Beerburrum Quarry Update

Beerburrum community not giving up

Contributed by the Beerburrum Acton Group

The following is a response from the Beerburrum Action Group to the article in last week’s GC&M News in which Barro Group general manager (Queensland) Ian Ridoutt gave the company’s perspective on the quarry application rejection.

Sunshine Coast Council’s decision to reject the quarry application, as most residents know by now, has been appealed by the Victorian developer Barro Group.

The council has lodged its intention to fight the appeal and defend its decision to support the Beerburrum and Sunshine Coast communities.

On March 28, division 1 councillor Rick Baberowski and his fellow councillors – with one exception – decided that a quarry in Beerburrum was neither warranted nor welcome.

Barro Group’s representatives seem to forget that the Sunshine Coast councillors were elected to office by the various Sunshine Coast communities – NOT the council’s planning staff – and these councillors have demonstrated that they have listened to and acted – rightly – on behalf of their electors.

Mr Ridoutt states that "the site of the Burrum quarry is one of the best on the whole of the Sunshine Coast". He is using narrative such as land use zonings, planning instruments, existing legislation, etc. However, what he doesn’t mention is the attractive cost savings that a quarry in this “handy” location would bring to his company but at a devastating cost to the Beerburrum community, for which his company has shown no regard.

The Sunshine Coast is currently serviced by ten hard rock quarries with a combined licence to supply 6.65 million tonnes. On a yearly average only 2-3 million tonnes have been needed. As Cr Baberowski argued at the council meeting: “Do we actually need another quarry?”

A quarry in our small town, with 160 or more truck movements per day passing the school and small business precinct as well as residents’ homes, would do enormous damage to the current plans being developed by National Parks in conjunction with the council to invest in Beerburrum.

Our unique environment and the area’s links to our nation’s heritage will benefit the town itself and the entire Sunshine Coast community as a tourist destination for Australian and international visitors.

The construction of a quarry with its resulting truck movements through the town centre will detract, both directly and indirectly from not only Beerburrum but from the entire Sunshine Coast community.

In addition, it is anticipated that the already constructed walking tracks through the Glass House Mountains National Park, along with the new trail head currently under construction next to the school, will encourage even more visitors to historic Beerburrum and the surrounding hinterland, creating a knock-on effect for the entire Sunshine Coast community with the likely additions of accommodation houses, restaurants, shops, etc, resulting in added trade enabling businesses to prosper and expand.

This will not occur if our village is turned into a dusty, noisy, smelly haulage route for massive quarry trucks. The Barro company has demonstrated a lack of care and empathy for the wellbeing of our local communities.

Additionally, the cost to expand and accommodate the infrastructure that this proposed operation would need is one that ratepayers must necessarily bear.