Sand quarry near Cooya Beach mangroves rejected
Shire industry
A sand quarry at Killaloe opposed by more than 700 people has been rejected by Douglas Shire Council planners.
The council refused the application on several environmental and planning grounds.
The extraction of the sand ridge, which runs parallel with the beach and Captain Cook Highway between Bonnie Doon Road and Killaloe Dump Road, is “in direct conflict” with the coastal zone environmental provisions in the Douglas Shire Planning Scheme, the decision report states.
“Sand ridges and dunes form part of the Douglas Shire’s physical setting and its environment,” it states.
The quarry also does not comply with the planning provisions around industry in the region, which includes farming, forestry and fishing, the report states.
The company behind the mine proposal, NQ Asphalt, wanted to extract 30,000 tonnes of sand per year to use in road construction in the region, according to a report tabled in yesterday’s council meeting.
“The sand will be extracted and loaded onto trucks and transported away from the site for screening and further processing elsewhere,” the report states.
“The topsoil, of a 30cm depth, will be removed and stored for later rehabilitation.”
The company wanted to dig to 3m and also build a 6.5m-8m-wide sealed road to the quarry from Bonnie Doon Road.
An about 740-signature petition opposing the development expressed “significant concerns about the potential impacts” of the sand quarry.
“The sand quarry site will not be visually unobtrusive,” the petition states.
“Everyone travelling along Bonnie Doon Road or the Captain Cook Highway will be able to see it.”
Trucks turning onto Bonnie Doon Road would create a “traffic hazard” and the mine would “create further drainage and flooding problems in the area”, according to the petition.
“The proposed mining site adjoins a wetland area of significant importance to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people.
“The vast mangrove system provides an abundance of food source for Traditional Owners, including muscles, periwinkles, crayfish, black jew fish, silver jew fish and swordfish as well as turtles and dugong.”
NQ Asphalt can appeal the planning decision or take it to the Planning and Environment Court.
