Objectors say an extra 100 truck movements a day will increase noise and inconvenience residents and visitors to Bass Coast. By Janet Donaldson
GRANTVILLE residents and ratepayers are not as well disposed to the proposed sand quarry as some suggest.
GRANTVILLE residents and ratepayers are not as well disposed to the proposed sand quarry as some suggest.
Real estate values in the immediate area could plummet, a local agent suggests, wiping as much as $7 million or more off the value of homes in the surrounding estates and township if a sand mining operation proposed right on the Bass Highway at Grantville is approved by Bass Coast Council at their meeting on March 20.
The bulk of those directly affected are strenuously opposed to development. More than 40 have formally objected and about 500 have signed a petition asking the council to reject or defer the application. Concerns include:
The council will decide on the application on Wednesday, March 20. The applicant, Dandy Premix, will present its case at 12.30pm and objectors will present their case at 1.30pm. The council meeting begins at 5pm.
The bulk of those directly affected are strenuously opposed to development. More than 40 have formally objected and about 500 have signed a petition asking the council to reject or defer the application. Concerns include:
- Its location on the edge of the town and at the “Gateway” to the whole of Bass Coast. The quarry itself and the associated works will be less than 100 metres from the Bass Highway and within 200 metres of the established residential area.
- An additional set of traffic lights on the Bass Highway is proposed about 150 metres south of Deep Creek Street to cater for the expected 100-plus B Double sand truck movements a day. This is about one truck every eight minutes, five and a half days a week and will create a huge amount of additional noise as loaded trucks labour up the hill past the residential area on the left and the cemetery on the right. This will also cause significant interference and inconvenience to all motorists using the Bass Highway particularly on weekends and tourist event times. These traffic lights and attendant bright safety lighting directly abut established homes. The lifestyle and amenity of residents will be so affected that it will be virtually impossible for some to live in their homes.
- The unknown and untested impact on surface water runoff and pollution into Western Port, located less than 300 metres from the quarry site. This is a Ramsar-listed area of international significance and objectors have asked the developers to refer the project to the federal Environment Minister to ensure it does not contravene the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. They have also asked the developers to conduct a full and independent Environmental Effects Study. So far the developers have not done so despite spending tens of thousands of dollars on consultants and experts’ reports to support their application to the council.
- Despite the horrendous social and environmental cost, the quarry would provide little if any economic or community benefit. Staff, trucks and equipment will all be provided by Dandy Premix and all sand will be transported to their metropolitan plants.
The council will decide on the application on Wednesday, March 20. The applicant, Dandy Premix, will present its case at 12.30pm and objectors will present their case at 1.30pm. The council meeting begins at 5pm.