The Quarry

August 13, 2009. We won! We won! We won! I haven't written of this long time battle (since 1993) before probably because it has gone on for so many years and I'm sick of talking/writing/thinking about it. Still, today is a day of celebration. It may be short-lived but enjoy the moment is all I can say.
We live in the country on a dead end dirt road, half of which is bitumen, the other half dirt. When you drive along the straight toward our house you can see in the distance what looks like a miniature volcano, a perfect cone. It is a basalt plug. For years we have fought to keep it from being dismantled and quarried. The basalt plug supports remnant vine scrub, an endangered habitat in SE Queensland. To quarry for basalt the vine scrub, all 23 hectares of it, would be destroyed.
When we first began fighting this it was all about protecting our lifestyle and the ambiance of the country. Now, 16 years later, it is so much more. Certainly I don't want 80 + trucks a day hurtling up and down our road. I don't want the dust, the noise and the traffic but more than that, far more than that, I want that remnant habitat preserved. There is nothing like it around here. I've ridden Balthazar past it many times. It can't be ridden on, even climbed as it is so thick and steep. But even from the ground it is mysterious; dark dark green, a source of birdsong and flashes of colour as king parrots and other birds fly in and out and around it. Heaven knows what else could be there. The important thing is, whatever is there is safe for the time being. The developer may decide to appeal as he did all those years ago when Council approved it providing he met with certain conditions. We don't know why he didn't proceed, why he waited so many years he had to start the process all over again. Perhaps it's a tax dodge. Whatever it is, council voted 3 to 2 against the development. Due in no small part to my submissions but especially to my tireless husband who worked the phones, who buttonholed councillors and the mayor at every opportunity, who never gave up when everyone else did.
We're going to enjoy our victory, savour it, treasure it. And enjoy as long as we can the respite from that black cloud which has loomed over us for so many years. We may have to take up keyboard, pen and telephone again if the developer appeals but for now....We won!