Court throws out drawn out Boral quarry bid
GOLD Coast City Council has won a four-year legal battle to stop a quarry being built at Reedy Creek.
Boral will not be allowed to build a quarry on 65 hectares of land in the residential area, the Court of Appeal in Brisbane ordered yesterday.
However, the company said the decision would mean more congestion on the M1 due to more truck movements and would affect the 300 workers employed on the Gold Coast.
Sam Stewart, the president of the long-running Stop the Gold Coast Quarry group, yesterday hailed the court ruling.
“We are happy that the process works,” he said. “We are very thankful for council’s support.”
Mr Stewart said the fight to stop the quarry first started in 2010.
Quarry opponents supported the council through a Planning and Environment Court battle and most recently in the Court of Appeal.
The order prompted Boral to warn more congestion would be expected on the M1 because of more truck movements to transport quarry materials to construction sites on the Gold Coast.
“Transporting quarry materials from further away will increase the cost of housing and other vital infrastructure in the region,” Boral executive general manager (Queensland) Simon Jeffery said.
“This decision also has the potential to add traffic on our already congested main roads, with as many as 40,000 additional truck movements on the M1.”
The quarry would have been in operation for at least 40 years to provide materials for roadbase and as a replacement for an almost spent quarry at West Burleigh.
Boral says it employs 300 people on the Gold Coast and contributes about $55 million a year to the economy.
Council economy, planning and environment chairman Cameron Caldwell said the legal battle had cost the council a “substantial” figure but declined to reveal its legal costs.
“This has been a four-year battle that council has held up for the residents of the city,” Cr Caldwell said.
“After all that time, we have come out in front.”
In May last year Mayor Tom Tate said the city would have spent “millions of dollars” in legal bills to defend ratepayers.
The quarry action legal costs are still being finalised but the cost to ratepayers has been diminished. The court ordered Boral pay the council’s legal costs in relation to the appeal.
“The residents around Reedy Creek were going to be heavily affected and that’s why we fought for them — so we wouldn’t see a quarry in suburban Gold Coast,” Cr Caldwell said.
He said the City Plan set out areas that were more appropriate for quarry activity.
Boral is considering the decision and its options. BILINGA residents described the moment a powerpole almost hit a traffic controller after a concrete truck smashed into powerlines.
The accident on Pacific Parade occurred about 10am, cutting power to at least 126 homes and businesses.
A large powerpole was pulled straight from the ground and across the road, causing live powerlines to fall on the road and over the truck.
“It missed killing a guy by less than a metre,” said a nearby resident. “I saw a traffic controller running. He threw his lolly pop baton down and ran.
“He was like a kangaroo, trying to miss the sparks.”
Locals had to use eskies and generators to keep food cool and fridges running.
The concrete truck was being used for a nearby development and was trying to reposition itself.
“The truck was chockers with concrete,” a resident said.
Police said the driver was safely removed from the truck and Workplace Health And Safety were investigating.