Final Landform Design

The broad rehabilitation objective for the post-quarrying landform is to establish a similar environment to that which currently exists on the site: open eucalyptus woodland forest. The topography of the final landform will consist of a large number of small, stepped sandstone benches formed in an amphitheatre configuration, each with a revegetated bench. The amphitheatre void will be some 450m wide, 400m long at its western edge, and 650m long at its eastern edge. Until such time as extraction has ceased, rehabilitation will occur around the edges of the development only, and will not involve the floor of the site. Once operations have been completed, all buildings and infrastructure will be removed from the site. These areas will be reshaped where necessary for replacement of topsoil and revegetation. It is proposed that the access road surrounding the site will remain for use in the ongoing management of the site rehabilitation, for fire fighting purposes, and public access to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The floor of the site will be vegetated with appropriate native species from seed stock collected from the site prior to the commencement of operations, to create a stable, free-draining wetland, modelled on the surrounding topography.

The concept for a functioning wetland in the final void is illustrated in the first two figures below. The wetland will be formed as a shallow depression with the low point in the location of the final retention pond in the north east corner of the development. It is anticipated that sedges and other wetland plants endemic to the region will colonise this wetland area to form a swamp ecosystem analogous to that in the nearby Gooches Crater shown in the third figure below. This spectacular natural landform, mimicing a naturally rehabilitated quarry site, provided the inspiration for the final site design of the Newnes Junction Project.

Further details of the final landform can be found in section 6.2 of the Soil and Water Management Plan (GSS Environmental, 2004) (1,741 kB pdf) in the Supplementary Information section under Project Credentials.