Open letter to the Minister for Planning
Re: Urgent Request to Revoke Approval of Wallan Quarry Proposal
Dear Minister Kilkenny,
URGENT REQUEST TO REVOKE APPROVAL OF WALLAN QUARRY PROPOSAL
We are writing to urgently request that you reconsider the decision to approve the quarry at 175 Northern Highway, Wallan, and remove it from the Beveridge North West Precinct Structure Plan.
The proposed quarry is located less than a kilometre from a residential area. We have been contacted by residents and constituents who are heartbroken following their four years of campaigning against the quarry development. They fear the detrimental impact this approval will have on their future neighbourhood.
The quarry threatens Wallan Regional Park, delays essential infrastructure such as schools and community facilities, and creates a physical divide between Beveridge and Wallan, two of Melbourne’s fastest-growing suburbs, while providing minimal benefit to the local community.
It also poses serious risks, including air and noise pollution, increased heavy truck traffic, and significant environmental harm to sensitive areas like the Burrung Buluk wetlands and Merri Creek.
The community was denied a genuine opportunity to object during early planning stages, as the quarry was not included in the original 2019 plan. When introduced later, the focus shifted from whether the quarry should proceed to where it should be located, limiting meaningful consultation.
We stand with Mitchell Shire Council, which firmly opposes the quarry, and with the strong community mobilisation that includes:
- Over 1,000 formal submissions opposing the quarry,
- A petition with more than 1,360 signatures tabled in Parliament.
- Thousands of emails sent to Members of Parliament.
Your office responded to the then Member for Northern Metro, Samantha Ratnam, in October 2024, confirming that the quarry proposal and associated planning amendments remained under consideration following a Ministerial Advisory Committee review. Now that approval has been announced, the community is heartbroken by the outcome.
We respectfully request that you reconsider your decision, remove the quarry from the precinct structure plan and protect the liveability, health, and environment of Beveridge and Wallan.
Kind regards,
Anasina Gray-Barberio MP
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Dr Sarah Mansfield MP
Member for Western Victoria
Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens
