ALMOST $1 million will be sunk into the Mount Shadwell Quarry by Moyne Shire to improve worker safety and boost production.
Councillors mulled over the $900,000 investment for a mobile screening plant for the quarry site near Mortlake.
Moyne Shire physical services director Trev Greenberger said the mobile screening plant would earn back its cost in three years if the council agreed to fund it.
“The advantage of this is that there would be a threefold increase in production,” Mr Greenberger said.
Mortlake councillors Jill Parker and Anthony Keane supported the move.
“It will be more efficient and there will be higher production,” Cr Parker said. She said the move would also shore up occupational health and safety risks at the site.
“What the quarry workers tell us about what they have to do when something gets pinned, it’s a bit scary,” she said.
The ageing rock crushing plant installed by the former Mortlake shire is 32 years old and the council would need to inject at least $500,000 to bring it up to modern standards.
