COLLIERS International, the South Australian marketing agency which had listed Killarney Abattoir for sale, is hopeful within the next four weeks the property will be sold, almost a year after the plant was shut down.

Director Phil Schell said although the company had only listed the property on a short, two-week campaign he was convinced a sale was not far away, with rumours rife in Killarney yesterday the sale had already gone through to local identities.

“We are confident; we have had good inquiries and offers presented to us,” Mr Schell said.

“Our method of sale has worked really well for us. I think we have had seven inspections and there were a lot of people who know the property without looking at it.”

Mr Schell said the company would now develop a shortlist of the offers, which he expects to take about two weeks, before hopefully coming to a final offer during the second week of January.

As for the operating future of the abattoir, Mr Schell said it was still early days and he was unsure of how the property would be used after it was sold.

“They haven’t told me too much and I don’t expect them to but there are some who are looking at getting it up and running again and others who are talking about leasing the property,” Mr Schell said.

The prospective sale comes at a tough time for the meat industry, with beef and lamb prices hitting record prices.