A resident has raised her concerns about a proposal to mine rhyolite on the NSW Far South Coast. Photo: Gunlake Quarry.
A community group is raising the alarm over what it sees as issues with a plan to resume quarry operations.
A development application (DA) was lodged with Bega Valley Shire Council in late 2021, containing plans to restart operations at Bournda Downs Quarry.
Consultancy company Planned Town Planning Solutions lodged plans for the site, wanting to resume operations at the Sapphire Coast Drive location at Wallagoot (about a 10-kilometre drive from Tathra).
The site is owned by Sapphire Pastoral Land Holdings Pty Ltd.
The quarry was previously approved for operation without crushing or screening work on-site until 2010.
A nearby resident, who asked not to be named by Region, has simple words for why she joined the Objection to Bournda Quarry Group.
“It’s just not the right area,” she said of the proposal.
While the proposal was lodged several years ago, she said the site had been sold since then.
“We all thought it’d take a year or so to assess. You only get a week’s notice before the [council] meeting … We’re putting our lives on hold, thinking each month it might come up.”
She said her objections surrounded the potential environmental and tourism impacts.
She said her opposition was based on a concern the proposed operations could harm nearby wildlife.
“It’s a vital wildlife corridor that connects Bournda National Park and down to Wallaga Lake,” she said of the area.
“It has a lot of vulnerable and threatened species – the glossy black cockatoo, yellow-bellied gliders, flying foxes, long-nosed bandicoots and frogs.
“There’s a long list of them.”
But a flora and fauna assessment prepared for the DA found the proposal was “unlikely to have a significant effect” on threatened species or their habitats if mitigation measures were undertaken.
“These strategies mitigate the effects of the proposal on flora and fauna values of the subject site in general,” it states.
In late 2025, the proposal was assessed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), which judged it as being ‘Not a controlled action’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
In her reasons for the decision, DCCEEW branch head Kate Gowland wrote that while noise was a concern, it could be managed.
Loud blasts are expected to occur three times a year, with a mitigation measure put forward that the blasts do not occur between September and December (when many animals are breeding).
“I considered that the proposed infrequent blasts are unlikely to trigger a long-term behavioural avoidance response,” she found.
Ms Gowland also said the planned vegetation clearing would be unlikely to have a significant impact on nearby bird habitat.
The resident also noted the objection group’s concern about the proposal to mine rhyolite.
“The material itself is not particularly good or used for a lot – it’s used for road base,” she said.
A document lodged earlier this year as part of the DA states there are plans to extract a maximum of 29,000 cubic metres of rhyolite per year, over 15 years.
If approved, it will operate within the quarry’s existing footprint.
This is another concern for the resident, who believes it risks causing harm to those living nearby.
“This proposal wants to blast it and process it on-site … There’ll be a lot of noise and dust, and the big concern is the rock is rhyolite, which has a very high silica content,” she said.
“When it’s blasted … it releases silica dust and we all know what happens with that to people.”
In recent weeks, the Objection to Bournda Quarry Group has been seeking support for its campaign against the quarry.
She said 500 people had signed its paper petition and also pointed to an online petition launched three years ago that had gathered more than 10,000 signatures.
In a statement to Region this month, a spokesperson for Bega Valley Shire Council (BVSC) confirmed staff were assessing the development.
“The assessment of Development Application 2021.360, in accordance with the matters for consideration as specified under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, is nearing completion by council staff.
“The application will be reported to council for determination, given the number of objections received during public consultation.”
The DA can be found by searching 360/2021 on the council’s DA Enquiry tool, while the proposal will be discussed at the upcoming council meeting on Wednesday afternoon (22 April).
