Quarry Boss Threatens 'Biggest Eyesore'

Picture: Patrick Hamilton
Story: Greg Roberts

The Queensland Government yesterday warned the manager of a Sunshine Coast quarry it would not submit to blackmail after he vowed to turn a heavily forested mountain into the "biggest eyesore ever". Sunshine Coast Quarries manager Tom Boss said he would carry out his threat if prosecuted for illegally clearing protected bushland.

Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson is investigating a complaint the quarry failed to obtain permits before bulldozing six hectares of remnant forest on the Kenilworth Bluff, a major scenic attraction near Noosa. The complaint alleges the quarry did not have zoning approval from the Cooloola Shire Council to clear the forest. The area cleared includes a rainforest-lined gully that flows into the Mary River.

Conondale Range Committee president Ian Mackay, who lodged the complaint, said the Governmant and the council should move quickly to prosecute the quarry owners. "This is an outrage, an appalling act of wanton environmental vandalism," Mr Mackay said. The area cleared had acted as a visual and acoustic buffer between the quarry and residents, in accordance with assurances given by the council when the quarry was approved 20 years ago. "They didn't care, they just went in there with the bulldozers," Mr Mackay said.

Mr Boss admitted he had not applied for government permits and that the clearing appeared to breach council zoning requirements. "It looks like there was a misunderstanding on my part," he said. "I can see that maybe I shouldn't have been there." But Mr Boss said if his company was pursued, it would bulldoze extensive areas of forested land it owned on the Kenilworth Bluff. "I can turn it all around tomorrow and turn this into the biggest eyesore you've ever seen," he said. "If that's what they want, that's what they'll get."

Mr Boss said he had been told by a council officer that if he submitted an application, rezoning would be retrospectively approved for the bulldozed area. Mr Robertson said neither he nor his department would be intimidated. "If the current investigation determines offences have been committed, the department has a legal responsibility to take appropriate action against those responsible," he siad.

The investigation will examine potential breaches of the Vegetation Management Act and the Water Act. Offences attract fines of up to $125,000. Cooloola Council planning manager Michael Ball said the council was also investigating. Mr Ball said no council officer had been authorised to tell Mr Boss a rezoning application would be retrospectively approved.