Perth-based company B&J Catalano was granted an Extractive Industry Licence (EIL) to extract 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes of granite per year from a lot in Roelands, 165km southwest of Perth and 23km from Bunbury.
Harvey Shire President Tania Jackson told Quarry there was “no change of heart” in regard to concerns about impacts on neighbouring properties.
{{quote-A:R-W:275-I:2-Q:“State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) put 19 conditions to the approval including a number to respond to concerns of environmental impacts to neighbouring properties.” -who:Tania Jackson, President, Harvey Shire Council}}“Harvey Shire responded to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) decision with an acknowledgement that the quarry was capable of approval,” Councillor Jackson said.
Among the neighbours who voiced opposition to the quarry was the Roelands Village chief executive officer Les Wallam, who said the former Aboriginal mission-turned-retreat would be the most affected.
Addressing the shire committee, Wallam objected to an EIL for the proposed hard rock quarry but requested that if a licence was issued the most stringent of environmental conditions be placed on the development.
Water protection
Jackson said there were conditions placed to protect the water supply at the Roelands Village, such as “no run-off water is to leave the quarry footprint without council approval” and a mandatory water management plan.
“SAT put 19 conditions to the approval, including a number to respond to concerns of environmental impacts to neighbouring properties,” Jackson said.
The shire president said there would be strict monitoring of these conditions.
“An annual independent audit is required. Shire of Harvey and the Department of Water & Environmental Regulation will require compliance,” Jackson said.
Council turned down a request by the proponent to do away with two of the conditions imposed by SAT relating to dieback in the amended development approval and the EIL for gravel extraction.
“The condition for dieback management is an outcome of assessment that it is ‘uninterpretable’, therefore cannot state ‘dieback free’ resource for the purposes of end use,” Jackson said.
Council slashed the period of extraction from 15 years to five years as Jackson said the “Shire of Harvey Local Law requires a term of five years for EILs” and “renewal will require approval”.
Peter Renton, the south west manager for B & J Catalano, was approached by Quarry for further comment.
“Many thanks for the opportunity to reply to your questions, however we wont be making any further comments as the issuing of the licence speaks for itself,” Renton said.
Renton had previously said the company followed due process and operated above the legal requirement of these operations.
Chronology
• In October 2013, B&J Catalano first applied for planning consent, was turned down by council on the grounds of the loss of amenity to nearby landowners.
• In March 2014, the proposal was referred to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which ruled in 2015 that any environmental impact would not be significant enough to require formal EPA assessment.
• In 2015, neighbouring landowners appealed the EPA ruling, but the WA Minister for Environment and the Appeals Convenor overturned it.
• In January 2016, the proponent took the matter to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) urging the council to approve it.
• In April and October 2016, council rejected the application, claiming it went against the shire’s Planning Scheme No. 1 General Farming zoning on the site, and clause 2.2.2 of the scheme that discouraged “mining or industrial development of the western escarpment of the Darling Ranges”.
• In March 2017, SAT rejected concerns, granting planning consent subject to strict conditions.
• In February 2018, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) granted works approvals for the proposal.
• In September 2018, the Appeals Convenor quashed further appeals – it was satisfied the environmental and amenity issues would be addressed by the SAT conditions and subsequent land-clearing applications to DWER.
• In September 2018, Harvey Shire grants approval.
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