Three or four deals have fallen through in the last year. Even with a promised federal subsidy, talks with a new prospective buyer are 'continuing'. If the scheme proceeds, Ravenshoe will be the major service town for construction. The scheme has been approved twice by successive state governments. A series of housing developments called Millstream Estates has already been opened up and is attracting mainly young families hoping to finance building by finding work with the scheme.
Local media is universally supportive.
Conservation organizations have opposed the scheme since its conception. Five years of hard lobbying and publicity, mainly from a base in Brisbane, have given the scheme a national profile, and made it a focus of energy and conservation policy at state and federal levels. A joint federal-state working party will report in December this year. If government decides to proceed with the scheme, conservation groups are publicly committed to a campaign of NVDA to stop it. Anger from within the district towards such a campaign will be intense.