The Adelaide Brighton-owned subsidiary will develop a new 540ha quarry at Scotchy Pocket, near Mt Scotchy, north of Curra in three stages.
It will yield about a million tonnes of material a year and within three years, it is anticipated there will be 200 truck movements to and from the site nearly every day.
Wagner Investments is planning an adjoining quarry of a similar size and it is expected to go before the council this year.
Both sites are located more than a kilometre to the west of the Bruce Highway and the North Coast rail line, and are at the northern end of the final stage of the Cooroy to Curra Bypass.
The quarries will operate side by side and simultaneously, seven days a week, with haulage 24 hours a day except Sunday.
To give the quarry trucks safe access to the Bruce Highway, the highway intersection with Lindley’s Lane will be upgraded and moved 150m north.
Potential impacts
Small concerns were raised in a council report about the impact of blasting, which will occur every day except Sunday, on a nearby railway line and homes in the Curra Estate as well.
Other reservations were raised about the loss of some residents’ picturesque rural views and the potential impact of quarry operations on local fauna in the area, including koalas and platypi.
“The matter of noise has been considered with the development being audible during operating times,” the council report said. “Noise limits for the quarrying activities have been conditioned by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP).
?While it is suggested that these noise limits could be more stringent, the DEHP is the lead agency with respect to the operation of Environmentally Relevant Activities applied for and therefore have been adopted,” the report also stated.
The quarry will be developed in three stages and will include an office and amenities, workshop, truck wash down facility, weighbridge, soil testing, equipment for extraction, processing and stockpiling, delivery trucks, car parking for employees and security fencing.
“The proposed development is for an extractive industry that seeks to realise the full potential of an existing hard rock resource that will supply the local market (including council, state road and rail construction projects) with essential quarry materials,” the council report stated.
The material is suitable for the production of all high specification materials including concrete, sealing aggregates and ballast, with the rock type having high skid resistance value.
Source: The Gympie Times