A Central Otago District Council (CODC) planner has recommended it be declined unless more details are offered on the third stage of the proposal, despite the fact the Otago Regional Council (ORC) has given the project the nod.
Road Metals Company Limited, which supplied sand and aggregate for the Clyde Dam, is planning a quarry on farmland on the Luggate-Cromwell highway.
Consent application documents said the project was proposed in three stages, taking 10 years to ramp up to full capacity with no end date.
It was the third stage, on an upper terrace, that led CODC planner Tim Anderson, in his professional opinion, to recommend a hearings panel refuse the application.
However, in his report, Mr Anderson said if more details on the third stage were offered, or a condition limiting the duration was accepted, he would reconsider.
While adverse effects of the project’s early phases — stages one and two — could be mitigated, he was not convinced about stage three.
"I consider that a lack of clarity on the staging timing and duration of the quarrying activities leaves a degree of uncertainty over whether the overall adverse effects of the proposal will be acceptable."
The application said Road Metals planned to take gravel from the site in three stages, beginning with about 50,000 tonnes a year and increasing to about 100,000 tonnes each year from the third year.
After 10 years the company anticipated taking about 720,000 tonnes a year for an undefined period.
A traffic report in the application estimated 14 heavy traffic movements a day in the first stage, increasing to 30 a day in stage two.
Full operation of the quarry could result in up to 100 truckloads (200 movements) per day coming and going from the site, the documents said.
Initial work would be on the lower terrace, where it was proposed to quarry to a depth of about 30m.
Two portable crushers would operate for four to five months a year.
There would be one full-time employee, and up to four temporary employees when the crushers were in operation.
After 10 years the scale of operations would increase, requiring four to six full time staff.
The company then planned to expand to the upper terrace after 15 years and dig deeper.
The actual depth was not specified, but the application said suitable gravel existed to a depth of about 90m.
No more than 10ha of land would be quarried at a time and the site would be progressively rehabilitated with clean fill which would be brought in.
Existing and new tree planting would screen the operation from view, the application said.
Four submitters, all Alexandra residents with identical submissions, supported the quarry along with Fulton Hogan.
Three submissions against the consent were from people living on Oliver Rd, Tarras, who all shared similar concerns about negative impacts on their property value, dust, noise and the region’s viticulture and tourism.
A public hearing will be held on April 28 at Cromwell.
