Plans have been approved by the NSW government to transform Fairfax’s closed Chullora site plant into a colossal $85m mail distribution centre of 4.3 hectares.

The proposal is set to see 300 full-time positions generated, as well as 200 construction jobs for the production of the 24/7 warehouse. 400 jobs were lost after Fairfax closes Chullora’s doors, and its Tullamarine site soon after.

Chullora presses were switched off in 2014, and the facility was then bought by property group Charter Hall. The site sits next to Australia Post’s Sydney mail processing facility.

Fairfax’s shutdowns of several major printing facilities over the last few years are prophetic of the media giant’s bleak view of printed newspapers.

Greg Hywood informed the Australian public in May that the end of weekday print editions for major mastheads should ‘surprise no one’ as the group carves a path for digital only publishing.

Fairfax has shifted its newspaper printing from two metropolitan supersites to a regional network which includes North Richmond, Canberra, Ballarat and Albury.

A completion date for the mail distribution centre has not yet been revealed.

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