The Bathurst Regional Council recently gave Hothams Sand, Soil & Gravel Supplies the green light for a new quarry in Napoleon Reef, Bathurst in New South Wales.
The quarry will extract up to 30,000m3 per annum of sand and gravel and process up to 150 tonnes of rock per day for use in road construction, roadworks and other civil works.
The applicant originally applied to extract material through use of blasting but the proposal was later modified and now only bulldozers, excavators and drill rigs will be used.
High demand
In justifying the need for the quarry project, the applicant said there would be a future shortfall in building materials suppliers in the Bathurst region.
“With continued current trends and projected population growth, the region will require significant resources of construction materials to ensure that development and infrastructure costs are contained,” an application document stated.
“Existing quarries in the area are exhausted or are near exhaustion and the need for such a development is of high demand to maintain existing uses in the area.”
A Hanson quarry was said to have been among those that had recently closed, leaving a “massive gap” in hard rock material supply between Orange and Lithgow.
The applicant also pointed out that the Napoleon Reef quarry would have a positive impact on the Bathurst region by supporting the local construction and housing industries and creating jobs.
“At present there is only one hard rock quarry in the Bathurst area supplying material to local contractors and supply outlets, owned by a multinational company,” the applicant stated. “Our quarry would be owned and operated by a local company, keeping the dollar in the community that supports it.”
Furthermore, the site’s geology was said to be uncommon. “Finding a [siltstone] deposit of such good quality in this proximity to the town of Bathurst is extremely rare,” the application stated.
Community concerns
Despite the suggested benefits for the local community, the quarry proposal attracted a “significant” number of submissions, according to the council. Media reports indicated that more than 100 submissions were received, with environmental impact, safety and dust chief amongst the concerns.
The quarry proposal underwent multiple notification processes – partially due to the fact that the initial application was modified – and public consultation included two discussion forums. As a result, the council issued the quarry operator with 30 consent conditions upon project approval.