By Catherine Watson

PLANNING Minister Sonya Kilkenny has approved an application by Heidelberg Australia to widen Stanley Road in Grantville for sand trucks to service a new quarry at the end of the road.

The permit allows the company to remove 0.738ha of roadside vegetation, including four large trees. Several dozen additional mature trees will be removed as part of the works, along with other vegetation.

The original permit for the Stanley Road quarry, granted by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in 1996, required the company to use Stanley Road for its sand trucks and to widen and seal the road to the council’s satisfaction. 

In February 2025 Bass Coast councillors voted 8-1 to reject the application by Heidelberg (then Hanson) to remove 1.7 hectares of significant vegetation from Stanley Road including 37 large trees.

Councillors argued that clearing of native vegetation was incompatible with the council’s legal obligations and current community thinking. The road itself is a busy wildlife corridor and it also contains significant vegetation. 

The quarry site has remained dormant until now but in late 2025 residents of the Adams Estate, off Stanley Road, were notified of plans for the road widening. Many had been unaware that the road was a planned sand truck route. 

Heidelberg’s application drew 58 objections from residents, the wider community and conservation groups including the Westernport Biosphere, Gippsland Threatened Species Action Group, South Gippsland Conservation Society, Phillip Island Conservation Society, Victorian National Parks Association and Save Western Port Woodlands. 

Heidelberg appealed against the council’s decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Planning Minister later called in the application citing the state significance of the sand resource.

In May this year a three-person Standing Advisory Committee considered submissions from Heidelberg, the council, residents of the Adams Estate and conservation groups.

The committee’s report states it had to find a balance between the policy imperatives of sand extraction and the protection of biodiversity. 

“The Planning Scheme clearly provides policy support for the protection of biodiversity, including native vegetation and important habitat in roadsides. It also refers to consolidating and linking existing fragmented biodiversity habitat areas. However, that support is not absolute. 

“The Planning Scheme also provides considerable policy support for economic development and sand extraction. But again, that policy support is not absolute. Resource extraction may only take place if appropriate environmental standards are achieved. 

“The Bass Coast SPP clearly articulates the policy tension between protecting biodiversity and the realisation of significant sand resources in the Western Port Woodlands area ...

"There is no ‘magic formula’ for this. What must be demonstrated is that the benefits outweigh the disbenefits. The Committee must assess this on the material before it, even where there is inconclusive evidence and conflicting submissions. 

“The sand resource is identified as a resource of state significance and is needed to service Melbourne’s construction industry and support the provision of more housing in the context of the gradual decline of sand deposits located within Metropolitan Melbourne. The Quarry Permit was subject to the earlier VCAT proceeding that investigated many alternative access routes to the Quarry and determined Stanley Road was appropriate …

“The Committee accepts that to realise the sand resource, the roadworks must occur and native vegetation will be lost. It is satisfied, subject to the Committee’s recommended permit conditions, biodiversity will be protected as required by Clause 12.01 and Clause 52.17 of the Planning Scheme. The removal of native vegetation has been avoided and minimised to the extent practicable without undermining the objective of the proposal.

“The Committee has given weight to the fact the project footprint sits within the broad area of the Western Port Woodlands, a mosaic of fragmented areas of high biodiversity value. It is located adjacent to native vegetation that directly links to the Grantville Nature Conservation Reserve and the Grantville Landfill site. The biodiversity experts all agreed the road reserve contained significant habitat values. 

“The Committee has considered the above benefits and disbenefits across a range of relevant ‘communities’: the local residents including the Adams Estate, community conservation groups, the local community and the broader community across the region and Melbourne, both now and into the future. It has also considered the intrinsic rights of biodiversity to exist and flourish. It accepts the benefits and disbenefits of the removal of vegetation will be experienced unevenly across the various affected communities. 

“Overall, the Committee is satisfied the proposal will achieve net community benefit and support sustainable development, consistent with the Victorian planning objectives and Clause 71.02-3 of the Planning Scheme.”

The permit conditions state that given the presence of protected species in Stanley and McGrady Roads, the company may be required to get permits under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 and Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

A qualified zoologist must also be on hand to “catch and manage” any native fauna living or nesting in vegetation to be removed. Any hollow bearing trees that are felled must be retained for conservation purposes and placed in suitable areas of habitat nearby. 

The permit will lapse if Heidelberg does not begin the vegetation removal within two years or finish it within four. 

The company may have its hands full, with an existing proposal to open a major new quarry at Lang Lang, adjacent to its existing quarry. It also recently acquired the Dandy Premix quarry in Grantville from the Maas Group.