The prospect of a new hill top shale mine has not landed well with neighbours and impacted residents overlooking Fish Creek Quarries (FCQ) on the Meeniyan-Promontory Road.
A large group of concerned local residents and businesses turned out recently to meet with environmental consultant Kerstin Brauns, who has been employed by the Williams family, owners of FCQ, to carry out a community consultation to assess the impact of the proposed new mine. It will sit uphill from the current operation, consuming a whole side of the Hoddle Range. The existing mine has been in existence for the past 30 years and, according to the owners, is coming to the end of its productive life.
Speaking on behalf of the wider group, Richard McCallister (himself with a long history in best practice in environmental management of mine sites throughout
the world), noted the outstanding natural beauty of the region is what attracts the residents to the area, and was the impetus for him and his family to move from the Northern Territory to the Prom Coast just six months ago.
“I’m too soon to the area to understand the local politics but it looks shambolic from a planning perspective”, he said.
“When you’re told that there’s a quarry behind your place and it’s going to cease, you kind of take that on face value and good faith, not to find out that they’ve proposed another one two months after we bought the house”, added Richard.
The subject of whether the quarry is even required is also of hot debate in the area. Being a shale/mudstone, it is unable to be used in construction of any kind as it doesn’t have the strength required. Its main use is helping to sheet local farming roads to reduce hoof rot in dairy cattle. But many farms have their own material supplies and can apply for temporary licenses to extract their own sheeting material. The local shire is also known to use the material on occasion on minor roads, but research shows that shale is a poor material choice for roads and quickly breaks down into dust and mud, creating a hazard both for vehicles and for health and the environment.
There are a multitude of issues brought up by opposition to the quarry, not least the trucks that currently enter and exit the site dumping dust and dirt along the main tourist road in and out of Wilsons Promontory. Quarry trucks are often sighted hurtling along the roads, endangering not only other road users and wildlife (there is an abundance of koalas in the area), but also children being ferried to and from school.
It was only two years ago that 16 children and a bus driver were pulled from their vehicle that had swerved to avoid a collision with a speeding truck on the notoriously narrow road. The stretch of bitumen between Fish Creek and the current quarry entrance is also regularly in need of repair, something most regard as being caused by regular heavy vehicle traffic.
The recent increase in traffic leaving and entering the current quarry is of particular concern to Mr McCallister.
“Activity seems to have been increasing over the past few months. I don’t know whether they’re building up a campaign of extraction now ahead of the application, whether that’s to prove up extractive rates and the business case”, Mr McAllister said.
He went on, “Who knows? They might want to sell it on. It’s typical in mining operations like that. They boost the supposed revenues for a quick sale”.
South Gippsland Council responded to questions about the proposed site, as well as those about recent rezoning and subdivision proximity with the following statement: “Council has not received any new planning permit applications for the Fish Creek Quarries site. Before any application can be lodged with Council, the proponent must first obtain the necessary licences from the Victorian Government.” Kerstin Brauns did not respond to requests for comment before deadline. David Barrett
