Locals oppose Boral’s plan for large quarry expansion
The application comes two months after the Allan government pledged to speed up approval processes for quarries as a way of meeting record demand for construction raw materials.
Twelve months before the state election, the decision is a test of the tug of war between the government’s hunger for raw materials for its Big Build agenda and its accommodation of local health and environmental concerns in a marginally Labor-leaning seat that has never been considered safe.
Boral wants to expand its quarry.Credit: Joe Armao
On Wednesday, Monbulk’s Labor MP Daniela De Martino stood up in parliament to condemn the expansion of the constituent question to her more senior colleague Kilkenny.
“The incredibly close proximity of the proposed expansion to local schools, early childhood learning centers and residents, the removal of ridges and shrubs that provide natural buffer zones against dust and noise, as well as the environmental impacts of the proposed removal of shrubs are of concern to us all,” De Martino said.
Annabel Brown, principal of Ghilgai Steiner School, about a kilometer south of the quarry, traveled to Sydney this month to take the fight to the board at the annual general meeting of Boral’s parent company, SGH.
Brown said he is concerned about young children at the Steiner school being exposed to dangerous dust particles and noise.
Paul Barton, acting principal of Ghilgai Steiner School in Kilsyth, says he does not want to see the government take shortcuts on approvals. Credit: Joe Armao
“We’re not experiencing a lot of impacts right now because blasting and mining activities generally occur quite deep in the pit,” Brown said.
“But this expansion will bring it 33 acres [13.4 hectares] This is particularly concerning as it is in the direction of our school and all the action is close to the surface.”
Ghilgai’s acting principal, Paul Barton, said it would be difficult to explain the quarry expansion to schoolchildren if it went ahead without an environmental impacts statement. “We teach them that the government is there to take care of us. And when we have a government that looks like it’s going to take a big shortcut on health and safety, that’s the exact opposite of what we’re teaching.”
Boral was fined $180,000 in 2023 for failing to provide a safe workplace after several Montrose quarry workers were exposed to unsafe levels of potentially lethal silica dust.
The company provided conflicting information about the amount of rock remaining in the quarry. In its guidance to the Department of Transport and Planning in October, the company said the quarry had only 18 months of supply before it ran out.
Boral said if the bid was rejected Victoria would “prematurely lose a significant source of quality construction aggregate that is well positioned to serve the Melbourne market”.
But this week it was confirmed Age He said there is actually eight to 10 years of supply left.
Boral wants to expand his quarry to 52 hectares.Credit: Joe Armao
The $380 million expansion project will expand the size of the pit by 12.7 hectares, creating almost nine hectares of native vegetation and 262 large native trees.
A spokesman for Boral said the proposal had been developed using appropriately qualified, independent environmental assessments.
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“The project evaluated how to prevent or minimize impacts associated with dust, vibration, air quality and noise through robust, best practice modelling, validated using field data collected at the Montrose Quarry,” they said.
The spokesman said strict national security regulations were in place to protect neighboring homes, buildings and public places from the potential effects of explosions well below vibration levels that could cause structural or cosmetic damage to structures.
An Allan government spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment while the project is being evaluated.
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