Quarry issue heating up again

Members of the Tucki community who are opposed to the Champions Quarry expansions were visited this week by Greens MP Lee Rhiannon.

Ms Rhiannon pledged her support to the community during a tour of the Tucki koala corridor and the Tuckean Wetlands, which is on property next to the Champions sandstone quarry at Tucki.

Following the Lismore City Council’s refusal in February 2009 to approve plans to expand the quarry, Champions has lodged a Part 3A appeal application with the NSW state government. The appeal comes before the court on June 21 and Ms Rhiannon said that she would return to the site later in June to discuss the matter further.

“We cannot lose agricultural land,” Ms Rhiannon said. “There is a need to preserve the habitat for the future use.”

Friends of the koala president Lorraine Vass was concerned with the threat quarry poses to the koala habitat in the area and gave support for Lee Rhiannon’s push for koalas to be listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the federal government.