Redgate residents are considering setting up an anti-mining group similar to No Coalition to fight the growth of a Shire of Augusta-Margaret River-owned lime pit.

Resident Roger Budd said property and business owners on Redgate Road were up in arms over a Shire proposal to nearly double the size of its nearby mining operation.

He said the Shire was acting hypocritically by seeking to support mining given its opposition to LD Operation’s Osmington coal mine.

Shire infrastructure services director Johan Louw said the extension was needed to secure lime for future projects, including road construction and pad material.

He said the Shire pit was a “small scale” operation compared to LD Operations’ proposed coal mine.

“The mining objections were based on a commercial extractive industry … for a profit-based company using methods which may have had a damaging impact on the surrounding environment,” Mr Louw said.

“The lime extraction from the Shire pit at Redgate is for material which will be used on Shire assets, which ultimately are the assets of the ratepayers, such as roads and Shire buildings.”

Resident David Isles said the proposal should be thrown out on commercial and environmental grounds.

“They’re also proposing to cut into the established coastal scrub. The expanded area of the pit will creep into the already established environment and to cut into that is nonsense,” he said.

Lucy Kilshaw, whose investment property directly abuts the pit, said she was concerned the Shire’s proposal violated the Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge Statement of Planning Policy.

However, Mr Louw shot her claim down, noting the pit was in production before the introduction of that policy.