GMAN says bigger quarry will harm environment
By Mitch Gaynor
ONE of Glasshouse Country’s most respected and long-standing environmental groups has slammed a proposal by Hanson to double rock extraction from its local quarry.
More than 225 submissions have already been lodged with the Sunshine Coast Council, with the vast majority opposed to the development ahead of a MAY 2 deadline.
In August 2023 Hanson lodged plans to increase extraction at its Glass House Mountains site from 600,000 tonnes per year to 1.2 million tonnes.
Documents lodged by Hanson show the increase in activity would require an extra 20,000 more truck movements per year with about 40,000 trucks annually operating out of the quarry. The operator has offered to pay over $5m in road upgrades on the most heavily used routes.
Despite the increase in truck movements, reports commissioned by Hanson show there would be a less than 5 per cent increase in traffic delays at the Steve Irwin Way-Reed St intersection into the township.
The Glasshouse Mountains Action Network argued against the original application for a quarry in 1989. It argues against the proposed expansion on grounds including environmental, cultural, tourism and traffic concerns.
“The overwhelming majority of the residents of the Glasshouse Mountains region at the time (of the original application) strongly opposed the original quarry application,” GMAN’s John Quinn stated.
“The Glasshouse Mountains were officially Australian Heritage Listed by then Prime Minister John Howard on August 3, 2006.
“The criterion for heritage listing included: ‘The place requires outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in the course of, or the pattern of Australia’s natural or cultural history.’
“It is important to note that this criterion is divided into three sections: Flora and Fauna, Geoheritage and Cultural History.”
Mr Quinn stated the cultural significance of the mountains could not be understated.
“For the First Nations People, the Glass House Mountains area is considered spiritually very significant with many ceremonial sites protected today. Before European settlement, the area was a special meeting place where many First Nations Peoples gathered for ceremonies and trading,” he wrote.
GMAN stated that the mountains “provide islands of natural habitat for plants and animals”.
“They conserve regionally significant areas of rhyolitic mountain vegetation that supports 26 plants that are rare, threatened or of conservation interest.
“The ridges, rocky pavements, scree slopes and gullies provide a variety of habitats for vegetation, ranging from Eucalypt open forest to montane heaths and shrublands.
“The mountains also provide a habitat for many species of fauna, some of which are rare or endangered.”
He stated that vibrations from the increase in blasting and crushing will “significantly increase the threat to many animal species”.
Flora would also be impacted, the group stated, with dust pollution “inevitable” and an unknown impact on ground water and the water table.
The increase in use of ‘energy-intensive machinery would also contribute to climate change, GMAN argued.