The Boral Berrima Cement Works, located in the Southern Highlands region of NSW, produces up to 60 percent of the total amount of cement products consumed within the state. The cement works was built in 1926 by Arthur Stanley Taylor to process limestine from his Maural mine. In 1928 subdivided land in New Berrima was offered to employees for housing. Boral purchased the cement works in 1987 and was fully converted from Blue Scope Southern to full Boral branding in 2010.
The Boral Berrima Cement Works is responsible for the supply of more than 60 percent of cement products in NSW and the ACT.
Construction of the Cement Works began in late 1927 and first operations started in May 1929. The neighbouring town of New Berrima was originally established in 1928 as housing for employees of the site.
Operating with one kiln (No 6), the Works takes limestone delivered by rail from the Boral Marulan South Limestone Mine and, after blending with other materials, burns it at high temperature to produce clinker.
The clinker, in the form of pellets, is ground to produce the cement powder and products with which consumers are familiar. The site employs around 115 people in operational and administrative roles.
Boral acquired the Works late in 1987 from Blue Circle Southern Cement, retaining the original owner's name until re-branding to Boral Cement during 2010. The manufacturing process at the Berrima Cement Works is based upon the extreme heating of limestone and other elements to generate clinker. This clinker is then ground into the base cement powder which you can buy at your local hardware store.
Some of the best known public infrastructure built in NSW and the ACT has included cement produced at the Berrima Cement Works:
- Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme
- Sydney Opera House
- Federal Parliament House
- High Court of Australia
- National Art Gallery, Canberra
- Anzac Bridge, Sydney
- Sydney Harbour Tunnel
- Motorway sections of the Hume, Pacific and Federal Highways.
Learn more about Boral Projects.
The Boral Berrima Cement Works has a long tradition of arranging community meetings to share information about the operations, review their performance with neighbours and stakeholders, and to gather feedback.
The Cement Works operates a Community Liaison Group (CLG) as a requirement of the site's planning approval.
The CLG, which re-formed in June 2019 to replace a series of regular open community meetings held between 2011-18, meets quarterly as a primary communication channel between the site and local residents.
Presentations and meeting notes for the last three years of CLG sessions are available on this page. If you would like to review documents from earlier meetings, please send an email to community@boral.com.au.
As described in the planning approval, the CLG consists of community representatives, an appointed representative of Wingecarribee Shire Council, and Boral personnel. The current community and Council members are:
- Clive West - Berrima resident and Berrima Resident Association representative
- Andrew Wood - New Berrima resident
- Barry Arthur - Environment Manager, Wingecarribee Shire Council
Please note - as one of the members has resigned from the CLG, Boral is currently calling for Expressions of Interest regarding joining the CLG.
For more information, including nomination forms please read these documents:
- Code of Conduct - Berrima Cement Works
- Declaration of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests
- Nomination Form - Representatives of Stakeholder Groups
- Nomination Form - Local Community Representatives
The Boral Berrima Cement Works has developed an Operational Environment Management Plan (OEMP) and a set of Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) over many years to guide site operations and environmental management.
The suite of management plans assist the operations to meet the terms of its environment protection licence (EPL) and planning approvals. You can read the documentation below.
The Berrima Cement Works' planning consents include requirements to compile a range of reports and perform various audits. These offer an assurance that the provisions of each are being complied with.
Annual Environmental Management Reviews (AEMRs)
The Cement Works compiles an Annual Environmental Management Review (AEMR) at the end of each reporting year, capturing information about operations and performance against a range of criteria. The reviews can be found below.
Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment Act 2011 (POELA) reporting
The Berrima Cement operation, as well as many other Boral sites, has obligations under the Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment Act 2011. These obligations include providing public access to pollution reporting data.
The Boral Berrima Cement Works was commissioned in 1929 and has been operated continuously ever since. During the course of its history, the site has hosted six different kilns and a wide variety of infrastructure.
For many years, the Cement Works was reliant upon 'continuing use rights' as the basis for operating approval. Today, two main approvals inform the site's operating conditions.
They are:
- DA 401-11-2002-i, issued by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) on 12 May 2003 for the upgrade of Kiln 6, and
- DA 85-4-2005, issued by DPIE on 16 August 2005 for the establishment of Cement Mill 7.
These approvals have been subject to a number of modification applications which have subsequently been approved.
Boral Berrima Cement Works - Kiln 6 Consolidated Consent (to MOD 15)
Berrima Cement Works - Mill 7 Consent
The site also holds several development application (DA) approvals issued by Wingecarribee Shire Council for a number of the smaller buildings and structures on site.
