CROSSLEY residents are celebrating after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) upheld Moyne Shire Council’s decision to refuse an application for a limestone quarry off the Port Fairy-Penshurst Road.
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Crossley farmer Karinjeet Singh-Mahil said the VCAT decision came after a big community push by the local community and Moyne Shire Council to oppose the limestone quarry proposed for near the intersection with Bourkes Road.
Ms Singh-Mahil said more than 70 objections were made to the quarry proposal and several Crossley residents spoke at the five days of VCAT hearings held in both Warrnambool and Melbourne in May.
She said VCAT had decided to affirm Moyne’s rejection of the application because it did not believe the conditions proposed would satisfactorily address concerns about the impact on groundwater or noise and dust concerns.
The application for the lime quarry had been supported by Moyne’s planning officers but councillors unanimously rejected it last year after the big show of community opposition.
Among council’s reasons for rejecting the application was that it would affect groundwater in the Yangery catchment and might affect its quality.
The council also said the proposal did not have a buffer zone of 250 metres from neighbours in Bourkes Road as recommended by the Environment Protection Authority and would cause noise problems.
Bourkes Road resident Maurice Mahony said the quarry would have been only about 40 metres from his house.
The proposal has an eventful history with the quarry’s original approval in 1991 expiring two years later. But confusion led to the applicants digging on the site in 2009, which led VCAT to order the work to stop, ruling that the quarry’s permit expired in 1993.
The quarry proponent Barrie Gibson was not available yesterday for comment.
