However, Bonny Hills residents will maintain pressure on the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to reverse the decision or have measures taken to adapt the town’s roads to cope with the resulting increase in truck movements.
The council gave conditional approval to Hy-Tec to increase its extraction rate from an annual 120,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes, over a five-year period.
The quarry is located just south of the town and articulated trucks carry the conglomerate road base extracted from the quarry through Bonny Hills on their way to the Pacific Highway.
“The successful outcome of the temporary increase in extraction limit will allow Hy-Tec to supply road base to the developing area of Port Macquarie/Kempsey and the construction of the Pacific Highway project,” a Hy-Tec spokesman said.
The approval specifies hours of operation and other conditions, including a wheel-wash facility to be installed and used to prevent the spread of dust and soil from the site.
According to the Bonny Hills Progress Association (BHPA), there is uncertainty over the number of truck movements through town under the new approval.
A spokesman for the group claims that the company specified a “peak of 57” in its submission to the council, but that its own weighbridge records show up to 82 trucks a day between January and February 2012.
The BHPA said the community’s main concerns are threats posed to other road users, especially pedestrians, noise issues and damage to property from blasting. The progress association has approached the council to conduct a safety audit.
It has also requested a meeting with the mayor, Peter Besseling and general manager Tony Hayward, to discuss its concerns.
Source: The Camden Haven Courier