Willowbank Quarry - Judgeford
Willowbank Quarry and Fulton Hogan – Further application
Background - As you may be aware a rock quarry was set up to help with building the Transmission Gully motorway from an entry and exit off SH58 near the Judgeford Kennels. Porirua City Council granted consent for this specific purpose for a finite timeframe (to the end of December 2020 at the latest). Critically, it was agreed that the environmental impacts would be remediated upon completion of the rock extraction.
However, at a time when the quarry operation should be carrying out work to support the environment and remediate the effects, as agreed, Fulton Hogan have applied to Porirua Council for a 5-year and now a further 35 year extension.
If consent is approved these works will have a significant impact on SH58 operations as haulage hours could be between 6am to 10pm six days a week. Neighbours will be further impacted with noise, dust and blasting vibrations as some are within 500m of the quarry face. The environment will be affected as there are areas of National Significance, covenanted bush areas and some endangered species within the quarry areas. The quarry may also creep closer to Belmont Regional Park and with a new quarry operator and long-term extraction consent, we feel it is highly likely that the environmental impacts will only increase as the quarry swells in size and scope.
If consent is approved a variation is more easily obtainable to grant additional hours/truck movements etc. Lawyers advise us that putting in a smaller request and up-scaling it later is common practice and is an issue for communities everywhere. Future consents from quarry operators at this quarry will then be judged based on the change to the existing conditions not the original baseline without the activity.
What can you do? Please check the newspaper[Dominion Post, Kapi-Mana News?] and the PCC website for the additional consent notification and write a submission to Porirua City Council (by the due date) discussing your concerns about the consent request. The link below is for the 5 year consent application as the 35 year application has not been loaded to the website yet.
https://poriruacity.govt.nz/your-council/getting-involved/public-consultation/willowbank-quarry/
You could also donate some funds on our Givealittle page. This page was set up to help local residents be supported by costly expert evidence in this hearing:
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-us-protect-our-environment
If you have any further questions don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Judgeford Environmental Protection Society at [email protected]
For Committee
Judgeford Environmental Protection Society