Sancrox Quarry Expansion approved subject to conditions

Posted: 26.11.2024

The NSW Independent Planning Commission has today approved, subject to conditions, the Sancrox Quarry Expansion (SSD-7293) located 8 kilometres west of Port Macquarie within the Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Government Area.

Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd sought to expand the existing Sancrox Quarry to new areas to extract, process and transport up to 530,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of hard rock material over a 30-year period. The Application also sought approval to construct and operate concrete recycling and batching facilities that would produce up to 20,000 tpa and an asphalt production plant that would produce up to 50,000 tpa. The project will generate up to 80 construction related jobs and support up to 25 operational jobs at full capacity.

The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (Department) completed its whole-of-government assessment of the Sancrox Quarry Expansion in August 2024. The project was referred to the Independent Planning Commission for determination because more than 50 public objections were made to the Department.

The three-member Commission Panel, comprising Janett Milligan (Chair), Terry Bailey and Michael Chilcott, met with key stakeholders, conducted a site inspection and locality tour, and received 11 written submissions. The Commission scheduled a public meeting for the Project, however no registrations to speak were received by the Commission and the meeting did not proceed.

The Panel has today, 26 November 2024, granted development consent to the Sancrox Quarry Expansion, subject to conditions.

In its Statement of Reasons for Decision, the Commission found that “in accordance with the Objects of the EP&A Act, all environmental, social, land use and safety impacts can be managed, mitigated or offset subject to conditions of consent, and the Application is in the public interest.”

The Commission acknowledged key issues raised by the community relating to biodiversity, impacts on Koala habitat, air quality, noise impacts, blasting, water resources, rehabilitation and final landform, and imposed conditions of consent that mitigate a number of the issues raised.

The Commission finds that the quarry’s potential impacts on biodiversity can be mitigated under the conditions of consent imposed by the Commission. The Commission is satisfied that with the implementation of avoidance, mitigation and offsetting measures, including the revegetation of significant areas within the western portion of the subject site, the project is not likely to reduce the viability of the local koala population. The Commission has imposed conditions of consent which require the Applicant to:

stage the proposed quarry expansion such that any required clearing of vegetation is to be undertaken progressively over several decades;
achieve defined revegetation benchmarks, which have been identified upfront as part of the development consent, to provide confidence that the Applicant’s proposed revegetation areas will reach a level of growth that will provide functional capacity as Koala habitat before any expansion of the quarry can proceed beyond its initial stage;
achieve defined revegetation benchmarks, which have been identified upfront as part of the development consent, to provide confidence that the Applicant’s proposed revegetation areas will reach a level of growth that will provide functional capacity as koala habitat before any expansion of the quarry can proceed beyond its initial stage;
maintain a biodiversity corridor within the Site to allow for vegetation and wildlife connectivity and to ensure that the local koala population retains access to habitat areas north and south of the Site;
undertake progressive rehabilitation of the Site;
offset residual biodiversity impacts by the retirement of ecosystem and species credits; and
establish a Biodiversity Stewardship Site on the northern portion of the Site to protect existing koala habitat.

The Commission has also imposed conditions which require the Applicant to prepare comprehensive management plans and strategies to report on mitigation and monitoring outcomes as well as to demonstrate compliance with performance criteria on an ongoing basis.

All the documents relating to the assessment and determination of this proposal can be found on the Commission’s website: https://www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/cases/2024/08/sancrox-quarry-expansion-project