The Victoria Government has unveiled the Quarry Transformation Grants to accelerate the rehabilitation of former quarry sites across the state.
A total of $550,000 is available to four successful applicants in two categories – small quarries and larger operations.
Victorian quarries are required to rehabilitate their sites to a safe, stable and sustainable standard under the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990, and these grants will take the pressure off future recipients.
Resources Minister Jaala Pulford noted the state’s rich history of successful quarry rehabilitation.
“Some of Victoria’s most iconic parks and popular tourist destinations were once quarries, and these grants present an opportunity to create more spaces for communities to enjoy,” Pulford said.
“Quarries are essential in securing affordable materials for Victorians, the process of transforming these spaces for community uses will also create jobs in the future.”
Some examples of former quarry sites include Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens and Cranbourne Botanic Gardens.
Many more examples are detailed in the State Government’s booklet The New Lives of Old Quarries, including Albert Park Lake and Highpoint Shopping Centre.
Each application for the Quarry Transformation Grants will address four stages of rehabilitation: Design proposal, design innovation, design impact and net benefit.
Design innovation will hold the most weight (45 per cent) of the four criteria and calls for examples of how new systems, materials, processes or technologies will be used in a unique or imaginative way.
Net benefit (35 per cent) to the community and the environment holds the next most weight, while the remaining two hold 10 per cent.
The grants come as part of the state’s first Extractive Resource Strategy, Helping Victoria Grow.
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