Concern over proposed rock crushing site

A ROCK crushing operation on vacant farmland in the south of the municipality could be in the works following a planning application to Golden Plains Shire.

Proposed by a company known as Even Mile Pty through Solve Town Planning, the development, if approved, would see a portion of land at Stonehaven near the Hamilton Highway used to recycle the area’s rocks and remove vegetation.

The operation would be located within two kilometres of farmland housing including Murgheboluc resident Travis Garner, who is opposing the development.

He said he and his neighbours would be well within the affected radius of noise due to the cleaning required to sell the materials.

“I’ve worked with rock crushers before. I know how loud they are,” he said. “I know how much rock will be needed for it to be financially viable.

“Normally, what a farmer does is get an excavator and dump truck, make a big hole, scratch out the rock they want to get rid of.

“They don’t clean the rock out by shaking it so there’s none of that noise from a shaking bucket. When they do use one, invariably the pins on the hitches get flogged out and it’s bloody loud.”

Even Mile Pty operates as Regional Recycle which is owned by demolition recyclers Lewis Group.

Mr Garner said Regional Recycle’s similar rock crushing operation near Geelong has blown silica dust towards residents, which he expects will also be the case at the Stonehaven lot.

“They have a rock crushing plant at Fyansford that often has silica dust spewing across the highway from the southerly winds that come off the hills into the new estates,” he said.

“I used to hear complaints from people when I used to lease farmland there. I’m a construction worker and they’re all getting lung capacity tests for silica at the moment.”

The estimated cost of development is listed as $50,000 on the application.

Mr Garner said he has a background in civil infrastructure, and also cited the difficulties of bringing trucks onto the land, the acoustics report, which excludes northern housing, and underwhelming community consultation as calls for concern.

“I spoke to my neighbour who’s closer to it than me at one kilometre and he said he’d never received a letter about it,” he said.

“There’s a document in the application where it says it’s been superseded but there’s no superseded document to look at, so where’s the correct document?”

A representative from Golden Plains Shire said the application is still being considered by the municipality and that no decision has been made yet.

“Golden Plains Shire council’s planning department are currently assessing a planning application for a vacant block of land in Stonehaven, and are yet to form an opinion of the proposal in terms of its impact on surrounding properties,” the spokesperson said.

“All owners and occupiers who live or own property within a one-kilometre radius of the subject site have been notified of the proposal via direct mail. Two signs have also been placed at the subject site.

“A final decision on the planning application is yet to be made.”