77 Newcombe Road Cambridge

All commercial quarries, as defined in the Waipā District Plan, need a resource consent to operate.

In addition, the proposed quarry does not comply with other District Plan rules including the amount of room allowed for vehicles at the entrance, and requirements to seal a parking area. The application does not comply with rules relating to earthworks and vegetation removal proposed within 23m of a nearby stream.

Separate resource consent applications have also been made to the Waikato Regional Council. These relate to a proposed groundwater take, discharge of water to Karāpiro Stream, soil disturbance and for a large scale overburden disposal. An air discharge resource consent has not been applied for.

Excerpt taken from the Application: “RS Sand proposes to establish and operate a sand quarry at 77 Newcombe Road, Cambridge. The quarry is proposed to extract up to 400,000 tonnes of sand per year (depending on demand) for approximately 25 years from the western portion of the site.“

The quarry is made up of a 23 hectare pit area towards the western boundary and a 4 hectare plant area (for processing and stockpiling) to the east of the pit.

Excavations of the pit area will begin 10-15m from the Karāpiro Stream and move south towards Newcombe Road. The stages are approximately 120m wide and will excavate approximately 35m below the existing ground level of the existing terrace. The bottom of the pit area will be approximately 10m above the level of the Karāpiro Stream bank. An internal pit road will link the pit and plant areas.

Access from Newcombe Road to the quarry will be provided via a new vehicle crossing approximately 150m to the west of the site’s existing access and 660m from the Newcombe Road – Tirau Road intersection.

For Stages 1–4 (Years 1–20.2), a 20m wide internal road will be constructed from the new vehicle crossing to the plant area. The road will initially be positioned over Stage 5 and along the existing fence line to limit the impact on the existing dairy farm and dwelling on the Site. For Stage 5 (Years 20.2–25), the internal road will be moved south to provide access to the sand beneath Stage 5.

The quarry is proposed to operate for up to 50 weeks of the year on the following basis:

• Monday to Friday – 7:00am and 5:00pm.
• Saturday – 7:00am and 12:00pm.
• Sunday and public holidays – Closed.

A 30-50 tonne excavator will be used to extract sand from the pit area, while 30-40 tonne articulated dump trucks will

transport the sand to the plant area via the internal pit road.”

There is no legal obligation under the Resource Management Act (RMA) for an applicant to consult with any party prior to an application. In this case the applicant consulted with neighbouring parties and iwi prior to lodging the application with Council. Council’s role now is to process and audit the application and decide whether to grant or decline.

Legally we cannot. Unless an activity is classified as ‘prohibited’ any person is entitled to apply for a resource consent. Council then has a legal obligation to assess the application against the Resource Management Act framework.

In this case the proposed activities are not prohibited, so Council has a legal obligation to process the application if it meets certain minimum requirements. These requirements have all been met and the application has been accepted for processing.

Todd Whittaker of Planning Works Ltd.

Now the application has been notified, an independent panel of commissioners will comprise the hearing panel which will hear submissions and make the final decision.

Yes.

Please email us on: dutyplanner@waipadc.govt.nz.