The Niddrie Quarry site is bounded by Rachelle Road and residential development to the west, the rear boundaries of properties fronting Noga Avenue to the south; and Steele Creek along it's east and north boundaries. In addition to the main quarry site, the land also includes several lots between Steele Creek and The Avenue with an additional lot fronting Noga Avenue located adjacent to the south east corner of the main quarry land.
Vehicular access to the site can be gained from five separate points: The Avenue to the north, Brees Road and Noga Avenue to the south, Rachelle and Clarks Roads to the west.
The Niddrie Quarry site forms part of the Vast Western Plains, one of the largest lava plains in the world which stretches from Melbourne to Mount Gambier in South Australia. Before white settlement it was a flat and virtually treeless landscape of native grasslands, wildflowers and shrubs , maintained through natural fires and burn-off by local Aboriginal peoples. From 1860 to 1939 the area was used for sheep and cattle grazing and other agricultural uses, significantly changing the profile of the soils and plants.
The Quarry Operations
The original Niddrie Quarry site was established in the early 1940's, and was operated by Fowlers and Reid Brothers & Reid, to extract basalt from the ancient lava plain beneath the surface. The rock was used throughout Melbourne for road pavement and other purposes. Over the years quarrying operations extended over a portion of the site.
Urban development began adjacent to the site in 1968 while it was still an active quarry. Residents in neighbouring areas still remember how they were disturbed by blasting through to the mid-1970's. This led to the local member from the Niddrie area striding into Parliament House, throwing a large piece of basalt onto the Speaker's table, shouting that it had come flying through one of his constituents roofs. He demanded to know when the Government planned to address the future of the Niddrie Quarry site.
Back in the 1950's or 60's an incident occurred to the family house of Peter Horman who lived around that area, he says 'On one occasion the dynamite blast from the quarry broke one of the light fittings in our house. My father was filled with a sense of working class injustice at this wrong done to him. A more middle class response would have been to go to a lawyer and sue. I think that was not part of the working class cultural. His solution was to order some screenings that he didn't want from the quarry and then refuse to pay. This was a curious event being observed by me. Its conclusion was going to this very foreboding building I know now to be the Melbourne Magistrates Court where my father was sued for non-payment for the screenings. I suspect for him it was his chance to have his say about the purchase being an act of justice and fairness. Naturally that did not work for lawyers. I remember waiting in the car and finding my father sheepishly returning from his visit to court, saying with defeated defiance that, though he'd been ordered to pay, at least he'd stood for truth and justice (or words to that effect).'
These dramatic action represented the inception of a concerted and tireless community campaign that persisted for over 25 years in an attempt to secure an appropriate future for the site. Groups fighting for suitable development of the site included the friends of Steele Creek Group, the Niddrie & West Essendon Community Group, the Quarry Action Group, and the Steele Creek Preservation Society.
The Quarry Debate
In 1975 the Niddrie Quarry site ceased operations and options for it's future use were considered. In the year 1976 a report prepared by Maunsell & Partners recognized that the Niddrie Quarry site had major potential for the disposal of waste material, although it also identified that there would be major traffic impacts on adjoining streets and suburbs and a possible risk of water pollution. The use of the site for landfill was rejected by the then Keilor City Council in 1981.
In November 1985, Whelan the Wrecker proposed the establishment of a landfill operation for non-putrescible wastes. In January 1986 the Acting Minister for Planning and Environment decided that an Environmental Effects Statement (EES) under the Environmental Effects Act was warranted for the proposal. Accordingly an EES was prepared and exhibited. Submissions were called for resulting in significant opposition being expressed towards the proposal. Following Ministerial assessment on 16 June 1987 the Minister for Planning and Environment advised the then City of Keilor that the proposal had been refused. The assessment stated that alternative uses for the proposed site needed more investigation, with an emphasis on community involvement in the process. It was recommended that a group be convened to investigate alternative uses for the quarry.
The working group recommended that the site should be rehabilitated for residential purposes.
Following on from the recommendations of the group, Amendment L7 to the Keilor Planning Scheme was approved by the Minister for Planning & Urban Growth in December 1990. The amendment rezoned the land to "Reserved Living" zone with some "Stream and Floodway" zones adjacent to Steele Creek. The amendment also introduced site specific controls to be applied for the rehabilitation of the land for residential use.
In March 1996, the Minister of Planning and the local Government approved Amendment L6 to the Moonee Valley planning Scheme. The amendment deleted the previous site specified controls introduced through Amendment L7 to the Keilor Planning Scheme and replaced them with new provisions. Amongst other things the new provisions provided discretion for a permit to be issued for the development and use of the Niddrie quarry land for a private non-putrescible landfill for solid inert waste, fill material and low level contamination soil.
An application was made by Quadry industries to undertake major earthworks on the site and to fill the quarry with low level contaminated soil, with the site ultimately being developed for residential use and some parts being set aside for public open space. Applications were also lodged with the Environment Protection Authority for the works approval associated with this proposal. The proposal was the subject of significant local public opposition. The city of Moonee Valley refused the planning permit application and the EPA refused the works approval application.
In February 1997 the Minister for Planning, who had called in the applications, an Advisory Committee to review the proposal and to report on the appropriate future development use options for the site. The advisory committee concluded that no adequate grounds existed for refusing both permit applications and approved the application subject to a series of additional requirements. The advisory committee also considered the Moonee Valley City Council's alternative proposals. While it regarded this scheme as a better development option the committee considered that it was not financially viable.
Strong community opposition against the proposals to fill the site continued, but in 1998 the Council and the EPA were required by the Governor-in-Council to issue the relevant permits. Council unsuccessfully appealed this decision in the Supreme Court and the permits were issued.
The community continued it's fight under the banner of 'Save Niddrie Lake' and 'No Toxic Tip'. While permits were in place that would allow the filling of the site, this did not proceed as access issues were not resolved. In late 1999 the then Premier informed local residents that the Victorian State Government was reconsidering proposals for the site. Subsequently, a change of Government occurred with the local member for the Moonee Valley area having included retention of Niddrie Lake in his election platform.
It was against this background of controversy, proposal and counter-proposal that the Urban Land Corporation began considering the site. The ULC, which specializes in resolving difficult development issues, was able to develop a residential scheme that retained the Lake and did not rely on importing fill. On this basis, the ULC negotiated the purchase of the site and announced it's plans for residential development in November 2000.
Currently the site is in the process of being redeveloped into a residential housing estate, which will also see the lake retained and redeveloped.
Despite the site being fenced off since the Niddrie Quarry site ceased operations, the site continues to be used for the illegal dumping of rubbish and other unlawful activities, such as trail bike riding, swimming, dumping of car bodies and lighting fires.
There have even been a few cases of people falling down cliffs and having to be rescued and I also remember in the early nineties when a middle aged man had walked down into the Quarry to fetch something he had dropped from the cliff edge. Later on it was revealed that he had suffered a heart attack down there and died.
Back in 1994 the Quarry was the location of a scene shoot for the TV series Halifax FP starring Rebecca Gibney. The scene was a fight between 2 guys with one of the guys being knocked out and being put into a car that was eventually rolled off the cliff and exploded on impact at the bottom of the cliff. But other than that there hasn't been any more sightings of shows or movies in the Quarry site that I know of.
References:
Planning And Environment Act 1987 & Moonee Valley Planning Scheme, July 1998, Niddrie Quarry Development Residential Subdivision, pp. 7&8
The Valley lake Planning Report, 12 April 2001,Urban Land Corporation, pp. 2,3,6,7&10
Joe De Iacovo & Contributors, 2001, Threepence a Book & Other Stories From Moonee Valley, Wingate Avenue Community Centre, p.69