Quarry infill gets go-ahead

By Paul Pickering
A MOOD of mutual acceptance prevailed last week as Knox City Council approved an application to fill the Norvel Road quarry site in Ferntree Gully.
The council has given Robertson Industries the green light to begin depositing 200,000 cubic metres of clean-fill into the site in preparation for a residential development that has been earmarked for the property.
While the timing of the works is dependent on the availability of fill, the process is expected to take at least six months and is expected to begin within a year.
As a condition of its long-term permit to extract from the site, Robertson Industries would have been within its rights to continue removing vegetation as it saw fit for the next 35 years – thereby encroaching further upon significant native bushland.
While residents and environmental groups have previously opposed Robertson Industries’ plans for the site, a series of consultations between interested parties seems to have allayed those fears about the impact on the adjacent Blind Creek Billabong and bushland area.
Friends of Blind Creek Billabong spokeswoman Fay Rimmer last week welcomed the council’s decision, commending Robertson Industries for agreeing to hand 1.29 hectares of the site back to the council for the preservation of the section of Valley Heathy Forest.
“The short term implications to the amenity of the local area will result in significant long-term gain with a large area at the rear of the site retained for future generations to enjoy,” she said.
Knox Environment Society vice-president Irene Kelly was similarly pragmatic about the need for the process to move forward.
“I think it seemed like the next logical outcome,” she said.
“We’re trying very hard to work towards the preservation of all the bushland in the area and this is an opportunity for bushland that was previously in private hands to be secured for the people of Knox.”
It is projected that the process of filling the quarry will involve more than 16,000 truck movements in and out of the site, with vehicles using McMahons Road as the main access point.
Some residents expressed concerns about an increase in traffic and noise during the filling process, prompting the council to insist that truck movements be restricted to the current hours permitted for quarrying at the site which is between 7am-6pm on weekdays and 9am-3pm on Saturdays.
It is expected that traffic safety measures that will be installed along McMahons Road early next year – as part of the Knox’s Local Area Traffic Management scheme and the Federal Government’s Blackspot program – will also provide smoother and quieter passage for the trucks.
Robertson Industries is yet to submit an application to rezone the land for residential development having told the council that it would wait until a permit to fill the quarry was granted.