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Victorian government aims for ‘right balance’ on quarry planning controls

The Victorian Government has released a series of new planning controls which are directly focused on the state’s quarrying sector for public submissions.  

The new planning controls are focused on the sand resources near Lang Lang and Trafalgar in Victoria’s South East region and the existing stone quarry near Oaklands Junction north of Melbourne. 

Under the proposal, the state government would designate new Strategic Extractive Resource Areas to protect the quarrying resources from other developments. It would also consider local environmental and cultural heritage values, existing land uses and access to transport networks. This would be aimed at avoiding potential land conflicts when developing future resources. 

“We’re striking the right balance between community expectations, protecting cultural heritage and supporting Victoria’s construction sector with a supply of raw materials to continue building our state and creating jobs,” Victorian Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.  

According to the state government’s data, Victorian will be home to more than 10 million people by 2051 which necessitates the need for new infrastructure. As part of this, new quarry resources will be required to ensure a consistent supply of construction materials. 

“These strengthened planning controls will ensure Victoria retains access to the vital raw materials needed to keep building new homes, hospitals, schools and infrastructure the state needs,” Acting Planning Minister Colin Brooks said. 

The planning controls announcement comes months after the state government heralded its role in the approval for a sand quarry in Lang Lang which will provide more sand resources to Victoria’s Big Build as well as residential construction.  The site is estimated to have reserves of more than 13 million tonnes of sand and will directly create 30 jobs, according to the release.  

“Bringing high quality sand to market will deliver important benefits to our infrastructure builds and is crucial to keep prices for construction materials down,” D’Ambrosio said at the time. 

To make a submission, visit engage.vic.gov.au/sera-langlang-oaklandsjunction-trafalgar. 

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