Crunch time for major quarry as decision looms

Crunch time has arrived for a major quarry development that council officers are willing to let add more than 147 daily truck trips through a small Coast town.

Councillors are set to vote on Thursday whether or not to allow a quarry development application west of Beerburrum. Picture: Contributed

CRUNCH time has arrived for a major quarry development that council officers are willing to let add more than 147 daily truck trips through a small Coast town.

Sunshine Coast councillors will vote on Thursday whether or not to allow Barro Group's application to extract and screen more than 1,000,000 tonnes of trachyte and sandstone rock a year from a 23.4 hectare section of forestry land just west of Beerburrum.

The decision will coincide with a separate agenda item in which councillors will consider applying to have the entire Coast region declared a UNESCO biosphere.

Pits at Beerburrum are expected to go more than 60m deep in some areas.

Construction company Barro Group has applied to Sunshine Coast Council to extract more than 1,000,000 tonnes of rock a year from the Burrum Quarry, about 2km west of Beerburrum. Picture: Stuart Cumming

The application has drawn community opposition, with Beerburrum Action Group spokeswoman Heather Cardaci leading a campaign against the quarry coming to town.

Concerns submitted to the council include the impact of truck movements, a loss of character for Beerburrum, dust, noise and environmental effects and cultural heritage impacts.

Mrs Cardaci, who lives in Beerburrum, said support for her group's opposition had grown as residents became more aware of the scale of the project.

"I don't think that the community was made aware of the impact it was going to have,” Mrs Cardaci said.

She said the quarry's approval was not a forgone conclusion despite council officers' recommendation to do so.

"I don't know which way it is going to go but we are doing out best to stop it.”

Councillors are set to vote on Thursday whether or not to allow a quarry development application west of Beerburrum. Picture: Contributed

Council officers' conditions have included limiting operation to six days a week and output to 700,000 tonnes a year.

Truck movements are also proposed to be limited to 886 a week or about 147 a day.

The officers' report said that was down from the more than 200 a day proposed by Barro Group.

However, the council has left open an opportunity for Barro Group to apply to raise truck movements and annual output past those limits for projects that directly benefit the Sunshine Coast.

Barro Group Queensland general manager Ian Riddout was pleased with the approval recommendation after an "exhaustive” application process of more than two years.

"It is clear that there is a current shortage of quarry materials that will only get more critical in the future and approval by councillors will put a stop to quarry material having to be hauled in from distant locations adding unnecessary costs, transport congestion and reducing local employment opportunities,” Mr Riddout said.

He said limits on the quarry's output needed to be carefully considered.

"The need to support the built infrastructure needs of the Sunshine Coast community must be satisfied and the dysfunctional outcomes of not being able to supply quarry materials from local sources that have short cartage distances, provide local jobs and provide custom to other local business doesn't make much sense.

Construction company Barro Group has applied to Sunshine Coast Council to extract more than 1,000,000 tonnes of rock a year from the Burrum Quarry, about 2km west of Beerburrum. Picture: Stuart Cumming

He said the haulage route through Beerburrum was already a major road and had plenty of capacity to cater for extra vehicles.

"It is a little confusing that the council's officers in their proposed conditions have limited the additional volume to less than 3 per cent per cent volume to what currently exists.

"The road through Beerburrum is classified in the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme as a major road and is state-controlled and in the state's assessment no limits were imposed.