A Wanaka contracting firm is seeking council consent for an 11ha gravel quarry near Luggate.
Central Machine Hire, which belongs to Willowridge Developments, is planning a 10m-deep quarry on land owned by Willowridge.
It would be within a 119ha site across the Clutha River from Luggate and bounded by Kane and McKay Rds and State Highway 8A, the Luggate-Tarras Rd.
Gravel would be extracted for 20 years in three stages and used at Willowridge's Three Parks and Alpha Series subdivisions in Wanaka, along with other developments in Luggate and Hawea.
It is anticipated 953,000cu m of gravel would be taken over time.
The quarry could create up to 180 vehicle movements per day and the large trucks would use the Red Bridge to access Luggate and Wanaka, and McKay Rd to access Hawea - on Mondays to Saturdays from 7am until 6pm.
However, the applicant said ''in reality'' the traffic would be much less'' as 180 movements would require continuous loading at the quarry and there were not enough vehicles.
The boundary of the nearest property would be 1km west on Kane Rd.
The applicant said the noise rules in the Queenstown Lakes District's rural zone would not be breached at this property.
Any dust nuisance would be suppressed with water.
The quarry would be accessed off the unsealed McKay Rd and would be visible only from a short stretch of that road, and not from the Clutha River or nearby walking tracks.
''The first stage will involve the removal of a small part of the terrace face to create an opening, the quarrying will then take place within the opening, screened by the remainder of the terrace ... The quarry has been designed so that the front face of the terrace will remain largely intact until the very last stage of quarrying.
''At the completion of stage (three) the remainder of the upper east facing terrace will be removed. This will change the appearance of the landscape but will not adversely affect it, as its removal will not be noticeable or acknowledged visually to the untrained eye,'' the applicant said.
Stockpiles of excavated material - for developments or remediation of the quarry - would be no higher than 6m, and there would also be a small, relocatable office and storage facility.
The applicant said the quarry was needed, as the gravel supply from the Cardrona River had largely run out and the Otago Regional Council was urging extraction companies to find local, land-based sources.
It was also near Willowridge's developments ''ensuring efficiency in vehicle movements'' and would ''enable the physical growth of the Wanaka, Luggate and Hawea communities''.
A Luggate community group is urging residents who would be affected by the quarry to lodge a submission with the district council. The deadline for submissions is July 9.
- Jessica Maddock
