A state MP and minister says he is comfortable with a decision his department has made that will advance an application to expand a quarry in his own electorate.
The Department of Environment has granted an environmental authority to Heidelberg Materials Australia for an expansion at its Glass House Mountains quarry.
An application before Sunshine Coast Council seeks permission to dig to 66m at the Mount Beerwah Road quarry, next to Mount Coonowrin, and increase the output by as much as double to 1.2 million tonnes a year.
The environmental authority gives the departmental nod to the proposed expansion, subject to conditions, and means there are no more state government hurdles for the application to clear.
The decision has disappointed members of Save Our Glass House Mountains, who held out hope that the department might present a barrier to plans to ramp up the quarry.
Member for Glass House Andrew Powell, who is also the Environment Minister, said the environmental authority (EA) placed more stringent conditions on the quarry, which has existed for more than 50 years.
The EA has not yet been published and is not yet effective but restricts blasting to 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday and places limits on vibrations, requirements for water and dust monitoring, and site rehabilitation.
Mr Powell said he was “quite comfortable with the decision that the department has made” and confident the conditions could be enforced.
Save Our Glass House Mountains has led community opposition to the quarry expansion, raising concerns about an increase in the number of trucks, an increase in blasting and an increase in dust, including silica.
SOGM organiser Megan Standring said the EA was “pretty disappointing” and it was a “disgrace” that more questions were not being asked about a multi-national company mining next to the heritage-listed Glass House Mountains National Park.
Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our FREE daily news feed. All it requires is your email at the bottom of this article
Ms Standring said it was now up to the council to make a final decision on the expansion application.
“We’ve got to put it to the council. What is not for sale? What does national heritage-listed mean?” she said.
“If we’re going to be allowing them to be digging up, what does it mean? What are they showing to Queensland and the rest of the world?”
Mr Powell pointed out that the application was for expansion and that the quarry’s approval could not be undone.
“We need the material the quarry produces. It’s harder to get a new quarry approved these days so we need to look at our existing quarry efficiencies,” he said.
Heidelberg has welcomed the DES decision to approve the EA.
“Whilst the new EA conditions are significantly stricter than the existing EA conditions, Heidelberg is satisfied that a fair and robust assessment was undertaken by the department,” a spokesperson said.
“Heidelberg will continue to work with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to obtain final development approval so it can meet the growing demand for quarry materials needed to support housing and infrastructure within the region.”
The council is unable to confirm the timeframe of when the application will be decided but a report will be presented at a future council ordinary meeting for a decision.
