Quarry plan hearings start

The long-awaited hearing over Fulton Hogan's proposal to open a quarry in Templeton will begin on...
The long-awaited hearing over Fulton Hogan's proposal to open a quarry in Templeton will begin on Monday.
The long-awaited hearings on the plan to open a contentious quarry near Templeton are due to start on Monday.

Residents and groups opposed to the proposed quarry are feeling “apprehensive” about the looming hearings.

Fulton Hogan’s proposal to open a quarry between Dawsons, Jones, Maddisons and Curraghs Rds has received major backlash from residents in the area.

Said quarry opponent Simon Moore: “I am glad (the hearings are) happening but I’m also a little bit apprehensive about it because it seems that throughout the process when an issue has been pointed out, an expert has come in and

worked it out and that’s someone who is being paid by Fulton Hogan.”

However, Mr Moore said he thinks there is a reasonable chance the hearing will go his way.

“The problem is, this is just the first part of it. If the commissioners say no, Fulton Hogan is just going to appeal it. This is just the start, because if they lose, they’re not going to give it up and they have a lot more money than any of us,” he said.

His views have been backed by Templeton Residents’ Association treasurer Jolene Eagar, who has been waiting for more than two years for the hearings to begin.

“Not in our wildest dreams did we think it would take this long or the application would be as big and complicated as it turned out to be,” she said.

Mrs Eagar said it is hard to say what the outcome will be, but she hopes the hearings panel will agree that approving the application would be wrong.

“None of us would have invested all the time and energy into this if we didn’t think that there was a really good chance for the application to be declined,” she said.

The hearings are due to take place from Monday to Friday, and then from December 2-13. Environment

Canterbury has published 27 reports from some of the individuals, businesses and community groups set to present evidence for and against the quarry.

Due to the hearings starting straight after New Zealand Cup and Show Week, Mrs Eagar said horse trainers who are due to submit at the hearings will be “seriously disadvantaged.”

 

“We have full-time jobs and these people are at their busiest with the horses . . . they don’t have time to get ready for the hearings,” she said.