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Heidelberg Materials Australia (HMA - formerly Hanson) has unexpectedly broken a three-year silence with the release of Project Update #26 for the Bunyip North Quarry Environment Effects Statement (EES). This marks the first official communication from the proponent since 2023, outlining a rapid, tentative timeline for public exhibition and hearings slated to begin in September 2026.

 

Proposed 2026 EES Timeline

The newly released, tentative schedule outlines the following key dates:

• 03 September 2026: Online pre-exhibition event.

• 07 September 2026: Exhibition commencement.

• 17 September 2026: Exhibition event.

• 19 October 2026: Exhibition close.

• 04 November 2026: Directions hearing.

• 30 November – 22 December 2026: Public Hearing period.

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Note: This schedule is conditional and currently awaits formal approval from the Victorian Minister for Planning. The co-exhibited approvals, including the Draft Planning Scheme Amendment and the Development Licence application, cannot proceed until the Minister signs off on this timeline.

 

A Critical Opportunity for Community Opposition

The commencement of an EES exhibition does not signal that the quarry has been approved. Instead, it represents the community's primary legal window to formally object and protect the region.

The Mt Cannibal District Preservation Group (MCDPG) has heavily criticised the project emphasising that HMA has never earned a social licence in Bunyip North. Group Secretary David Bywater warned that the scale of the industrial granite extraction project could impact the region for up to a century.

"This proposal is fundamentally incompatible with our community, our environment, and the rural character of the area," Mr Bywater stated. "If local voices are not heard now, they may never be heard again." 

 

Core Community Concerns

Community members argue the industrial project is entirely inappropriate for the environmentally sensitive Green Wedge zone due to several critical impacts:

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• Traffic Safety: An influx of 550 heavy truck movements daily onto local roads.

• Environmental Destruction: Immediate threats to native wildlife and vegetation due to the site's close proximity to the Mount Cannibal Flora and Fauna Reserve.

• Pollution & Health Risks: Severe operational blasting, dust, night lighting, and noise pollution threatening the physical and mental health of nearby residents.

• Water & Agriculture: High risks of tank water contamination and permanent structural damage to local groundwater networks, waterways, and farming land.

• Forced Re-Zoning: The permanent industrial rezoning of pristine Green Wedge land, which has the potential to restrict how residents can use their own land.

• Landscape Ruin: Catastrophic permanent changes to our rural landscape degrading the visual amenity, tourism and the cumulative liveability of Bunyip, Bunyip North, Tonimbuk, Garfield North, Garfield, and surrounding areas.

 

Next Steps

If the Planning Minister approves the proposed dates, the official EES documentation will be publicly released. The Victorian Government will then provide formal instructions on how to access the files and lodge submissions. The Mount Cannibal and District Preservation Group have pledged to distribute comprehensive submission-writing guidelines to community members as soon as the exhibition period is legally locked in.