The CCAA has welcomed the Victorian Government’s prioritisation of quarry resources in South Gippsland and Wyndham local government areas.
The identification of these Strategic Extractive Resource Areas (SERAs) will allow future developments – both industrial and residential – to work around each other as both continue to grow in Victoria.
Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia’s (CCAA) state director for Victoria and Tasmania Brian Hauser said the organisation had supported such strategies for a long time.
“CCAA’s advocacy over many years has been key to securing these planning reforms,” Hauser said. “They are a significant step forward in Victoria taking a strategic and long-term view around protection of critical sand and stone resources for our future.”
The new SERAs will look to secure the future of the State Government’s Big Build infrastructure program which includes the Metro Tunnel, the removal of 85 level crossings, the West Gate Tunnel, and the Melbourne Airport Rail project.
Hauser said the approvals process for quarries to supply resources to these projects is still in need of work.
“Unfortunately, Government approvals for new or expanding quarries are slow, expensive and uncertain and significant reform of the process is required to replenish the resources we’re all using to meet the increasing demand,” he said.
“The construction sector, supported by a viable supply of quarry materials provides the engine for a construction-led recovery to the COVID pandemic. These materials in ever stronger demand are the life blood of the recovery.”
More information about the Government’s SERAs can be found at this fact sheet.
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