A bid to more than double production at a Birregurra quarry has put alleged groundwater contamination and the economic benefits of increased extraction at the centre of a dispute between neighbours and the operator.
What's going on: Birregurra Resources is seeking to remove conditions on its planning permit, which caps production at 200,000 tonnes a year and limits truck movements to five per hour.
The proposed changes would allow production of up to 500,000 tonnes a year, with up to 20 truck movements an hour during peak periods.
The background: At Colac Otway Shire Council's submissions hearing on Tuesday, solicitor Neil Longmore, representing farmers Rodney and Russell Beach, who live near the Mooleric Road quarry, told councillors there had long been concerns about the groundwater.
Submission hearings allow people who have made formal submissions or objections to a proposal to speak directly to councillors on the planning committee to listen to the views of people involved. It is not a decision making process.
Longmore said council originally refused the quarry permit in 2014 before the matter went to VCAT, with council later warning the Planning Minister of an “unacceptable risk to accessibility and quality of groundwater”.
The quarry was eventually given the go-ahead in 2017 and began operating in 2020.
Water issues: Longmore said his client Rodney had two cattle drinking from a bore about 300 metres from the quarry that “died of nitrate poisoning after drinking that water”.
He also raised concerns about nitrate monitoring, saying community consultative committee minutes indicated nitrate levels investigated by Southern Rural Water in 2024 were “higher than they should be”.
The nitrate poisoning claim has not been established by the council as a finding of fact, and Longmore acknowledged it was difficult to say whether nitrate poisoning from the bore was the only cause of the deaths.
What does the council say? The council agenda recorded objectors saying required bore monitoring results had not been published on the Water Management Information System, making it difficult for neighbours to assess potential nitrate pollution. The WMIS is the government’s publicly available information database for groundwater levels and water quality across the state.
Barwon Water, Southern Rural Water, the Environment Protection Authority and other government agencies assessed the application for the quarry expansion as part of the application process, with none of the organisations raising any formal objections.
Other side of the fence: Quarry representative Scott Stewart told councillors the existing restrictions were preventing Birregurra Resources from competing for major local contracts.
He pointed to rock supplies for coastal erosion works following last year's storm damage at Wye River and road upgrades in the Otways as examples.
“The nature of our quarry activity is lumpy. Some days we're busy, other days we have no traffic at all,” Stewart said.
He said the changes could deliver a 30 percent increase in production and create more local employment.
Now what? The planning committee has no power to make a decision on the expansion.
The amendment’s approval or rejection rests with the Minister for Planning. The Brolga has sought comment from the Department of Transport and Planning as to when a decision would be made.
Image credit: Birregurra Resources