THE Funda quarry outside Plettenberg Bay, which stopped operating last April, is to be rehabilitated in a move that looks set to improve the quality of water flowing into the Bitou River.

The quarry extracted pebbles from an alluvial fan of the Funda River, a tributary of the Bitou, to produce aggregates for the building industry. It stopped operating in terms of an undertaking by DenRon that the company would mine for only five years.

Steve van der Westhuizen, of Site Plan Consulting, which is drawing up the closure application, said yesterday that excavation of the alluvial fan had created a series of five ponds.

“The fronts of the ponds are being finished with earthworks and overflows, and the banks are being grassed to prevent erosion,” he said.

A benefit of the ponds, which cover 38625m², is that they act as sediment traps, improving the overall quality of the water that flows into the Bitou River.

DenRon said Funda staff were to have moved to a new site at Kwela in The Crags but operations there were in dispute, which could mean the Funda staff would lose their jobs.

In order to meet demands in the building industry in Plettenberg Bay, DenRon had delivered material from its Phantom quarry in Knysna.

Spokesman Dennis Derbyshire said the company would comply with all the regulations required to close the Funda quarry.

An environmental risk report would be made available to interested parties.