Community & Business
7 September, 2024
Quarry extraction gets the green light
A SAND extraction operation at a Shanty Creek Rd property has been given the green light by Mareeba Shire Council despite 16 objections about rural amenity, such as noise, dust, and traffic, and water quality impacts on Emerald Creek.
The Wallace Quarrying and Mining operation will allow the removal of 5000 tonnes of material from the property’s dam, in what the applicants described as essentially a “cleanout”.
At the August meeting, Cr Amy Braes and Cr Mary Graham excused themselves from proceedings citing conflicts of interest, as each had a close relative who had lodged a submission against the proposal.
According to the development application, the sand extraction operation will remove built-up sediment and increase the dam’s capacity by approximately five megalitres. The material will be screened and washed, stockpiled and used both on-site as well as sold off-site as a raw material.
A key objection was that the dam is a spillway into Emerald Creek and that any overflow would affect water quality to the popular waterway.
Council said approval conditions ensured sand removal could only be carried out during drier times of the year when water was not discharging from the dam spillway. The dam itself would act as a large settling pond to help maintain water quality of downstream Emerald Creek.
Council said the operation was small scale (at only 5000 tonnes each year), would only operate between 7am and 6pm Mondays to Fridays and 7am to 12 noon on Saturdays, and would not involve any hard rock crushing or blasting.
All soil and material transported to or from the site would be covered to prevent dust or spillage.
Objections by nearby residents, including Jaques Coffee, pointed out that a recently constructed house was within 200m of the site, however, council said the majority of submitters were more than 350m away and 600m from the intensive sand screening/washing area.
Council also rejected a concern about a breach of the dam wall during post-cyclone flooding and the risk of dam failure.
Other conditions under which the quarry could operate included:
• The operator must provide monthly extraction/sales figures to council as a means of monitoring activity.
• A small strip of vegetation which will be removed for extraction must be revegetated once the operation finished.
• The developer must pay $3,360 for each 167 haul truck movements from the site, which would go toward the upgrading of Leotta Rd, Shanty Creek Rd and Gilmore Rd. The developer may elect to provide part of the trunk infrastructure instead of making the payment.
• All reasonable and practicable measures must be taken to ensure no harm is done to Aboriginal cultural heritage.
• The operation must deal with any electric ant carriers under the Biosecurity Regulation 2016.
