Wasted spaces — old quarries, mines and empty city sites — find new lives as places to love again

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From wastelands to community assets  

Mohan Yellishetty, civil engineering associate professor at Monash University, belongs to a team researching better ways to transform such sites.

Quarries, Dr Yellishetty said, were generally close to metropolitan areas where they could become community assets rather than dangerous and potentially toxic sites.

From toxic dump to wedding venue — how abandoned mines can be reborn

What town wouldn't swap a contaminated hole or waterway for a profitable, environmentally sustainable plantation forest or renewable power project?

A cavernous space with chandeliers and people
Read more

Motorsports centres and waste storage facilities are some of the uses Dr Yellishetty is exploring.

"We need more space to store our waste," he said.

"Our waste generation is growing, and most councils are going to have trouble taking [waste] far away to dispose of it."

Helping communities adapt to climate change and reduce carbon emissions through quarry rehabilitation was also being explored, Dr Yellishetty said.

Options such as converting old quarries into flood retention systems, solar farms, or even opportunities for pumped hydro were being researched, he said.

Period30 Nov 2022

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  • TitleWasted spaces — old quarries, mines and empty city sites — find new lives as places to love again
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletABC Ballarat
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    Date30/11/22
    DescriptionFrom wastelands to community assets
    Mohan Yellishetty, civil engineering associate professor at Monash University, belongs to a team researching better ways to transform such sites.

    Quarries, Dr Yellishetty said, were generally close to metropolitan areas where they could become community assets rather than dangerous and potentially toxic sites.

    From toxic dump to wedding venue — how abandoned mines can be reborn
    What town wouldn't swap a contaminated hole or waterway for a profitable, environmentally sustainable plantation forest or renewable power project?

    A cavernous space with chandeliers and people
    Read more
    Motorsports centres and waste storage facilities are some of the uses Dr Yellishetty is exploring.

    "We need more space to store our waste," he said.

    "Our waste generation is growing, and most councils are going to have trouble taking [waste] far away to dispose of it."

    Helping communities adapt to climate change and reduce carbon emissions through quarry rehabilitation was also being explored, Dr Yellishetty said.

    Options such as converting old quarries into flood retention systems, solar farms, or even opportunities for pumped hydro were being researched, he said.
    Producer/AuthorRhiannon Stevens
    URLhttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-30/quarry-mine-rehabilitation-outdoor-art-park/101691766
    PersonsMohan Yellishetty