TRC rejects request to share cost of road upgrade

A QUARRY owner has failed in his bid to get the Toowoomba Regional Council to help pay for the upgrade of a road as part of conditions attached to the massive expansion of his site.

Phil Bland, who owns the Brookview Quarry along Scrubby Rd near Pittsworth, appealed to the council at a special meeting yesterday to reconsider several conditions attached to the expansion, which was approved at a separate meeting in September.

The conditions related to the upgrade of Scrubby Rd at the full cost of the applicant, with the council arguing the increased heavy truck movements associated with the quarry’s expansion from 100,000 tonnes to up to 500,000 tonnes of extracted material would further deteriorate the road.

In his address to the councillor, Mr Bland said imposing the full cost on him was too much, pointing out he had offered to contribute materials and machines to the TRC to get the road upgraded previously.

“A couple of years ago, I offered to the council 9000 tonnes of gravel plus a grader, a roller and water truck, and I said if the council oversaw it, let’s fix it, and I was told that it would have to come to tender,” he said.

“I believe it’s too much for me to do at this stage.”

The councillors voted to follow planner Nadia McLeod’s recommendation to reject the request, after she said the conditions were “reasonable and relevant”.

Mayor Paul Antonio was not present, citing a potential conflict of interest he held with a different quarry.