Austral Bricks cements mine lease after minister paves over protests

One of Australia’s oldest brickmaking companies has had its lease extended after complaints threatened its closure and the state’s construction and housing industries.

The Rochedale company has been awarded an extra 25 years to continue mining clay and shale but will have to surrender 17 per cent of the site to Brisbane City Council.

One of Australia’s oldest brickmaking companies has been thrown a lifeline after complaints threatened its closure, putting the state’s construction industry in jeopardy.

Austral Bricks at Rochedale was granted a 25-year extension to its clay mining lease after Resources Minister Scott Stewart was forced to step in when a protest petition was lodged with parliament.

Mr Stewart said closing the on Gardner Rd plant would significantly affect the state’s construction industry, with potential flow-on effects to housing affordability.

Austral Bricks at Rochedale has had its mining lease extended.

But he ruled that Austral Bricks would have to surrender 17 per cent of the site after three years to Brisbane City Council, which owns the land.

The company has been operating at Rochedale for 46 years and is one of only two clay brick makers in the region.

Austral Bricks holds three of Brisbane’s six mineral production permits with PGH Bricks and Pavers holding two and Spasa Lazarevic the final permit.

The lease, originally granted in 1975 was extended in April 1998 and expired in February when the brick company applied for a further 25 years.

Austral Bricks said it had ploughed $70 million into the 53 hectare site over the years and expected to be able to mine the clay and shale for its bricks and pottery until 2046.

Last week, Mr Stewart handed down his ruling telling protesters and nearby residents the mine created 120 full-time jobs and some land would be rehabilitated before it was handed back to the council.

Queensland resources Minister Scott Stewart.

“The reduction of area and conditions has been applied to balance the concerns raised and ensure the mining operations continue to be an appropriate land use, conform to sound land use management and that the public interest will not be adversely affected,” Mr Stewart said.

But Rochedale resident and chief petitioner Lester Marriage complained the Gardner Rd mine breached state planning rules which bar extractive industries within 200m of houses.

Mr Marriage, along with 436 other people, called for the mine to go and said the land should be used for housing subdivision.

Austral’s Rochedale premises.

The petition said the area had changed dramatically in the past four decades with more people living close to the mine and the area becoming a popular housing estate.

“The mine is no longer complimentary to adjoining land uses and the changing landscape,” the petition said.

“It is considered there are far greater uses that are more complimentary to the overall neighbourhood than a mining lease such as the general industry and light industry uses currently approved at 105 Gardner Rd.”

Some of those uses were outlines when Brisbane City council lodged a development application for the land in 2018.

The application was a child care centre and a service station, office buildings, a tech institute and a restaurant.

But planning consultant Ethos Urban ruled out the childcare centre and service station after data showed Gardner Rd would not cope with the extra traffic.

The land is bordered by the Gateway Motorway on the west, Brisbane landfill tip to the east and Hendrik Park housing estate to the south.