A quarry near Gunnedah has applied to increase its production by more than 40 per cent so it can tender for the Narromine to Narrabri Inland Rail project.
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Mackellar Excavations and Gunnedah Quarry Products has applied to temporarily increase its production by 151,000 tonnes per annum and use bigger trucks.
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A document prepared by Outline Planning Consultants states that the "modest increase" would enable the companies to "competitively bid" for the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) project and "the very large volumes of quarry product it will require".
The development consent modification submitted to Gunnedah Shire Council requests approval to increase quarry production from 360,000 tonnes per annum to 511,000 tonnes per annum.
The increase in production is for the duration of the ARTC project, which is expected to be carried out between 2021-2025.
The document states that there were no proposed changes to the quarry's footprint, the number of blasts, operating hours, staffing, daily truck traffic, noise, or soil erosion or dust management.
The hard rock quarry is located about 33km west of Gunnedah at Mary's Mount.
The application is on public display until January 27 and can be viewed in the council's administration office in Elgin Street, Department of Planning in Tamworth, or online here.
What is the Inland Rail project?
The Inland Rail project is the construction of 1700km of new rail line over 10 years to reduce transit times and complete one of the missing freight rail links between Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.
The project has been divided into 13 legs and the Narromine to Narrabri leg is the longest at 300km.
The Inland Rail is funded by the federal government.
