We've Taken a Stand: Chamber Objects to Proposed Reedy Creek Quarry

Stephen Obrien
2 days ago
5 min read

The Executive Committee of the Mudgeeraba Chamber of Commerce has formally lodged an objection to the proposed hard rock quarry at Reedy Creek and the associated construction waste landfill facility at West Burleigh — and we want our members to know exactly why.

Our submission was lodged with Gold Coast City Council as a properly made submission under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld), and a copy has also been forwarded to the Deputy Premier of Queensland following his issuing a proposed ‘call in’ notice. Advocacy on issues that matter to our community and our region is a core part of what your Chamber does, and this proposal is one of the most significant planning decisions our hinterland community has faced in years.

Why We Objected

After careful consideration, the Executive Committee concluded that the costs and impacts to our community clearly outweigh the economic benefits put forward in support of this proposal.

This was not a decision taken lightly. We recognise that Boral has made some modifications to its previous application — reducing the proposed disturbance footprint by 20% and cutting the proposed production volume from 2 million tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes per year. However, after weighing all the evidence, we believe the fundamental problems with this proposal remain unchanged.

Here is a summary of the key concerns we raised.

Planning and Land Use: This Quarry Doesn't Belong Here

The Reedy Creek site sits in a semi-rural residential area surrounded by homes and lifestyle properties. While the site is identified as a Key Resource Area under the City Plan, this does not grant automatic approval — the City's own strategic framework requires that any extractive industry must maintain the amenity of nearby residents, protect critical environmental corridors, and preserve the natural green backdrop of our ridgelines.

This proposal fails on all three counts. Critically, this is not a new finding. Gold Coast City Council unanimously refused this same quarry on 18 July 2014, and that decision was upheld by both the Planning and Environment Court (Boral Resources (Qld) Pty Ltd v Gold Coast City Council [2017] QPEC 23) and the Queensland Court of Appeal in 2018. The fundamental land use conflict identified in those decisions has not been resolved by the current application.

Environmental Impact: Our Wildlife Corridor Is at Stake

The Reedy Creek site contains 216.7 hectares of vegetated bushland. The current proposal would disturb approximately 56.4 hectares — more than a quarter of the site. Previous assessments found that clearing at this location would destroy over 23,000 koala food trees, and even with a reduced footprint, significant habitat loss remains inevitable.

Since the previous application was refused, the status of the koala has been upgraded from vulnerable to endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) in February 2022. This strengthens, not weakens, the environmental case against approval.

Equally important is the wildlife corridor. The recently completed M1 upgrade between Burleigh and Palm Beach — finished in April 2025 — includes a specially constructed 55-metre fauna underpass to connect the Burleigh to Springbrook bioregional wildlife corridor. Approving a quarry that fragments this very corridor would be directly at odds with that public investment and the conservation outcomes it was designed to achieve.

Traffic and Road Safety: Our Roads Can't Handle This Volume

The quarry would generate massive daily heavy vehicle movements along Old Coach Road and surrounding local roads — routes that are relatively narrow, winding, and were never designed for decades of continuous quarry truck traffic. With up to 1.2 million tonnes of product per year being distributed to customers, plus an additional 200,000 tonnes per year transported between the Reedy Creek and West Burleigh sites, the cumulative impact on road safety and road condition across southern Gold Coast would be severe.

Noise, Dust, and Vibration: Decades of Industrial Disruption

With an estimated resource of approximately 79 million tonnes at the proposed production rate, this quarry could operate for many decades. That means multiple generations of our community would be living with regular blasting, the constant noise of crushing and screening equipment, silica dust, and vibration — for the working life of the quarry and beyond. The amenity impacts on residential areas near the site and along haulage routes cannot be mitigated away.

The West Burleigh Landfill: A Separate Concern in the Same Application

The application also proposes to use the existing West Burleigh Quarry void as a construction and demolition waste landfill. Residents near West Burleigh reasonably expected the area to quieten as quarrying wound down. This proposal extends significant industrial activity at that site for many additional years, with associated risks of leachate contamination into the Tallebudgera catchment and an extension of heavy vehicle traffic in that locality.

No Overriding Public Benefit

Boral has pointed to housing affordability and local supply of aggregate as public benefits. We don't dismiss the importance of construction materials supply — but the courts have previously found that regional demand can be met from other sources without accessing this site, and there is no guarantee that any cost savings in raw materials would ever flow through to home buyers. The public interest, as determined by the courts in 2017 and 2018, lay in protecting this community and this environment.

A Decision That Will Bind Our Community for Decades

Boral has indicated that operations would not commence until approximately 2038. But planning approvals granted today lock in land use outcomes for the long term. Our members, our residents, and future generations deserve certainty about the character and future of the Gold Coast Hinterland — not the shadow of an industrial quarry hanging over the community for the next decade and beyond.

Our Role: Advocating for the Hinterland

The Mudgeeraba Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of local businesses and the communities they serve. The Gold Coast Hinterland's identity — its natural beauty, its lifestyle appeal, its tourism drawcard, and the values that attract people to live and do business here — is directly at stake in decisions like this one.

That is why we have engaged formally with both Gold Coast City Council and the Deputy Premier of Queensland proposed ‘call in’ notice on this matter. We will continue to monitor this application and advocate strongly for outcomes that protect our community and environment.

We encourage members who have their own views on this proposal to make their voices heard directly to Council through the public notification process.

For more information or to discuss this submission, please contact the Chamber at secretary@mudgeerabachamber.org or visit our website.

John Kennedy President, Mudgeeraba Chamber of Commerce Inc.