A truck every nine minutes proposed in application

A quarry company looking to increase its operations in a ‘‘peaceful’’ Marlborough valley has a proposition for residents; 86 trucks a week, for a month, or 344 crammed into two weeks, with two weeks off.

Traffic engineer Tim Kelly, representing Simcox Quarry Ltd, said ‘‘worst case’’ scenario, residents in Omaka Valley would see seven trucks an hour over the two weeks (or 10 working days), which could be one every nine minutes.

But this would be balanced out by having no trucks for two weeks every month, Kelly said at the second day of a resource consent hearing.

Simcox Quarry Ltd lodged an application to dig up to 90,000 tonnes of rock a year from the Omaka Valley’s Barracks Rd quarry, almost double what it was currently mining.

The application for consent, with an ‘‘unlimited’’ time period, received 116 submissions – 113 against and three for.

‘‘This is not some sneaky way of getting more trucks in,’’ Kelly said of the weekly-to-monthly idea.

‘‘It’s more flexible.’’

Kelly said the daily limit of 34 trucks was only reached nine times in the 2017-18 financial year, and twice in 2018-19.

Documents showed 53,400 tonnes of material was mined from the Barracks Rd quarry in 2017-18 and 47,500 in 2018-19.

‘‘Going up to 90,000 will increase the number of times the daily cap is reached, but, importantly, it can never be exceeded.’’

But documents compiled by Kelly showed Simcox had gone over its weekly consent limit for two months since May 2014.

People who had opposed the application were due to speak at the hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

Renwick resident Kim Chapman-Taylor said in her submission last year that the potential for ‘‘continuous truck and trailer movements’’ over 10 days was unfair on valley residents.

‘‘Does this sound like a company that has any interest in the community that it is working in?’’ she said.

‘‘I would think the majority of the valley residents understand the need for the quarry rock for the betterment of the greater local and regional communities ... but it has to be fair on those of us who live here.’’

Renwick man Steve Hill said seeing trucks every nine minutes would have a ‘‘negative impact’’ on the valley’s amenity values.

Simcox Construction had mined the quarry since 1998, but management was passed to Simcox Quarry Limited in 2018.

The quarry was still operated by Simcox Construction, which was bought by Canterbury’s Isaac Construction Limited in 2018.

Simcox volunteered on the first day of the hearing to create a new ‘‘road enhancement fund’’ to ensure the road levies it paid were spent on or around roads leading to and from the Barracks Rd quarry. This could amount to $1.8 million over 35 years.

Simcox lawyer Mike HardyJones said the company forked out $111,000 in levies between 2013 and 2020 to cover road damage along Barrack and Brookby roads, towards the quarry, but only $60,000 had been used by Marlborough Roads over the same period.

‘‘Where is the justification for Simcox’s [road] levy being spent in other areas of Marlborough?’’

Marlborough Roads manager

Steve Murrin said on Tuesday the repair bill did not include road reseal costs, which were not provided due to ‘‘unreliable data’’, and came in at $40,000 a kilometre.

Simcox paid 63 cents a tonne for road levies.

Murrin said he was not aware of any other companies that currently paid a road levy, but that forestry companies on Port Underwood Rd had in the past.

‘‘At the moment, the quarry’s payments go into areas of the [Marlborough] network where it’s needed most.

‘‘If that money was taken aside and put into a fund for Brookby Rd [and Barracks Rd], then that loss of repair covers would have to come from somewhere else. It could mean a rates increase across the district.’’

But Marlborough Roads would be ‘‘happy’’ to administer and apply a fund dedicated to improving amenity in Omaka Valley, he said.

Hardy-Jones said on Monday that the quarry was crucial for managing Marlborough’s flood control, had ‘‘significant’’ positive effects, and that dust, noise, and hazards would be well managed.

New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) data showed since 2001 there had been six crashes along Brookby Rd, which led to the Barracks Rd quarry, and one was fatal.

Two people were treated for serious injuries in May last year after a truck ‘‘slipped’’ off Barracks Rd.

CHLOE RANFORD/ LDR Omaka Valley residents could see a truck go past every nine minutes for two weeks if an application to mine rubble is approved.