Grey County has received an official plan amendment application to expand a Wiarton-area gravel pit.
At county council’s meeting on June 13, council received an update from planner Becky Hillyer about Official Plan Amendment 19, which, if passed, would significantly expand the operations of a gravel pit located in the township of Georgian Bluffs near Wiarton.
The amendment seeks to expand the gravel pit, known as Forbes Quarry, from the current 12.5 hectares (31 acres) to 87.85 hectares (217.08 acres). Of the 87.85 hectares, 56.88 hectares would be used for gravel extraction purposes.
Hillyer’s report was an update to county council for information purposes and no decisions were made on the matter.
“At this time, we’ve taken only a high-level, cursory overview of the material,” Hillyer told council.
A joint public meeting between Georgian Bluffs and Grey County about the proposed amendment will be held on July 10 in the township office. The proposal also requires a Georgian Bluffs zoning bylaw amendment.
Hillyer explained the application seeks to expand the size of the quarry operation, but not the amount of material being taken out each year.
Currently, the operation can remove 100,000 tonnes of material per year and that limit is proposed to be maintained.
“There shouldn’t be more trucks or noise as a result of this expansion,” she said.
There is also no blasting proposed in the amendment for the site. Surrounding land uses include: a county forest, natural areas, rural residential and Mountain Lake is 1.5 kilometres away.
Hillyer said approximately 21 hectares of the forested area would be removed over the life of the quarry if the expansion is allowed.
In the coming day, county planners will be conducting a more in-depth technical review of the reports submitted by the applicant, including comments from provincial ministries.
County council received the report with few comments. West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles asked Hillyer what would be required if the proponents wanted to increase the maximum amount of material allowed to be removed from 100,000 tonnes.
Hillyer said that would be a licence review process done by the province under the Aggregate Resources Act.
