Condong Mill

Condong Mill

The Condong Mill is a sugar cane crushing mill located on the banks of the Tweed River in Condong, New South Wales. It is situated approximately 5 kilometres north of Murwillumbah. Established in 1880, it is the second oldest continuing sugar mill in Australia, predated only by the Harwood Mill on the Clarence River.

The mill is owned by Manildra Harwood Sugars, a joint venture between the Manildra Group and the grower-owned NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative. It crushes cane harvested from the Tweed Valley, processing approximately 500,000 tonnes of cane annually.

History

The Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) established the Condong Mill in 1880. It was part of CSR's major expansion into the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, following the earlier establishment of the Harwood and Broadwater mills. The location was selected due to the suitability of the Tweed River floodplain for cane cultivation and the river itself for transport.

In 1978, the local cane growers formed the NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative and purchased the mill from CSR to secure the future of the local industry. In 1989, the Co-operative formed a partnership with the Manildra Group, establishing the current management structure.

Transport

Condong Mill has utilised a diverse range of transport methods throughout its operation, including river punts, a private cane tramway, government rail, and road transport.

River Transport

For the majority of its history, the Tweed River was the primary artery for cane supply. Cane was harvested at farms along the river and loaded into punts (barges). These punts were towed to the mill by steam tugs (later diesel). The mill featured a large wharf and punt unloading facility on the riverbank. This method remained in use until the mid 1970s when it was replaced by road transport.

Cane Tramway

Unlike the extensive networks in Queensland, Condong operated a smaller, supplementary 610 mm (2 ft) gauge tramway system. Constructed initially in the 1890s, the tramway was designed to access cane grown on higher ground that was not accessible by the river punts, specifically to avoid frost prone areas on the flats.

The tramway operated until 1976. The mill utilised various locomotives, including a Decauville 0-6-0T known as "Torpedo" and later a Ruston & Hornsby 40DL diesel locomotive named "Condong" (Works No. 371948). The Ruston locomotive has been preserved by the Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society.

Standard Gauge Siding

In 1894, the New South Wales Government Railways opened the Murwillumbah branch line, which ran directly past the mill. A private siding was constructed to connect the mill to the main line. This allowed for the direct export of raw sugar and molasses by rail, as well as the delivery of coal and other supplies. The rail connection remained vital until the line was closed in 2004.

Infrastructure

The mill operates a 30 megawatt (MW) biomass power station in partnership with Cape Byron Power. Commissioned in 2008, the plant burns bagasse and waste timber to generate renewable electricity for the grid.

The site is located on the Tweed River floodplain and is protected by a levee bank. However, the mill was significantly impacted by the major floods of 2017 and 2022, which caused extensive damage to electrical systems and delayed the start of the crushing seasons.