Airport Sand Pit

Ballina Shire Council Airport Sand Pit is located approximately 100 meters to the north of the main runway at Ballina Airport. The approval for continued operations as an extractive industry was determined by Council on 23 April 2014 under DA 2011/320.   The determination changed the method of extraction of the existing pit from dry excavation to dredging comprising a total volume of 220,000m³ and a change to the end use of the pit from a landfill for dry/inert waste to its retention as a pit lake as part of the rehabilitation works. The extracted material is to be piped directly to the Southern Cross Industrial Estate approved expansion area for filling of that land (approximately half of the total extraction volume) with the remaining extracted material (110,000m³) stockpiled on the filled industrial site for future use elsewhere. The approval authorises a total wet extraction to be conducted in one continuous mining operation, weather/environmental conditions permitting, or within 12 months from commencement of extraction. Whilst the pit has not been active for some time, the approval is current. The Airport Sand Pit quarry site is located on a flat and low-lying landscape with ground levels that generally vary between 0.5 – 1.5 AHD and lies near the Ballina Airport runway. Surrounding vegetation consists typically of sparse low shrubs with large expanses of Paperbark to the North and West. The dominant habitat types are eucalypt forest, swamp sclerophyll forest and mown grasslands to the south. The sand pit is currently flooded following the cessation of dry method excavations which are recorded to have removed approximately 1.1 million cubic meters of sand from the site between 1991 – 2002. It is estimated that approximately 900,000 m³ of sand product remains. The pit lake covers approximately 12 hectares and provides habitat for water birds, birds of prey and small perching birds. The pit lake is bordered by mown grasslands of Ballina Airport with the pavement of the main runway approximately 100 meters from the southern edge of the pit lake.

Environmental Constraints

While extraction processes are currently in abeyance, the approval is active. Advice from Council dated 19 March 2019 which identified that the works had sufficiently commenced to the satisfaction of Council to activate the approval. The site is constrained by an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that was established under DA 1996/215, a Soil and Water Management Plan (SWMP) prepared by Gilbert and Sutherland dated March 2011, a Rehabilitation Plan prepared by James Warren and Associates dated February 2011 and a Bird Management and Monitoring Plan prepared by the Ballina Byron Gateway Airport’s (BBGA) retained bird consultant. A report must be submitted to Council within 1 month of commencement of extraction and then every 3 months detailing the progress of the operation’s compliance with the consent and all conditions of approval. The site also holds and must comply with an environmental protection licence – EPL 5948.

Rehabilitation Requirements                        

The Rehabilitation Plan prepared by James Warren and Associates dated February 2011 is to be revised to reflect the amended extraction area footprint and to include rehabilitation measures of the buffer area between the pit and protected vegetation adjoining the pit lake. The works must be undertaken in accordance with the approved rehabilitation plan.