Controversial quarry plans to double traffic

THE well known quarry has a history of court battles with Lismore City Council, and has been operating with expanded approval since 2012

Champions Quarry, Wyrallah Road, Tucki. Photo Cathy Adams / The Northern Star. Picture: Cathy Adams

A QUARRY with an history of court battles with Lismore City Council has lodged an application with the NSW Planning Department to double its daily truck movements.

Champion's Quarry in Tuckurimba currently has approval to extract 250,000 tonnes of sandstone per year following a green light from the State Government in 2012.

The approval followed a costly two year court battle with Lismore City Council in the Land and Environment Court after the council knocked back the quarry's initial application to expand its operation from 60,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes per year.

The quarry then took a revised application directly to the Planning Department and the project was approved after the being designated as of state significance.

In March this year, the quarry was also fined $3000 by the Planning Department after providing false and misleading information about paying a planning fee worth nearly $14,000.

Its latest modification application to the Planning Department - the fourth since 2012 - involves doubling maximum truck movements from five to 10 per hour, and the daily limit from 50 to 100 truck movements.

The quarry is not seeking to increase its annual extraction limit of 250,000 tonnes, but cater to periods of high demand from major projects such as the Pacific Highway upgrade.

"The frequency of 10 trucks per hour traveling on any one route will be rare but will enable the Proponent to maintain supply to their regular local customers and intermittent larger supply contracts," the application states.

The status of the application is currently listed on the Planning Department's website as requiring additional information on its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

A Department spokesman said the the modification application was received on May 10, but was submitted under a  recently repealed section of the Environmental Assessment and Planning Act 1979. 

The new section of the Act came into force on March 1.

"On May 17 2018, the Department requested Champion's Quarry to re-submit the application under the new section the Act.

"Champion's Quarry has not yet submitted a revised application or environmental assessment.

"Once the Department is satisfied with the revised environmental assessment, the application will be publicly exhibited allowing the community to comment.

"Champion's Quarry would then have to respond to the issues raised in submissions.

The spokesman said the Department would consider the application "in accordance with all relevant requirements of the EP&A and planning instruments, advice from government agencies, issues raised in community submissions and the environmental assessment provided by Champion's Quarry".

"The Department will take into consideration prior environmental performance and compliance with the conditions of consent, including any recent fines." 

The quarry retails high grade sandstone from landscaping boulders to washed sand, and RMS specified road building materials.

It is currently the only facility in the region to offer washed sand complaint with road building and concreting.

It is far from the biggest quarry in the Lismore region. Lismore City Council's Blakebrook Quarry has a maximum annual limit of 600,000 tonnes, while the nearby Coraki quarry owned by Quarry Solutions has a maximum limit of 1 million tonnes.

Quarry owner Jeff Champion, a former Lismore mayor, said he didn't want to comment publicly on the matter until the Department had assessed the application.