Strada Aggregates Inc. has made application for approval of an abovewater table aggregate extraction site to the south of its almost depleted Shelburne Pit in Melancthon Township.

The application is for a maximum of 1.25 million tonnes annually between the two sites. The new pit would be on a 47-hectare (117-acre) tract on the west half of lots 11 and 12 in the Third Concession O.S.

In an executive summary of a massive set of studies into the proposal, Strada defines its Shelburne Pit as “depleted” but indicates there is a limited resource there that can be mixed with that of the new pit to create more variety.

It says the pit is depleted sooner than expected because of the demands of the “Shelburne Windmill” project, the second phase of the Melancthon wind farm.

Strada says the site is well situated to serve Dufferin County and the GTA.

The company sees a growing need for aggregates locally as the population of the county is expected to rise to 80,000 by 2031.

Of the 47 hectares of the new site, 37.6 ha (92.9 acres) would be mined. The summary emphasizes that care will be taken not to extract beyond 1.5 metres above the water table.

The full study is being posted on the township’s website this week, and comes at a time when Melancthon’s new Official Plan is being debated in a lengthy series of meetings. Public input at the meetings has focused to a large extent on a demand for a Specialty Crop designation – generally for the area proposed for a quarry.

In addition to the general public, Meridian Consulting submitted a critique of the proposed OP in which it found, among other things, what it said were inaccuracies with flood-plain identification.

Meridian is the consultant for The Highland Companies.

Its criticism included a lack of woodland mapping, and asked for the Ministry of Natural Resources maps (as those are being recognized by both the township planner and the County of Dufferin for forestry control).

There wasn’t sufficient time Monday to complete a review of the input. There’ll be a further public meeting on Monday, Sept. 13.