CMPA News (Issue 67)
SITE VISIT TO MEMBERS QUARRIES
On Friday 1st March 2013 CMPA’s Bruce McClure, General Manager and Sean Kinder, Document Officer made site visits to two members in the Mansfield area.
The first site visited was to the Mansfield Constructions quarry at Mansfield. The actual quarry was recently purchased by E. B. Mawson & Sons Pty Ltd but Mansfield Constructions are continuing with the crushing of products for Mawsons. The crushing of products at this site exclusively involves mobile plant in its operation. Mansfield Constructions is involved in a number of mobile plant crushing operations in Victoria and around Australia.
The second site visited was a quarry owned by Lima South Quarry Pty Ltd operated by the Day family. Ashley Day Director and Quarry Manager took over the business several years ago from his parents and is expanding the quarry and its activities. Lima South Quarry relies exclusively on mobile plant for its production of product. They have also been involved in mobile plant operations in other parts of Victoria.
CMPA 2013 AGM & DINNER SPONSORSHIP
Sponsorship packages for the CMPA 2013 AGM & Dinner has opened with information going out via email to all Associates in the middle of February.
As per previous years there are four levels for Members to choose from Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze which all comprise different levels of exposure.
There are also other opportunities to sponsor prizes on the night, such as the early bird and door prizes or certain holes at the golf afternoon.
At present we have eleven Associates committed to the event to be held on Saturday 24th August 2013 at the Peppers Sands Resort in Torquay.
To obtain a copy of the Sponsorship Flyer contact the Secretariat on 03 5781 0655 or enquiries@cmpavic.asn.au.
NET VOLUME LICENSING PROJECT
Bruce McClure recently attended a meeting organised by the Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Department of Primary Industries where a draft report on an investigation into a water accounting system applicable to the extractive industries and mining in Victoria was presented.
The draft report outlined what the project is about, why it is considered important to look at ways of better managing the States water resources and in ensuring that costs associated with the supply of water are kept within economically affordable limits.
Six case studies were carried out where various alternative methods of supply and accounting of possible water returns into the system were examined.
Following the latest meeting, the report will be further refined and then made available for public comment. The CMPA will comment on the final report in Sand & Stone when it’s released for public comment.
CHANGES TO SECTION 110 POWERS IN MRSDA
CMPA attended a meeting arranged by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) for industry members early in February 2013 to discuss a draft Guideline for Section 110 Notices and Injunctions, document that had been prepared to explain new powers that were under Section 110 of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 (MRSDA) and had been passed by the State Government late last year.
DPI has commenced work on a guideline as to how the powers will be enforced and wanted industry comment, input prior to finalising and publishing the guideline.
From this meeting further revisions to the guidelines were sort by industry to make them easier to understand and use. The guideline when finalised will complement DPI’s Enforcement Policy and Enforcement Procedure, and Earth Resources Regulation Victoria’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy, which are available at www.dpi.vic.gov.au
CIVIL CONSTRUCTION ALLIANCE MEETING
The latest Victorian Civil Construction Industry Alliance meeting was held in Melbourne on 21 February 2013. The CMPA is a member of the Alliance. There were four guest speakers at this meeting.
The first speaker was Brian Haratsis, Managing Director/Chief Economist, MacroPlan and Member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee who made a presentation on the Discussion Paper on the Metropolitan Strategy.
The Victorian Government is preparing a new Metropolitan Planning Strategy for Melbourne to build on its livability and ensure the future prosperity of the State. The Minister for Planning has established a Ministerial Advisory Committee to oversee the development of the metropolitan planning strategy.
The Ministerial Advisory Committee in turn has prepared a Discussion Paper called “Melbourne, let’s talk about the future”. The paper has been prepared to prompt debate around the challenges and ideas for Melbourne’s future.
The second speaker was Mr Nigel Hadgkiss, Director of Construction Code Compliance who made a presentation on the implications of the revised Code of Practice for the Building and Construction Industry. He discussed the Implementation Guidelines to the Victorian Code of Practice for the Building and Construction Industry and the reasons why the State Government believes that Victoria needed new Guidelines. Further comments on what was mentioned are on page 15 of this issue.
The third speaker was the Hon Bruce Billson, Federal Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs who presented the Federal Oppositions position on red tape in the civil construction industry and then engaged with Alliance members to ascertain what they saw as necessary to address red tape impediments to the efficient delivery of civil infrastructure. Further comments on what was mentioned are on page 19 of this issue.
The final speaker was Mr Corey Hannett, Chief Executive Officer, Regional Rail Link Authority, who made a presentation on the regional rail project. The Regional Rail Link is an infrastructure project designed to remove major bottlenecks in Victoria’s rail network in the north west of Melbourne. Further comments on what Mr Corey Hannett discussed are on page 13 of this issue.
VISIT TO REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATION
On the 8 January 2013 Bruce McClure met with Stacey Clarke Coordinator of Mining and other staff from the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE to discuss final preparation of the pilot course for Conduct laboratory – based acceptance tests for constructions materials.
The pilot course was actually run over three days 15 – 17 January. All feedback has indicated that the course went reasonably well but there are a number of improvements to the course structure that will be necessary and will be adopted when the next course is run commencing on the 30 April 2013.
Two guest speakers were involved with the training, Officers from VicRoads and NATA. Their training and comments was very well received and they will be invited to take part in the next course in April. BRIT intends to video tape their lectures so that this knowledge will be available for future courses.
NEW STRATEGY TO MANAGE CONTAMINATED ENVIRONMENTS
The CMPA was advised in February 2013 that Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has released a new strategy to better manage contaminated environments. The EPA’s Contaminated Environments Strategy was developed in consultation with a range of government agencies and departments, experts in land remediation, local government and community groups.
The key objective of EPA’s Contaminated Environments Strategy is to reduce environmental and health impacts of historical contamination.
The strategy primarily focuses on using EPA’s regulatory powers to address current issues, but also identifies areas where EPA’s authority and expertise can be used to support other areas of government involved in the management of contaminated environments.
The Contaminated Environments Strategy provides clarity on EPA’s focus over the next four years for dealing with past pollution. The strategy also addresses issues raised by the Auditor General’s Report, Managing Contaminated Sites, released in 2011.
A copy of the strategy can be downloaded from www.epa.vic.gov.au
RECENT EVENTS
Bruce McClure met with staff from the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE early in January 2013 to discuss final preparation of the pilot course for “Conduct laboratory – based acceptance tests for constructions materials”.
Bruce McClure attended a meeting organised by the DPI to discuss a draft document prepared titled Guideline for Section 110 Notices and Injunctions. The State Government passed legislation late last year that changed the regulations relating to Section 110 Notices and Injunctions.
CMPA recently met with Paul Sutton the CEO of the Institute of Quarry Association to discuss a number of issues impacting on both Associations and in particular to discuss future training opportunities.
CMPA members, Registered Training Organisations (RTO) and educators met early in February to discuss a number of issues, problems with the current training regime for employees that is in place. A total of forty one people were present and the discussion has been well received by the RTO, educators and those industry members present.
Bruce McClure met with DSE, DPI and Sinclair Knight Mertz staff to discuss a draft final report on a Water Accounting Framework developed by the Minerals Council of Australia.
The first WorkSafe Earth Resources Tripartite Safety Forum for 2013 was held late in February.
SITE VISIT, WORKSHOP AND GENERAL MEETING
The CMPA is planning a site visit to DE Quarry Solutions, at their Skipton Quarry followed by a workshop at a local venue in Ballarat that will look at areas involved with Chain of Responsibility and in particular, will especially look at Fatigue Management.
The workshop will be appropriate for all members who have staff affected by the Chain of Responsibility legislation that has been in place since July 2003.
The workshop will be followed by a general meeting at which all members present will be updated on the important events that are currently affecting the extractive industry. The final event for the day will be a dinner at a local venue.
The exact details of the site visit and workshops are still under negotiation but all members will be advised of the actual activities well before the day proposed which is Wednesday 1st May 2013.
Where: Starting at DE Quarry Solutions, Skipton Quarry
When: Proposed date is Wednesday 1st May 2013
Further details will be sent to all members shortly.
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