Council demands more data from Quarry as community ramps up opposition
By Sonia Isaacs
Local advocacy group Save Our Glasshouse Mountains (SOGHM) is ramping up efforts to stop the proposed expansion of a quarry in Glass House Mountains, as Sunshine Coast Council requests significant further information before the application can proceed.
The controversial proposal, lodged by Heidelberg (Hanson) Materials in July 2023 under MCU23/0197, seeks approval to double extraction rates at the Mount Beerwah Road site to more than one million tonnes annually.
At a community meeting on June 8, attended by around 40 locals, residents raised concerns about silica exposure, blast impacts, and damage to biodiversity.
“We want Council to ask for independent monitoring outside the boundaries of the quarry,” Glass House Mountains resident Burnice Starkey said. “With a doubling of trucks on peak days, what will that do to koala movement, to biodiversity, and to water quality in Coonowrin Creek?”
Ms Starkey said the group would soon roll out a series of community activations, dubbed “visibilities”, to increase public awareness and pressure decision-makers.
“We’ll be gathering at visible locations with signage to highlight what’s at stake,” she said, urging residents to attend upcoming Council meetings to “keep the issue front and centre.”
Council’s formal request to Heidelberg for further information, issued on June 6, raised concerns over the reliability and completeness of Heidelberg’s environmental reports.
Specific issues included inconsistencies in background noise levels, potential underestimation of truck movements and speeds, and questionable dust emission modelling.
The dust report also drew criticism for omitting nearby sources—such as the Bassett Barks composting facility—and for unclear meteorological assumptions and control measures.
Council has requested updated modelling and justification of data choices, along with a more thorough assessment of cumulative impacts on nearby sensitive receptors.
As a result, the decision period has been extended to allow Heidelberg time to respond and for Council to assess the revised material.
A Heidelberg spokesperson said the company was committed to working constructively with Council.
“Many of the key questions raised have already been addressed with the lead agency; the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, which authorised the development through conditions of a new Environmental Authority under the Environmental Protection Act 1994,” the spokesperson said.