarm bells began ringing late last year as talk swirled about seemingly wasteful practices on site, such as traffic controllers placed on a road that receives no traffic, paramedics with fully equipped ambulances in a camp with only a few dongas, and a full-time snake catcher.
Delivery drivers said they were being forced to remain in their vehicles because they were wearing jeans, which transmit electricity on a site which had no electricity, and tradesmen claimed they had to undergo on-site inductions that took six times longer than the single repair job they were being hired to complete.
“It just seemed like UGL and ATCO were always trying to fit a round peg into a square hole,” one local said.
“The rules they were enforcing just weren’t the way we do things out here.”
North West Hardware owner Connie Wharton said she now has more than $10,000 of unsaleable safety equipment and other stock in her Richmond store after struggling to meet the procurement demands of UGL and ATCO.
She said the contractors provided unrealistic timeframes to deliver items that had to be ordered from the coast.
Ms Wharton said she watched on as UGL and ATCO increasingly returned to their regular city-based suppliers and bypassed locals.
“Powerlink and the contractors were all really great to begin with; I went to all the public meetings and they told us what was going to happen,” she said.
“There were promises made and money was invested by businesses in anticipation of work or trade over the length of the project.
“Since the pull back, we have been afforded no clear direction or follow up as to where we are at, and our prospects for growth have been somewhat stymied.
“Can we expect a return and commencement of construction as initially promised?
“Or has the project been canned altogether west of Hughenden?”
Rat Engineering owner Pete Fornasier, who is also a Flinders Shire councillor said he had stopped doing any business with the CopperString contractors.
The Hughenden industrial engineer and crane operator said he was approached by ATCO early in the work camp construction phase with a simple request to move a single donga off a truck.
However, he said this revealed the overly complex procedures required by “Tier One” contractors.
“They told me the donga weighed about five tonnes,” Cr Fornasier explained.
“I told them it would be easy, because the crane truck we have here can lift 10-tonne on the hook.
“I even told them it would take longer to drive the crane over to the site than to move the donga.
“A few days later, the ATCO bloke called back and said that UGL had told them they needed a 25-tonne crane to do the job. So, they brought a 25-tonne crane over from Townsville to lift a single five-tonne donga off a truck.
“You want to talk about wasting money?”
Cr Fornasier said the CopperString proponents had stopped providing information to the Hughenden community.
“It means everything is now just running on rumour and emotion,” he said.
“I know of many people who either don’t want to do business with CopperString, or just want to finish their contract and not go back.”
A Powerlink spokesperson said the company upheld rigorous safety standards for all major projects, regardless of location, and adhered strictly to legislated safety requirements.
“Since acquiring CopperString we have actively engaged with local communities and businesses along the corridor to enhance local economic participation,” the spokesperson said.
“Over the past year, we have conducted a series of free and interactive supplier development workshops, extending from Charters Towers to Mount Isa.
“This specific initiative aims to collaborate with local businesses to support their preparedness and capability development to participate in major projects throughout the region.”