At the end of 2021, Justin and his partner Melanie purchased a large property in Shelbourne in the hopes of turning the place into a retreat for themselves and their six kids. The property of almost 50 acres has no town-supplied water, no electricity, or utilities of any kind but this did not deter the pair, excited at the prospect of being self-reliant and surrounded by veggie gardens, fruit trees, chickens, and possibly a few cows.
They knew it would be a huge job, doing everything from scratch, but were excited by the challenge of creating a welcoming place where they could retire and their adult children could come to get away from it all.
Then in early 2022, the couple found out about the plans for the quarry.
“When we got here in the summer of 2021 I had started making plans,” Justin said.
“I looked at all the things around me, the grasses that were growing, the fences, the water, the soil… everything was going to be hard, everything was like starting from scratch, but everything was doable, I was ready… just not ready for this.”
Justin and Melanie first heard about the quarry from a local man involved with the local Landcare group. Justin had asked him to come to the property and talk about the farm and make plans for the future. When Justin asked whether digging a bore would be a possibility the man responded, “Well they’re going to dig a quarry in the hills behind you, so any water you find will likely disappear after they do.”
Since then, Justin and Melanie have spent countless hours getting up to speed on the proposed quarry, including meetings with Mawson’s staff about the facility and the impact it will have on their property and the nearby community.
The quarry is estimated to reach 5000,000 tonnes of rock per annum at the peak of operations and has a life span of between 70 and 100 years. Local residents have raised a number of issues at public meetings regarding property values, noise, potential impacts on the supply of surface and groundwater, ecology, and others which are being addressed by Mawson’s.
One of the most recent pieces of information garnered by Justin and Melanie is the truck route of the proposed quarry will include travel to Maldon along Bridgewater-Maldon Road with approximately 120 trips in and out each day.
“It’s my opinion that this development will now bring a significant increase of heavy vehicle traffic to Maldon residents, and I suspect that not many people will be aware of this new route from the Blue Hills Quarry,” stated Justin.
“As far as I am concerned, at the very least this latest change requires a broader consultation with residents who could be affected by the heavy vehicle traffic. Needless to say, moving 50 per cent of heavy truck traffic through a historic township will have a major impact on everyone including retail operators, and will no doubt likely affect tourism.”
The Mail spoke to Mawson’s Resource Manager Cheryl Ward who indicated that they are currently in the process of finalising the ecology surveys and are hoping to submit the application to the government and host a community information session by the end of July.
“The trucks will travel through Maldon with 60 trucks travelling northeast and southeast each day,” Cheryl said.
“So far we have been conducting community consultation with people who are living within a 5km radius of the quarry. The impacts nearby residents will experience are going be different to residents in Maldon and are related to dust and noise etcetera.
“The response we’ve had from residents has been pretty good on the whole, particularly from long-term residents,” noted Cheryl.