The Barina Quarry was initially given the green light in the early 2000s, and there are plans to operate it again. Photo: Gunlake Quarry.
Queanbeyan Council is pushing back on a company’s plans to expand hard rock quarry operations.
Barina Quarry, near Collector in southeast NSW, opened in 2001 before closing several years later. It has been designated as a State Significant Development.
Collector Resource procured it in 2016, with plans to restart extraction activities and run it for a further 15 years.
The company has lodged a request to modify the initial approval, so it could expand stockpiling areas, import clean fill, upgrade Collector Road and make other operational changes.
During a consultation process, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) lodged a preliminary submission with the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
Earlier this year, councillors voted to also write a supplementary submission objecting to the proposal, which they approved in an early October meeting.
During the meeting, Councillor Ross Macdonald pointed to community concerns around silica dust and other impacts from the quarry’s operations as reasons why the council shouldn’t support the proposal.
“I think this project, were it to go ahead, would be a net negative for residents of Currawang and surrounds,” he said.
“We [council] can consider things like the health impacts [of a quarry’s operation] and air quality … These are not issues which you can order [to] follow some geographic or map-drawn boundary.”
He also said that while there could be an economic benefit to the region, that shouldn’t be the council’s only concern.
“We have to consider the long-term economic impact to a community, as well, not an organisation.”
Councillor Katrina Willis thanked community members for their advocacy to QPRC.
She also told the meeting concerns remained around dust, the impact on the area’s character, increased traffic and other issues.
“I think the characterisation of this development as a modification is wrong – there is a number of new uses [proposed] … It seems to me that this is seen as a new economic opportunity.”
She also argued the proposal documents appeared not to consider some scenarios in enough depth (such as what climate change or a lack of groundwater would mean for the quarry’s operations).
“Some of the information that we need to know [to guide a decision] isn’t available to us.”
The meeting also heard a reference to the council’s objections to a separate proposal, which would see a quarry opened near Royalla.
Mayor Kendrick Winchester asked council staff about whether a similar approach (which saw QPRC call for a public hearing) could be adopted regarding this proposal.
In response, a staff member recommended QPRC request a meeting, rather than a public hearing, so other parties could attend.
Councillor Willis also won support for her request that the motion be amended to see QPRC flag its objections with other councils near the quarry’s site (specifically the Upper Lachlan Shire and Yass Valley councils).
QPRC has lodged two submissions with the NSW Planning Portal over the proposal. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
While the consultation period has already closed, council documents state the window for QPRC to make a submission was extended (meaning they could make the second submission).
The council’s supplementary submission, which was released as part of the meeting papers, raised several issues that QPRC sees as concerns if the proposal’s given the green light for expanded operations.
It suggests land values near the quarry could be affected, while biodiversity and the surrounding natural environment could be affected and noise and vibration generated that could disturb residents.
The submission also points to a traffic assessment, which predicts that up to 268 heavy vehicles could travel each day on local roads.
“The typical hourly truck count establishes an average dispatch rate of one fully laden truck every 2-3 minutes,” it states.
“The addition of this rate of fully laden trucks to the Federal Highway through the currently established seagull intersection may result in dangerous conditions for commuters.
“[This could also impact] other local road users, particularly during morning and evening commuter periods and during winter when days are shorter and fog more likely.”
It also called on the NSW Government to consider any advice it receives about possible road safety improvements during the consultation stage.
Further information on the Barina Quarry proposal can be found on the NSW Planning Portal.
Original Article published by Claire Sams on About Regional.
