Who was here first?
Fish Creek Quarries told ABC Gippsland radio in May 2026 that the quarry has been here since the 1960s. We went back through the State’s aerial photos, the land titles and the quarry’s approvals to check.
What the record shows
The State aerial photos from 1972, 1974 and January 1980 show paddock where the pit is now. The first worked ground at the site appears on the 3 January 1991 photo, about 0.8 ha. Council issued a planning permit in 1993, and Work Authority 495 was granted on 1 June 1996.
By then, 14 of the 18 homes now within 500 m of the quarry were already on their lots. Several of those lots were subdivided and sold by the quarry owners’ own family from 1982, more than a decade before the quarry was approved.
So it’s the 1990s, not the 1960s. We didn’t come to the quarry. The quarry came to us.
Now a new work area of about 50 ha is proposed next door, up on the Hoddle Range. No application has been lodged yet.
How the video was made
Lot boundaries and the dates each lot was created come from the State’s property data. Quarry boundaries come from the State’s work authority data. Worked ground is traced from the aerial photos listed below. Each lot appears on the date its plan was registered.
Some parts are illustrative, and we want to be upfront about them:
- There are no aerial photos of the site between January 1991 and 2006. The video shows the pit staying at its 1991 size until the 1996 approval and then growing towards its 2006 size. We don’t know exactly when that growth happened.
- Houses are shown building over about two years, finished by the first year they appear on an aerial photo. A few dates come from what residents remember. Some houses may have been there earlier than shown.
- Pit sizes are only measured where there’s a photo: about 0.8 ha in January 1991 and about 9 ha by 2026.
If you have photos of the area from the 1990s, or know when a house nearby was built, we’d love to hear from you: info@promcoastguardians.org
Sources for the video
- The claim: Fish Creek Quarries on ABC Gippsland radio, May 2026.
- State aerial photography, Victoria (Land Use Victoria): Vic 2707 frame 168 (1972), Vic 2839 frame 15 (1974), Vic 3466 frame 171 (17 Jan 1980), Vic 4374 frame 15 (3 Jan 1991).
- Google Earth imagery, 2006 to 2026 (© Google; image providers as credited in Google Earth).
- Lot registration dates: Vicmap Property, Department of Transport and Planning. Some 1970s and 1980s lot dates are estimated from plan numbers.
- Subdivisions by the quarry owners’ family: certificates of title for LP141447 (13 Dec 1982) and LP143820 (5 Dec 1983).
- South Gippsland Shire Council planning permit 1993/8311227.
- Work Authority 495: Mining Titles System, Resources Victoria (granted 1 June 1996, 10.9 ha).
- Work authority boundaries, existing and proposed: DEECA work authority data, May 2026.
- Distances and the 500 m line: measured by Prom Coast Guardians in QGIS from the work authority boundaries.
Video: Prom Coast Guardians, October 2026.
We’re residents, landowners, businesses and visitors around Fish Creek, the Hoddle Range and the Prom Coast. We’re volunteers, and we’ll reply within two business days. About us
We acknowledge the Bunurong and Gunaikurnai peoples, the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters where we live and work. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and recognise their continuing connection to Country.
