4 days ago
Expert reveals blast risk for new 15,000-home Melbourne suburb
A former explosives engineer who worked in the mining sector before becoming a real estate guru has issued a stark warning for a new mega suburb planned for Melbourne's north.
Just the prospect of nearby explosive work at a neighbouring quarry, coupled with people who don't understand it, could be enough to hit home values and the ability to onsell residences nearby.
Even with the likelihood blasting will be done so safely it has no risk of physically impacting homes.
The Victorian Government this week approved plans for a new 15,000 home precinct to Melbourne's north — as well as a basalt quarry to help build infrastructure as well as properties.
Authorities have planned a 250m 'blast buffer', and the nearest houses will be about 500m away with estate amenities filling the remaining space between them and the excavation site.
Real estate investment expert, and former explosives engineer Jane Slack-Smith said even with the buffer zone it would be a case of 'buyer beware'. I've got sti
'It could be a good solution for getting into a first home, and having a lovely experience — but when they come to sell, it's probably going to negatively impact their selling price,' Ms Slack-Smith said.
'The public perception is the thing that causes the worst situation here. Even though the reality is that we need the quarry to build the homes.'
The property investment expert said she had finished her explosives career about 20 years ago, after starting as one of the first two women handling detonations in NSW coal mines in 1989.
As she was transferring to a career in property investment advisory, her former industry was beginning to use sophisticated digital blasting technology that could effectively direct which way shockwaves from explosives travel — to the extent that certain blasting could be done 'in your backyard' without most people noticing.
Ms Slack-Smith she believed the technology had come a long way since then.
'That could minimise blast noise and vibrations,' she said.
'But a homeowner about to buy in a housing estate, they don't know that.
'You talk to someone about explosives and the only stories that people know are the big bangs.
'So there's always a worry that there will be buyer expectations around buying in the area.'
And it's unlikely the first homebuyers heading into the estate will be able to wait out the quarry, which is slated for operation through to 2052.
Most homebuyers live in a residence for seven to 11 years.
The quarry is likely to also create dust and noise, with expectations the operators will be taking steps to address these where possible.
The approval of the quarry has frustrated existing local residents who had been fighting against its establishment for about four years — including two prior rejections by Mitchell Shire Council, who had warned of impacts on traffic, air quality and potentially the health and wellbeing of current and future residents.
The 1279ha wider Beveridge North West Precinct Structure Plan that the quarry and homes will be part of will also pave the way for eight schools, four town halls and shopping centres, a series of parks and reserves and is ultimately expected to house 47,000 people.
The approval was announced on Tuesday by Victorian planning minister Sonya Kilkenny who said there would be a staged rollout of the schools and other amenities — while the quarry was essential for building many of the homes and could lead to reduced construction costs.
'There is a quarry in this PSP that has been there, identified in the plan for many years, and part of that is ensuring that when you've got supply of materials, local construction, materials that are close to demand, it also means you can reduce the cost of the housing, reduce the cost of construction, which ultimately makes the homes cheaper to build and cheaper then to buy,' Ms Kilkenny said.
Housing Industry Association Victorian executive director Keith Ryan said it was likely increased materials for civil works would allow for more rapid delivery of the infrastructure needed to support new homes and potentially home features like driveways.
In the absence of economic modelling, Mr Ryan was not sure how much of a benefit this would provide to the homebuyers, but said there would be wide benefits from the creation of a new quarry — though there might still be questions of labour availability.
He added that with a number of quarries already operating near homes around Victoria, and having done so historically, there was a prospect home values might not suffer.
'When people look at these homes in the future, they might not know the quarry is there unless they drive right past it,' Mr Ryan said.
It won't be the first time explosives and new housing have been mixed, with developer Stockland laying 600m of underground explosives to precision blast in sewerage lines for a Truganina housing estate in 2019.
In the span of 10 seconds the detonations prepared the ground for the infrastructure for a section of the 138ha Grandview estate, expected to house about 4500 residents — a fraction of what is to come in the new precinct at Beveridge.
