Concerned hinterland residents are asking Sunshine Coast Council for more clarity around the planned take-over of one of its quarries.
A number of Blackall Range community members are concerned about the potential impacts of the council’s plans to lease its Dulong Quarry to a commercial operator.
Councillors decided the fate of the council-owned Image Flat and Dulong quarry business and operating sites at December’s ordinary council meeting, resolving to lease the quarries to a private operator by June 30.
Residents have formed the Hinterland Quarry Action Group, with 50 people attending the group’s first public meeting at Kureelpa Hall on Saturday, January 16, and additional apologies and concerns coming by email.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson acknowledged the group’s concerns and said the leasing process and how it was managed had yet to be determined.
“Council values the community and long-term support of our neighbours at Image Flat and Dulong Quarries,” the spokesperson said.
“We understand that, in looking at different and new operating models, this level of change and uncertainty may cause community concern.
“We are committed to being a good neighbour and will seek to provide the community an update and receive their feedback as we work through the process in order to explore options.”
Dulong local and Quarry Action Group spokeswoman Anne Veivers said that, to date, there had been no community engagement and an inadequate communication from the council on the matter.
“People in our area only heard of the plans thanks to a local community organisation sharing the news initially, and neighbours spreading the word from there,” Ms Veivers said.
The decision to lease the quarries was made amid the closure of council’s asphalt plant at Image Flat and strong competition within the industry from privately owned facilities.
The council is aiming for a 10-year lease with two, two-year options. It plans to release expression of interest (EOI) packages later this month, with submissions due 12 weeks later in April.
Dulong Quarry currently operates about three months a year. Material extracted from the Dulong Quarry is basalt rock, used for production of asphalt and bitumen aggregates for road surfacing.
Blasting takes place up to two times per year at Dulong Quarry. Neighbouring properties are given prior warning of upcoming blast activities. Blasts are only fired between 9am and 3pm Monday to Friday.
“Operations are permitted at the quarry six days a week between 6am and 6pm, but we’ve heard there’s a possibility of 24/7 operations, so we’re fearful of how big and busy the Dulong Quarry could become in private hands, right on our doorstep,” Ms Veivers said.
“We believe the commercial operator will be bound to work within all current operational restrictions, but we’re unclear on those details, and despite spending weeks seeking information from council to address our apprehensions, nothing has yet been provided.
“People have expressed valid concerns about dust and associated health impacts, noise, road damage, road safety, environmental impacts to nearby waterways and native animals, negative effects on property prices and lifestyle and more.
“Blasts are currently limited to two times per year, but we don’t know if that will continue or what the parameters on those blasts will be going forwards.
“We believe the minimum extraction amount will be 50,000 tonnes of material per annum, but we’re not aware of any upper limits so for all we know it could increase to a million tonnes with hundreds of truck movements per day.
“We support economic growth for the broader region, but not at our expense as ratepayers, residents, business owners and road users, and certainly not at the expense of this special and beautiful area we call home.
“Our community shares a strong sense of stewardship and responsibility for protecting our local natural environment as well as each other, and we think it’s reasonable to expect council to do the same.
“It’s beyond time we got the consideration and answers from council we deserve.”
The Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said no decisions about future management of the quarries had been made.
“Please note this is an early discovery stage. Council has not made a decision. Rather it is exploring options through the expression of interest process,” they said.
The spokesperson said the potential commercial operator would be managed by council under the terms and conditions of a contract, considering the community impacts and benefits.
Council confirmed to SCN in January it would undertake a closed tender process, with the preferred tenders positively assessed against agreed criteria and in line with its procurement policy.
The closed tender may involve a single or multi-phase tender.
“The potential commercial operator will be managed by council under the terms and conditions of a contract, considering the community impacts and benefits,” the spokesperson said.
The council did not reveal any details around what the new private operator’s operational restrictions of the Dulong Quarry would be.
Dulong Quarry has been in operation since the 1970s and Image Flat Quarry since the 1960s.
The Dulong Quarry Action Group will hold its next open meeting at 7pm on February 9 at Kureelpa Hall.
State Member for Nicklin Robert Skelton is invited to attend, and Councillor David Law and other council executives are expected to be present. All concerned community groups and individuals are welcome.
SUBSCRIBE here now for our FREE news feed, direct to your inbox daily!
