WA no longer boasts cheap sand as shortages and on-going fuel crisis blowing out building costs

WA’s identity as the Sandgroper State may have been forged in its coastal plains, but sand is no longer dirt cheap, with costs jumping by two thirds - or $10,000 to $15,000 per block. Andy Graham of the Civil Contractors Federation said Perth is in the paradoxical position of sitting on the Swan Coastal Plain yet suffering shortages in some areas as it builds over dunes in the South metropolitan corridor and the South West. The skyrocketing diesel price had also helped drive up costs, with a fuel levy boosting fill sand deliveries from $36 to $43 per cubic metre in the past month alone. CCF said a typical 400sqm residential block in a new estate - which needs around 1000 tonnes of compacted sand - incurs a $25,000 cost in delivered fill sand, compared to $15,000 only five years ago. Some blocks require deeper infill of 1500 tonnes, which now costs $37,000 per block. CCF board member Tinus Nagel said there was ample sand supply north of Perth but increasing commutes in the South had added big costs to the already embattled construction sector. “Sand south of the river is running out,” he said. “Limestone (sand) in the south is basically exhausted and if we have to transport these materials from north to south it will increase cost by another 15 to 20 per cent.” Mr Nagel, also the general manager of WA Premix, said the price pressure was due to a combination of inflation, transport, and the relatively constrained supply, claiming new or expanded quarries had been impeded by green tape and environmental opposition. “This causes quarries to move further away from metro areas, which will still blow out prices due to transport costs,” he said. “It will merely shift the cost from quarrying to transport, and we would sterilise our precious resource which is not good stewardship or in the interest of sustainability.” Tanya Steinbeck, who heads up the Urban Development Institute of Australia (WA) said while there was a need to protect “sensitive environmental areas,” consideration also had to be given to “the long-term viability of carting sand fill long distances and the costs that will continue to add to a new home”. Ms Steinbeck called for the exploration of B-class material options for road infrastructure to help ease demand pressure. The issue is likely to become increasingly prominent as the need for more housing clashes with environmental concerns. Environmental groups have long opposed new or expanded quarries, including a decade-long battle over a proposed sand mine in Oldbury, where conservationists have raised concerns over a crucial habitat for the endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoo. The United Nations Environment Programme has warned of a sand crisis in some parts of the world, where it is mined faster than it can be replaced by geological processes.