​

NOTE: (reference number LMO1117-2020 - from the Lord Mayor's Office!)

 

This 9 March letter continues a series of misleading statements and incomplete information, some of it used previously by Lord Mayor Schrinner and BCC to justify the continuing operations of the Mt Coot-tha Quarry (MCQ). 

 

The letter is full of half-truths, small parts of the whole story and exaggerations.  Some of the ‘facts’ are just plain wrong!

 

For example, Howard asserts that 'more than 96% of roads in Brisbane' were built using MCQ materials.  Proof should be demanded by the community for such an outrageous assertion, given that so many roads have been constructed using materials from other quarries such as Petrie, Purga and Narangba (Boral) and Ferny Grove and Wolffdene (Hanson), by independent contractors building new greenfield and in-fill developments throughout our City.

 

Further, Howard states that the MCQ is only 28km (return journey) from the BCC asphalt plant at Eagle Farm.  What Howard fails to point out is that the MCQ is twice that distance, 56km (return journey), from the other BCC asphalt plant at Riverview - a serious error of omission, indeed!

 

Recently an MCPA member reported following a semi-trailer full of aggregate from MCQ all the way to Ipswich, to a private contractor's yard!  This demonstrates quite clearly that BCC is selling aggregate and delivering outside of Brisbane City, with large haulage distances.

 

Further, no mention was made of the fact that the BCC-owned Bracalba quarry delivers aggregate to Eagle Farm over a distance of 65km, a round trip of 130km!  If Bracalba quarry also delivers to the Riverview asphalt plant (highly likely), the road journey will involve a round trip of 200km!  But Howard also failed to mention this point in her letter.

 

Howard asserts that, if MCQ were closed, truck travel would increase by >2,000,000 km per annum.  This is a gross exaggeration that fails to take into account the likely and legitimate ordering of aggregates from the Boral and Hansen quarries surrounding Brisbane, five of which are noted above, most of which are much closer to Brisbane than is the Bracalba quarry.  Any Council seeking to minimise greenhouse gases from transport would obtain materials from the closest source.

 

Finally, Howard asserts that budgeted rehabilitation is occurring in the Pine Mountain quarry, but doesn't disclose the annual budget or how long this project will take to complete.  The cost of closure and rehabilitation of the Mt Coot-tha quarry is likely to be greater than for Pine Mountain, but still 'nothing is planned' by this BCC administration!

 

The Brisbane Lord Mayor and Administration need to come clean with the people of Brisbane and tell us the truth, (‘the whole truth and nothing but the truth, etc’). After all, it’s ratepayers’ money they are spending on our behalf! They need to act now to properly plan for the closure and rehabilitation of the Mt Coot-tha Quarry.