Rhys Powell
In the end, it fizzled out with barely a whimper.
In the distance, the site for the new Newcombe Rd Quarry
The Newcombe Road quarry saga made headlines during the local body election campaign.
Yet it wasn’t council intervention that resolved the standoff. It was the sheer bloody-mindedness of Rhys Powell and the pragmatism of Fulton Hogan Infrastructure Services’ chief operating officer Simon Dyne.
Dyne’s company biography notes his passion for quarrying and his role in leading sustainability. That passion, paired with Powell’s determination, finally broke the deadlock. But the saga is far from finished.
The long-running issue of on and off ramps at Newcombe Road for the Waikato Expressway will resurface. It already forms part of the Cambridge Connections work underway by Waipā District Council.
And it will be worth watching whether councillor Roger Gordon revives his pre‑election notice of motion, which sought to ban right turns from Newcombe Road into Tīrau Road for heavy commercial vehicles –ensuring they do not drive through Cambridge.
If adopted, sand-ladened trucks heading north – the majority, given growth in that direction – would turn left onto the Expressway, travel four kilometres south to the Hydro Road turning bay, then loop back north again.
The vexed issue of truck movements remains, but that fight must be fought by someone else. Rhys and Antoinette Powell have done their bit.
See: Will quarry have no rights?
See: A lack of evidence
Rhys and Antoinette Powell run an international equestrian operation on the northern side of the proposed quarry and reply on the large, natural riverbanks to exercise and condition their horses. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
