ROAD maintenance was high on the agenda of the most recent meeting between
Cristal Mining Australia representatives and Balranald Shire Council.
Cristal
Mining Australia director Dominic Manganaro and resource development manager Ray
Roberts met with Balranald Shire Council mayor Steve O’Halloran, director of
infrastructure and development John Stevenson and general manager Chris
Littlemore to continue negotiations about the project last week.
A key topic
of the meeting was the upkeep of the Balranald-Ivanhoe road, with further
progress made on a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) to cover continued
maintenance of shire roads along the transport route.
Although entered into
on a voluntary basis, once agreed, the VPA is legally binding.
Issues raised
in council’s submission to the Environmental Impact Statement for the
Atlas-Campaspe mine were also discussed.
Balranald Shire Council general
manager Chris Littlemore said a study into the current state of the
Balranald-Ivanhoe road would take place to assist in determining the works that
would need to occur to allow for frequent use by heavy vehicles.
The study
would also be used in part to finalise the VPA.
“It was agreed that Cristal
would fund a study to look at the state of the main road [MR67] as it is at
present and then we could use it to assess what damage needs to be repaired,” Mr
Littlemore said.
“If the study discovers there is a problem with the road we
are unaware of, there may be some work that needs to be done before they can use
it.”
For more of this story, see Wednesday’s Guardian (August 14).
