CONSERVATIONISTS fear a proposed quarry extension at Sheldon will cause significant environmental damage, with thousands signing a petition against the plan.
About 51 hectares of koala habitat will be removed under a Karreman Quarries proposal to expand its 88 hectare site at West Mount Cotton Road.
The extension plan is now before the federal environment department under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, having already passed through the state government and council.
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Sheldon man Brett Ashford launched a petition in December calling for the federal government to block the request, saying it would have extensive environmental impacts and offset plans did not align with policies.
More than 22,000 people have signed the petition, but Mr Ashford said there had been little opportunity for community comment on the proposal, with the public notice period lasting less than two weeks.
"I think that's the biggest problem," Mr Ashford said. "It has gone through with a bit of a stealth method.
"People are in favour the quarry for their own reasons, but I would say in general, there is more concern.
"The point of the petition was to recognise that there is broader support for the environmental values of the area, rather than the quarry."
Karreman Quarries received 15 properly made submissions during the public notice period prior to Christmas.
Managing director Dick Karreman said the company would replace more vegetation than they removed, a point which he believed some petitioners had overlooked.
"The scale of the offsets has a ratio of 5.8 hectares to one hectare," he said. "The offsets within the Redlands are almost twice the impacted area.
"The clearing is one hectare per annum after the first year of approval."
Mr Ashford doubted approval would be knocked back but hoped the petition could spark a review of the quality and location of offsets proposed.
"The big issue with their proposal at the moment, is the majority of their offset is going to Tarome in the Scenic Rim," he said.
Mr Karreman said a fauna spotter would be on site before and during vegetation clearing.
"If there is any fauna in the area ... we do not clear until we have a day where there are no animals anywhere," he said.
Cr Adelia Berridge said she was surprised the quarry extension did not come to council for a vote.
"I have never been able to find one case in Queensland of a quarry change of use of that size ... that didn't come before council," she said.
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