The Lismore City Council granted consent on 18 October to an application by Santin Quarry Products to extend operations at Rosehill Quarry in Blakebrook with the following conditions:
• The annual rate of extraction shall not exceed 23,000m³ annually.
• The hours of operation of the quarry are to be restricted to daytime hours – 7.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.
• The applicant must submit a Rehabilitation and Environmental Management Plan.
• The site is to be inspected at the end of the consent period to ensure that rehabilitation has been carried out in accordance with the approved Rehabilitation and Environmental Management Plan.
• No topsoil above rock base shall be sold or otherwise removed from the site without prior consent of council (SPC).
• A Stormwater and Erosion/Sediment Control Plan (SESCP) shall be submitted to council for approval with reference prior to recommencement of operations.
“The conditions probably suit the size of the quarry. It’s only 15ha – it’s a very small site,” said Michael Santin, owner of Santin Quarry Products.
“I could’ve bulldozed it and sold it off as housing lots, but I’ve decided to keep it operating,” he said.
Santin believes that there will still be enough material to be quarried after 2036, when the current consent is set to expire.
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