Consent to expand quarry granted

A proposal to expand an existing quarry has been granted by an independent hearing panel.Environment Canterbury and Christchurch City Council jointly heard applications from Road Metals Company Limited to expand their quarry into a new area adjacent to their existing quarry site.In September 2017, Road Metals Company Limited applied to expand its existing quarry at Yaldhurst, with consents needed from both the Canterbury Regional Council and the Christchurch City Council.The proposal for the new site related to extraction only, with no crushing, processing or stockpiling of aggregate planned.A joint hearing, overseen by Independent Hearing Commissioners Sarah Dawson and John Iseli, was held in April.The commissioners have granted the consents for a duration of 8 years.Overall, the Commissioners concluded that the effects of the proposal can be appropriately avoided, remedied or mitigated by the conditions imposed, and the consents are consistent with the relevant planning framework.The decision which can be read here concludes:

• The discharge is unlikely to cause adverse health effects.
• The dust likely to be experienced will be consistent with what can be anticipated in this rural environment, and cumulative adverse dust effects are likely to be no more than minor. The mitigation and monitoring measures, if rigorously implemented, will result in effective dust control and represent best practice dust management.
• In relation to the City Council consents, it was concluded that amenity, including noise, landscape, rural and visual amenity will be maintained and groundwater and surface water will be adequately protected.