The company has lodged plans to build a quarry on a 216.7ha Reedy Creek site west of the M1.

It was at the centre of a contentious community and legal battle which drew in both the council and state government a decade ago and concluded with the project getting rejected in the courts.

But Boral executive general manager Paul Noakes said the new proposal was “significantly different” after the company listened to feedback following its previous attempt in the previous decade.

“Boral has reduced the proposed footprint of the Reedy Creek Quarry by 20 per cent (and) we have reduced proposed aggregate production from 79 (million tonnes) to 58MT,” he said.

“We have plans to plant almost half a million trees, 59,000 of those are specifically for Koalas to improve and connect the corridor in the long-term.

“With the Gold Coast only having 10 years left of available landfill, rehabilitating the West Burleigh quarry to a construction waste management facility would relieve pressure and extend the life of the City council’s constrained municipal landfill capacity.

“Gold Coast’s population boom is putting tremendous pressure on housing affordability, vital infrastructure and the available landfill airspace.

“Through our proposal we are offering a solution (and) we are hoping to have a productive relationship with the Gold Coast Council for the benefit of the Gold Coast community.”

Southern Gold Coast residents previously opposed the previous quarry, fearing it would cause significant traffic congestion as well as dust kicked up by heavy equipment to fall on their properties.

If approved, it would replace the existing West Burleigh quarry, with Boral arguing it was needed more than ever to solve the housing crisis.

The materials mined there would be used for construction material.

Mayor Tom Tate, who initially signalled total opposition to the project, said he was prepared to have a look and consider it if it differed from the previous proposal.

“Unless there is something new in this development application about the concerns about dust particles and setbacks, they will end up with the same result and if this is simply a resubmission of the previous one, they’ll get a unanimous no from council,” he said.

“I will wait to see if there is anything new in it.”

Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates said her position on the project had not changed and that she remained opposed to a quarry in her electorate.

The Reedy Creek site is understood to have around 79 million tonnes of available hard rock, which Boral said in 2014 could supply the Gold Coast with high-grade construction materials for more than 40 years.

Councillors in 2014 unanimously voted against the quarry, sparking an appeal by Boral in the Planning and Environment Court

The case dragged on for four years, climaxing with the council winning its case in the Court of Appeal in 2018.

Sam Stewart, who led the battle against the quarry as the lead of the Stop the Gold Coast Quarry community group, could not be reached by the Bulletin on Monday.

‘We’ll fight it’: Battle looms over plans to build giant quarry

Mining giant Boral is reviving controversial plans for $2.2bn giant Gold Coast quarry, arguing it is the solution to the city’s housing crisis.

The proposed Reedy Creek quarry, earmarked for a 216.7ha site west of the M1, was at the centre of a contentious community and legal battle which drew in both the council and state government a decade ago.

It is now the subject of a fresh development application submitted late on Friday.

Boral executive general manager Paul Noakes said it would replace the existing West Burleigh quarry and argued it was needed more than ever to solve the housing crisis.

The materials mined there would be used for construction material.

But Mayor Tom Tate says council is prepared to take up the fight against the project.

Mr Noakes said Boral had listened to the community’s concerns and that its new proposal was different from the previous quarry.

“We have taken the feedback on board and we are aware that people will be quite concerned about the project but there will be significant upsides for the community and council going forward,” he said.

“We believe it will be win-win and that’s why we are being proactive now because it takes a long time to establish this kind of infrastructure and we wish to be in a position to help the council and the Gold Coast going forward

“We look forward to working with council to get through the issues they may, or may not have.”

The Reedy Creek site is understood to have around 79 million tonnes of available hard rock, which Boral said in 2014 could supply the Gold Coast with high-grade construction materials for more than 40 years.

Councillors in 2014 unanimously voted against the quarry, sparking an appeal by Boral in the Planning and Environment Court

The case dragged on for four years, climaxing with council winning its case in the Court of Appeal in 2018.

At the time, council considered asking the state government to take steps to prevent a quarry from ever being built on the site.

Mr Tate on Sunday said his position had not changed since council’s legal battle to halt the previous mine proposal a decade ago,

“We listened to the local community and fought with them last time this was proposed, so I will do the same again,” he said.

Southern Gold Coast residents opposed the previous quarry, fearing it would cause significant traffic congestion as well as dust kicked up by heavy equipment to fall on their properties.

The Boral proposal will now be assessed by council staff before it is presented to the planning committee for approval at a later date.

The existing West Burleigh quarry, which sits east of the M1, has around 13 years of life in it before it will be completely mined.

Once finished, Boral is proposing converting it to a resource recovery centre and landfill for construction waste.

The company, in its application to council, says just 26 per cent of the Reedy Creek site will be used for mining purposes with the rest to be retained as green space.

Mr Noakes said the proposed Reedy Creek Quarry would help deliver key materials for housing, both on the Gold Coast and throughout the south east, as the city’s population rapidly moves towards one million people.

“The Gold Coast population is projected to reach one million by 2046 and this requires an additional 161,700 homes and supporting critical urban infrastructure like waste management facilities, while the surrounding region is predicted to tip to 5.9 million people by 2046 which requires almost 840,000 new homes

“Failing to plan for this future could result in skyrocketing construction costs and house prices, heavily congested roads and a significant shortage of critical strategic infrastructure and landfill space to cope with the expanding population.

“If there is no replacement for the West Burleigh Quarry in the southern Gold Coast area, construction materials would need to be transported from the city’s north leading to an extra 31,000 extra heavy vehicles on the road annually to meet market demand.”

FLASHBACK: THE LONG-RUNNING QUARRY SAGA

The proposed Reedy Creek Quarry was one of the most controversial projects on the Gold Coast during the 2010s.

It sparked a protest movement and a multimillion-dollar legal battle which raged for eight long years before council won in the Court of Appeals.

The saga began in November 2010 when Boral, which had owned the Reedy Creek land west of the M1 since 2005, approached the state government and asked for the 220ha quarry to be declared a “significant project” and called in.

The project, which would later be valued at $2.2bn, was only $111m at the time and was pitched by then-Boral manager Steve Pyne as “the last opportunity to secure and develop a significant hard rock resource on the southern Gold Coast”.

It tipped the quarry to begin operating in 2020.

Then-Infrastructure Minister Stirling Hinchliffe vowed to investigate.

“If the proposed Reedy Creek quarry was approved, it would be a significant economic driver for the local area and would provide much-needed resources for $12.4bn worth of projects in the Gold Coast region,” he said at the time.

However, Reedy Creek residents of The Observatory estate were furious with the proposal, fearing environmental destruction and loss of land value.

A public information session soon turned fiery as residents shouted at Mr Pyne.

Reedy Creek resident Rebecca Churchouse told the Bulletin at the time “Boral had plenty of pretty posters at the information session but offered no acceptable answers to residents.”

“It’s absolutely outrageous – it is going to destroy our peaceful suburb, deteriorate house prices and ruin our resale values,” she said.

An organised action group – Stop the Gold Coast Quarry – was founded to stop the quarry and it proved a major point of contention during the 2012 state election campaign, as campaigners demanded action from then-Labor MP Christine Smith who was defeated.

The anti-quarry group was led by president Sam Stewart who became the face of opposition to the project.

“Extractive industry is not a compatible land use with the existing surroundings,” he said at the time.

“It is in a key biodiversity corridor (mapped as far back as the Albert Shire Council).

“The significant project status removes certain requirements in relation to the Vegetation Management Act and fauna and flora.”

The Gold Coast City Council ruled in mid-2013 that an environmental-impact statement provided by Boral was not good enough hand demanded more, a move quickly echoed by then-Queensland Co-ordinator General Barry Broe.

In December 2013, an independent review of the Boral project, commissioned by the council, revealed quantities of the mineral actinolite – one of six asbestos minerals – exists in the area.

The council voted to reject the project, with Mayor Tom Tate declared the city was “utterly opposed” to the quarry.

“It is a long road ahead, but we want to send a message to the State Government that hopefully this quarry will be stopped,” he said at the time.

If not “we will … use ratepayer funds” to fight it, he said.

However the Newman LNP Government did not listen and weeks later overruled the council, rubberstamping the project just hours before the 2013 festive season recess.

Then-Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney announced the State co-ordinator-general had recommended the project’s approval with strict conditions.

He indicated his own support, boasting the quarry would create 246 construction jobs and 24 operational jobs once completed, as well as providing southeast Queensland with raw building materials

But the move sparked a revolt from the Gold Coast’s own LNP MPs, including Ros Bates, Jann Stuckey and Michael Hart.

Mr Seeney sent the project back to the council for approval in 2014 when it was again voted down.

A legal battled played out, first in the Planning and Environment Court and finally in the Court of Appeals, which council again won in 2018.