In September 2017 representatives of the Christchurch quarry industry agreed to work with Environment Canterbury and Christchurch City Council in the development of a Quarry Code of Practice.
The Code of Practice (COP) has been worked on over the past year with input from a number of quarry operators in and around Christchurch. The focus of the COP is to clearly set a standard of operation for all quarries. The COP covers all aspects of quarrying from the initial site setup, traffic management flows in, out and on the site, water quantity and usage, water quality both on site and downstream, dust management, clean filling, refuelling, site rehabilitation and other key practices.
Regulators and communities have lifted their expectations and scrutiny of the quarry industry’s work practices and the possible impacts on these and the operators take this very seriously. They believe that the community input into the ongoing development of quarry sites plays a large part in how quarries will be established and managed in the future.
The COP intends to provide a simple direction for what is expected to be standard operating practice and on-going improvement to “good and best operating” standards.
The intention of the COP is to future proof the way that quarry operators think, and to operate to maintain the social license of operation whilst being good neighbours in our communities. It is hoped the COP will be finalised between the various quarry operators and the local councils and that it will be operational in late 2018.
