‘People are heartbroken’ as quarry given green light in new suburb

3 months ago 18

A mayor in Melbourne’s north says his community is heartbroken at a state government decision to approve a contentious quarry with a near 30-year lifespan in a suburb that will one day be home to almost 50,000 people.

The quarry, which will yield 700,000 tonnes of basalt a year, will operate within the future suburb of Beveridge North-West, 45 kilometres north of the CBD. It will have a 500-metre buffer from the nearest homes and a closure and rehabilitation deadline of 2052, the government says.

Wallan and Beveridge residents (from left) Skye Forster, Rob Eldridge, James Cisco, Mike Phillips, Gayle Phillips and Gazza Sturdy overlook the site of a future quarry.

But Mitchell Shire Mayor John Dougall labelled the quarry’s approval within the heart of a master-planned community one of the worst planning failures in Victoria, as families would be forced to live near an industrial zone for decades.

The semi-regional Mitchell Shire Council has spent more than $1 million campaigning against the quarry. It twice rejected a permit for the operation, which will be on privately owned land between Wallan and Beveridge.

Dougall said the government had ignored overwhelming community opposition and sacrificed proper planning for industrial exploitation.

“This is not a win for our community,” he said. “After four years of campaigning, thousands of letters and countless hours of advocacy, people are heartbroken. They did everything right – but their voices have not been heard.”

The precinct structure plan for Beveridge North-West includes 15,000 homes, four town centres, eight schools and 79 hectares of parks and reserves.

The approved plan for the future suburb was put to Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny for approval in 2022 and spent more than three years on her desk before Tuesday’s announcement. The suburb was first mooted by planning authorities more than a decade ago, in 2013.

Andrew Perkins, property research director at Wingate, questioned why it had taken so long, and said the delay would ultimately push up property prices on Melbourne’s urban fringe.

“In 2013, the median greenfield land price was around $200,000; it’s now around $400,000 – an increase of around $45 a day,” Perkins said.

The precinct structure plan was assessed by two planning panels ahead of Tuesday’s decision, the first of which did not recommend approving the quarry.

Speaking to reporters, Kilkenny did not explain why a quarry was added to the precinct structure plan between the first and second planning panel assessments.

“There is a quarry in this PSP [precinct structure plan]. It has been identified in plans for many years and part of that is ensuring that when you’ve got supply of construction materials that are close to demand, it also means you can reduce the cost of construction, which ultimately makes the homes cheaper to build and cheaper to buy,” she said.

Wallan resident Skye Forster, a member of community group No Quarry for Wallan/Beveridge, said residents were being treated like guinea pigs and the approval of a quarry would reduce available land for housing.

“It is unfathomable that any government would approve a quarry in a residential precinct within cooee of children’s daycare facilities and sporting grounds, yet that is precisely what has been done,” Forster said.

“Our community will now dramatically change in ways incompatible with addressing the housing crisis and the 56,000 new homes this same government is mandating be built in Beveridge and Wallan.”

Beveridge North-West is part of a 10-year pipeline of future greenfield suburbs in Melbourne’s outer north, west and south-east.

Kilkenny said land for housing in Beveridge North-West would be released in stages, beginning with 2400 homes now. Future releases will follow once the $900 million, federally funded Camerons Lane interchange is built, connecting the community to the Hume Freeway.

She had no comment on when the proposed Beveridge train station would be built.

Dougall said the decision highlighted a growing inequity for residents of Melbourne’s outer north.

“Other parts of Victoria receive billions in co-ordinated infrastructure funding. Our community is being asked to live alongside an extractive industry while basic services are delayed or denied.”