We need your help to ensure transparency in decision-making to protect our community and the environment.
We need your help to ensure transparency in decision-making to protect our community and the environment.
The Monaltrie Area Community Association Incorporated (MACAI) is a community-based group in Lismore, northern NSW. Our members are drawn from the local area and afrom outside the area. We all share a common goal of protecting our beautiful environment by ensuring transparency and accountability from our Local Council.
The Monaltrie Area Community Association Incorporated (MACAI) was is a small community group on the southern fringe of the Lismore City Council area in northern New South Wales. Our members include residents, farmers and business owners who are looking to preserve our peaceful way of life and protect our homes and our local environment.
In October 2023, Lismore City Council approved a modification application (MA) to extend the quarry on River Bank Road, Monaltrie, for a further 12 years. The quarry was initially approved in 1993 and permitted quarrying for a period of 25 years. This decision to approve the MA came despite strong community opposition and the Council’s own staff recommending the application be refused.
Following the decision, MACAI sought legal advice, which indicated there were strong grounds to pursue legal action against the quarry owner and Lismore City Council. Of particular concern is the impact of noise from the quarry on the local community. In January 2024, MACAI commenced Class 4 legal proceedings in the Land and Environment Court to have the decision set aside.
MACAI recognises that challenging this decision has implications for the wider community, who may find themselves facing questionable council decisions. For the past four years, members of MACAI have shouldered the financial burden of ongoing legal costs and expert reviewers, but now, we are turning to the broader community and asking for their assistance in meeting those costs.
If you would like more information about MACAI or our legal proceedings please complete the contact form below.
MACAI was established in 2020 to protect the unique environment in the Monaltrie area and defend the lifestyles and livelihoods of the Monaltrie community.
We are a passionate group of neighbours with diverse interests and views who were drawn together by a shared desire to ensure accountability and transparency from Lismore City Council. In particular, MACAI was formed to ensure the NSW Environmental and Planning Laws are properly applied to the River Bank Road quarry.
Protection of the natural environment, especially for our Koalas and our waterways, is a common goal. Many members of MACAI are also members of Monaltrie Land Care and have engaged in the regeneration of their land by setting aside areas for wildlife and the reestablishment of endemic plant species.
The River Bank Road quarry is a basalt quarry that has operated since the early 1990s. Since it commenced operations, numerous complaints have been made to Council regarding the lack of compliance with the conditions under which consent was given. These complaints include operating outside the permitted hours, excessive noise and dust issues and exceeding the maximum daily truck movements.
1993 – River Bank Road Quarry is approved with conditions for a term of 25 years.
2015 – The quarry owner, Mr Santin, lodged a modification application to increase the extraction, processing and transport of material and to extend the life of the quarry for a further 20 years. Council staff recommended the refusal of the application, and it was subsequently withdrawn.
2019 – The quarry owner, Mr Santin, lodged a modification application to extend the life of the quarry for a further 25 years. The application was refused by Council for the following reasons:
2020 – Consent expired on 12 May 2020.
2020 – The quarry owner lodged a modification application to extend the life of the quarry by 16 years and modify conditions relating to fencing, sealing of access roads and product haulage. The application was refused by Council on 8 December 2020 for the following reasons:
2022 – Mr Santin lodged a modification application to extend the life of the quarry for 16 years following the election of the Kreig council.
2023 – Lismore City Council votes in favour of the modification application despite staff recommending refusal. Reasons for refusal are given in the Downloads section.
2024 – MACAI initiated Class 4 legal proceedings against Mr Santin and Lismore City Council in the Land and Environment Court.
Lismore City Council planning staff recommended that the application for modification of Development Consent DA92/523 be REFUSED on the basis of the acoustic impacts. The Reasons for Refusal were included as Attachment 1 in the Agenda for the Council Meeting on 10 October 2023 and can be viewed in the Downloads section.
Several of the consent conditions that were established in 1993 remain outstanding today – over 30 years later! This lack of compliance was one of the many reasons Councillors voted against the approval in December 2020. We believe this history of failing to address the consent conditions sets a dangerous precedent for the current approval and highlights the Council’s ineffectiveness in managing compliance issues.
Consent conditions for the current approval were hastily prepared by Lismore City Council staff and only presented to Councillors 2-3 hours prior to the call to vote. Councillors were not given sufficient time to fully consider the conditions, and there was no opportunity for the community to voice their concerns.
The modification application allows this quarry to operate under consent conditions that were established over 30 years ago rather than complying with current environmental practices and standards. The environmental conditions established in 1993 are insufficient to protect the Monaltrie community. The quarry would be unlikely to comply with current standards to minimise environmental impacts.
The modification application that was submitted in February 2023 received 25 submissions against and 10 submissions in favour of the approval. Of the ten submissions in favour, only one was from a Monaltrie resident. The other nine came from those living outside the area and would be unaffected by the dust and noise pollution. Over the 30-year history of this quarry operation, every neighbouring property at some stage has objected to its existence on multiple occasions.
