A Tauriko family's battle with dust kicked up by earthmoving machines has led to the development of a new access track.
The Chaytor family said their quality of life has suffered from clouds of dust blowing onto their property at the end of Gargan Rd.
Tauriko Business Estate developer Bryce Donne responded immediately when told about the problems caused by vehicles on the track, which leads to a workshop. He banned light vehicles and has re-routed heavy vehicles to go around the far side of the orchard, away from the Chaytors.
Mr Donne said the first he heard about the Chaytor family's problems had been from the Bay of Plenty Times. He subsequently learned that the Chaytors had spoken to a staff member who had since left. "I regret that he did not do more, or pass on this concern, as we would have addressed it before now."
Ross Chaytor outlined the dust and vibration problems in his submission opposing development company TBE2's resource consent application to treble the size of its pumice quarry. Mining an additional 1.1 million cubic metres into the Gargan Rd plateau would create a further 1.66ha of developable land.
"It is affecting our health. My daughter has had many doctor's visits for a persistent cough. Electrical appliances have a shortened life and if my wife dusts in the morning, it is back at night," he said.
The family had experienced "considerable vibrations" from heavy machinery on the track, comparing it with an up and down earthquake, which moved pictures on walls and caused small cracks.
Mr Donne said the track that passed near the Chaytors' property would be mulched and sown in grass. "We hope that within six weeks it will have a nice green look to it."
He said the track that caused the dust problem had been used infrequently by earthworks machines going to and from the workshop for repairs. However, he suspected that the track had been used by utes as a short cut. Mr Donne said the motor scrapers and bulldozers that used the track were not involved in the pumice quarry and were more a function of the estate's earthworks operation.
He said the closest that the proposed quarry extension would come to the Chaytors' house would be about 140m. The quarry would be vertically separated from the Chaytor family's property and the prevailing wind blew the opposite way. The face of the quarry would be dampened down using sprinklers.