A BRUNSWICK company’s successful bid to establish a sand extraction facility near Harvey will take a step towards alleviating the threat of rising building costs in the South West.
Carbone Bros, who have been operating in the South West for 60 years, have secured a 16-hectare area on the McLarty site between Harvey and Waroona.
Operations manager Craig Carbone said the win would mean a secure source of sand for the next 20 years.
“It is getting harder and harder to source raw materials which threatens to drive up South West building costs, so we were looking for a long term solution,” Mr Carbone said.
“This is good news for the region.”
Mines and petroleum minister Bill Marmion said the quality of companies wanting to establish the sand extraction business was high.
Mr Marmion said he had instructed the mines and petroleum department to work with the Forest Products Commission with the aim of releasing more South West land to provide building materials.
Land near the proposed sand extraction site will eventually accommodate a state explosive facility, which is scheduled to be relocated from its current site at Baldivis in Perth’s southern metropolitan area by December 2017.
“The main use of the current Baldivis facility, which has coexisted with neighbouring residential landowners for decades without incident, is to manufacture and store explosives and ammonium nitrate, including fireworks such as those used for Australia Day celebrations,” Mr Marmion said.
