The Queensland Government has announced it will issue a proposed call-in notice for the Boral Resources Quarry planned for Reedy Creek on the Gold Coast.
It said this followed “significant community feedback and concerns about the impact of the proposed development”.
Community and stakeholders have 10 business days to submit feedback on whether or not the project should be called in.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie said the proposed call-in followed a request last week from Members of Parliament Ros Bates, Laura Gerber, and Hermann Vorster.
The request raised concerns about the application and the “integrity of the submission period”.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reported last week that the Gold Coast Council had received 5000 submissions opposing the Reedy Creek quarry.
According to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning website, the Planning Minister can use call-ins in exceptional circumstances that relate to state interests.
“This power protects economic and environmental state interests. It also ensures Queensland’s development assessment system remains efficient, effective, transparent, integrated, coordinated and accountable,” the site says.
Under the proposed Reedy Creek call-in, the Deputy Premier will write to the applicant, Gold Coast City Council, and submitters on the current application, inviting their feedback during the consultation period.
Mr Bleijie said the proposed call-in was about restoring confidence that community concerns were fully understood and properly considered.
“Queenslanders deserve transparency and confidence in planning decisions and residents want to be taken seriously when projects of this magnitude are proposed near their homes,” he said.
“By initiating this proposed call in, we’re taking the time to test whether the right questions have been asked, the right information has been considered, and whether the community has had a genuine opportunity to be heard.”
Submissions will be reviewed before a final decision is made on whether to call in the application.
In a statement on the Reedy Creek project in April last year, Boral said the development would help address a looming shortage of construction materials for Gold Coast roads, buildings and infrastructure projects, and landfill constraints.
In a statement issued at the time, Boral’s Executive General Manager Queensland Paul Noakes said 26 percent of the 216.7 hectare Reedy Creek site would be used for quarry development.
The current West Burleigh Quarry would transition to resource recovery activities integrated with landfill for construction waste.
“If there is no replacement for the West Burleigh Quarry in the southern Gold Coast area, construction materials would need to be transported from the City’s north leading to an extra 31,000 extra heavy vehicles on the road annually to meet market demand,” Mr Noakes said.
