Quarry sale on-again off-again

Mt Brame Quarry, seven kilometres west of Wellsford on Wellsford Valley Rd, has been withdrawn from sale following a Rodney District Council resolution last month.

The six titles, which make up the 5.4 hectare quarry site, include four freehold and two owned by the Crown.

“We would get the best price for the land if we can provide clear, freehold title to all the land,” Council’s property services group manager Mark Johannsen said.

Council hopes the Crown will accept conservation land of similar value in exchange for the two titles, but has not yet identified the land it plans to swap.

Cr Sue Weld said the Crown titles were a major issue that she had not been aware of and moved an amendment, which was carried by a majority of councillors, that the quarry be withdrawn from sale until the issue could be sorted out.

The quarry closed on 2004 and leases have expired. As a result, new resource consents are required to comply with Auckland Regional Council’s conditions on groundwater.

During Long Term Council Community Plan deliberations, Council decided to proceed with the sale without funding work on the site required for consent. The decision to delete $320,000 from Council’s budget for this work meant any potential buyer would need to finalise resource consent at their own expense if they wanted to continue quarrying operations.

The quarry is a source of base course metal. Since being closed, the pit has filled with water and pumping it out has consequences for the neighbouring diary farm.

Did you know?
For every 30kms travelled the cost of aggregate can double in price. In some instances aggregate now has to be transported more than 100kms to its destination. This additional cost is borne by the end user, and by residents via their rates. Local bodies use about 75 percent of aggregates produced. National Quarry Owners Association.