The Conservation Council ACT Region and Friends of Grassland is urging the Federal Government to reject the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry, warning that the project would cause serious and irreversible environmental harm across the region. While we recognise that rock resources are needed for development, this proposal is simply too damaging in its scale, duration and ecological footprint to be justified.
The proposal would clear ​22.78 hectares of critically endangered Box Gum Woodland, an ecological community protected under the EPBC Act. ​There will also be an additional loss of 55.39 hectares of Monaro-Queanbeyan Rolling Hills Grassy Forest, which will likely cause a long-term decrease in habitat for a range of threatened species. The quarry would also impact threatened species through habitat loss, noise, dust pollution, and major alterations to surface water drainage over the project’s decades-long lifespan.​ These impacts would occur over decades, compounding pressures on vulnerable bird species, plants, and ecosystems already under stress.
We are particularly concerned by the lack of detailed mitigation and monitoring plans—information that is essential for the public and decision-makers to properly assess the risks. Without firm commitments and high-quality evidence, claims that impacts can be managed are not credible.
Given these significant risks, and the absence of safeguards, the Conservation Council has recommended that the proposal be deemed clearly unacceptable. Should the project proceed further, it must at minimum be assessed through a full Environmental Impact Statement.