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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-22 Daily Xml
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Golden Grove

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:48): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Environment a question regarding the Golden Grove development and community.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: The Golden Grove community was established quite close to existing quarry works immediately to their east, which the Spring Hill Environment and Safety Action Group alleges is now affecting community health in the region. Residents acknowledge that for 50 years the quarry has been in operation, and for much of its lifetime there were few houses near the quarry, and therefore little problem. The situation in 2014, according to the group, is quite different, due largely to the intensified housing developed under the Golden Grove (Indenture Ratification) Act.

One of the main concerns of the residents is silicosis from inhaling fine particles of sand from the quarry. Residents have significant fears for their health, I am told, which have been heightened by the recent death of a resident, allegedly from respiratory complications, and another in the same street allegedly suffering silicosis as well. Residents allege that trucks carting sand from the quarry along Ross Road cause significant dust and pollution for residents who live nearby, and that in their view the road is too narrow, has deteriorated, and no longer meets the needs of residents or the quarry operators themselves.

One of the frustrations of local residents is that the Environment Protection Authority has collected significant data from the area but, for some reason, is reportedly refusing to disclose those results to the action group. Residents recently aired their concerns at a 29 April City of Tea Tree Gully council meeting, following a deputation of over 60 residents to a meeting that was held on 25 February. The meeting resulted in the formation of a Golden Grove Extractive Industries Community Working Group, which has given the council's CEO leave to approach DMITRE, the EPA and DPTI to be on the working group. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has the EPA declined to release its data collected on airborne dust in the area and, if so, why? Will the minister undertake to make the data public?

2. What work has the EPA or government done with the quarry operators to reduce dust levels?

3. What resources are the government providing to support the work of the community action group, if any?

4. Will the government provide delegates, with appropriate authority to assist constructively and promptly, from the departments that council has resolved to have on the working group?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions. At the outset it is important to state that this is a local council and planning issue in the main. I understand that the EPA has been giving some advice to other government agencies, including DMITRE and DPTI, but it is a multiagency approach and one for which I am not primarily responsible as minister. However, I undertake to get a whole of government response to the honourable member's questions and bring back a response.

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