Two gravel-extraction resource consent hearings have started in Wanaka and are expected to take two weeks.
Wanaka Landfill Ltd and Upper Clutha Transport want separately to extract large quantities of gravel from the Cardrona River bed and nearby land to provide a much needed resource more cheaply than it can presently be obtained.
Wanaka Landfill Ltd is the first company before commissioners Trevor Shiels and Lou Alfeld this week, with two consent applications, while Upper Clutha Transport's hearing begins next week.
Submitters - mostly nearby residents concerned about noise, dust and the effect the gravel-extraction operations will have - are opposing both operations.
Lakes Environmental planner Scott Edgar recommends the consent applications for both operators be refused because of landscape issues, the visual effect of the stockpiles and noise and dust issues.
Robert Duncan, for Wanaka Landfill Ltd, gave submissions yesterday.
Mr Duncan's company has taken over a submission previously submitted by Fulton Hogan to extract gravel from the Cardrona River.
He has also submitted another application to extract and stockpile gravel on land accessed from Ballantyne Rd.
Mr Duncan said Wanaka needed more gravel for use in roading, subdivision work and other development purposes.
A total of 75,000 cubic metres from both sites would be taken over five years but Mr Duncan wanted consent for 15 years to allow for flexibility if market demand changed.
The Ballantyne Rd operation was not about providing cleanfill - it was primarily about extracting gravel, which would not occur year round and only between the hours of 8am-5pm Monday to Friday and 8am-1pm on Saturdays.
Mr Duncan said there was a shortage of gravel in the district and an existing consent only permitted extraction of 5000 cubic metres a year for the purposes of river-training.
"Having a local supply is of benefit to residents, as the Cardrona aggregate is of high quality . . . currently, a comparable aggregate has to be imported from the Parkburn Quarry at Lowburn, some 45km away, which adds an additional $22 per cubic metre to the price.
If the same quality of aggregate was to be transported from Cromwell, the cost to the end user would double the cost of obtaining it in Wanaka."
