Selwyn Times: May 16, 2018
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10 Wednesday <strong>May</strong> <strong>16</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
Your Local Views<br />
SELWYN TIMES<br />
Adams stands up for quarry neighbours<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong> MP Amy Adams<br />
writes about the need<br />
for better rules around<br />
quarrying in the district<br />
HERE IN the <strong>Selwyn</strong> electorate<br />
we have major ongoing concerns<br />
around the location and<br />
operation of quarries.<br />
While I understand and agree<br />
that we need a secure supply<br />
of aggregate for local roading<br />
projects and the Christchurch<br />
rebuild, we are fortunate to<br />
have significant amounts of the<br />
resource around us and it is my<br />
view that land near residential<br />
areas and sensitive businesses<br />
is not the right location for<br />
quarries.<br />
I have been advocating on<br />
behalf of Yaldhurst residents<br />
who appear to have been badly<br />
affected by silica dust from<br />
quarrying activities in their<br />
neighbourhood, so I can fully<br />
appreciate why Templeton<br />
residents are very concerned<br />
about the proposal for a quarry<br />
to be located on Dawsons Rd.<br />
While the consent conditions<br />
for this sort of activity normally<br />
contain requirements around<br />
dust mitigation, it seems to me<br />
that in practice very little, if any,<br />
effective monitoring has in the<br />
past occurred to ensure consent<br />
conditions are being met and it<br />
has taken significant work to get<br />
appropriate monitoring of dust<br />
levels under way.<br />
It is important to understand<br />
that in all cases, the decision<br />
whether to grant consent for any<br />
quarry is one made by the local<br />
authority (the council) and not<br />
by the Government. Given that,<br />
as the local MP, I don’t control or<br />
have a say in these decisions.<br />
However, I firmly believe that<br />
such consents should always be<br />
notified so that residents can<br />
have their say, and I am pleased<br />
that Fulton Hogan has indicated<br />
this will be the case for the<br />
proposed Dawsons Rd quarry.<br />
I am also concerned that there<br />
are not proper minimum setback<br />
requirements for quarries in<br />
council plans (which set land use<br />
rules for the district).<br />
Amy Adams<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong> MP<br />
ADVOCATE: Amy Adams<br />
has been speaking up on<br />
behalf of Yaldhurst residents<br />
who appear to have been<br />
badly affected by silica<br />
dust from quarrying in their<br />
neighbourhood.<br />
I understand that health and<br />
environmental organisations<br />
have determined that a setback<br />
of up to 500m should be<br />
maintained from any quarryingrelated<br />
activity to any residential<br />
property to minimise related<br />
impacts on residents. I agree<br />
with this and would like to see<br />
quarrying of greywacke where<br />
silica dust is present made a<br />
prohibited activity within 500m<br />
of residential properties.<br />
I have met with the mayors<br />
of both the <strong>Selwyn</strong> district and<br />
Christchurch city, and also with<br />
Environment Canterbury, and<br />
have raised my concerns with<br />
them about the appropriateness<br />
of allowing quarries near<br />
people’s homes.<br />
In addition to the impact<br />
on residents from the dust<br />
and heavy truck movements<br />
associated with the quarrying,<br />
this kind of activity could render<br />
land that could be appropriate<br />
for future housing developments<br />
or commercial purposes<br />
unusable for these purposes in<br />
the future. And so I encourage<br />
councils to consider the optimal<br />
long-term land use for any site<br />
when considering any quarrying<br />
application.<br />
While decisions will always<br />
remain in the control of local<br />
councils, rather than me as<br />
your MP, I can assure you I will<br />
continue to make my position<br />
clear on behalf of affected local<br />
residents and support them in<br />
having their concerns on this<br />
matter heard.<br />
•More Local Views, page 14<br />
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