The Gunlake Quarry Continuation Project

please see attachment letter

The Gunlake team are experienced and professional in the operation of the Marulan Quarry. The team always endeavour to take into consideration all stakeholders including the local community, Employees, Customers and suppliers. I believe this project will benefit the broader Marulan/Goulburn area and benefit the Sydney construction market and all of the communities it supports.

Expanding the quarry with regards to resources is not an issue - but by taking the short-cut of not using rail, like all other major quarries in the area, is inconceivable. Using the cheaper truck option - impacts the environment, the roads & residents & multiple communities along the Hume - with significantly increased congestion, pollution, road accidents . Please do not approve the truck short cut and enforce the use of rail as part of this project. Thankyou.

objection attached

I strongly object to this project and the increased usage of Brayton Road for the transport of quarry materials by road. As a longtime resident of the area, I have noticed the poor impact the Gunlake quarry has already had on the roads, both the state of the tarmac and the quantity of trucks. Trucks even those traveling in the opposite impact on our car with flying stones and rocks from the road surface involving damage to body and windscreen. Travel time has reduced and I must make time allowance when going to work. Increased usage would mean it would be impossible to break into a line of trucks and it would take heaps more time to travel along Brayton Rd etc., plus increased flying stones. This quarry NEEDS to use rail transport and keep the trucks off the roads. Gunlake has so far been inconsiderate of people who live along the route, including the air and noise quality, and by wanting more trucks to travel the route, are showing that they are even more inconsiderate than before. My further objections include:- decreased property values, emissions from the trucks and the quarry itself, the unsafe nature of so much heavy, large vehicle movement, the fact that the quarry seems to think that they own the roads (for example the give way merging lane for through traffic from Brayton and Big Hill areas that has already been put in place in favour of the quarry trucks. That disgusted me! Fumes behind trucks dreadful). Pointing to further inconsideration. Re Jobs and Economy - very unlikely; people are brought from wherever it is cheapest, possible FYFO (or DYDO) type for shifts only, already see interstate number plates for so called local jobs (eg. roads, electricity). The continued expansion of Gunlake Quarry needs to stop and ALL product MUST be transported by rail. We have had our place for almost 30 years and Gunlake has contributed to the downgrading of the environment. (Lockdown and coronavirus was heaven for us. Lack of truck congestion and filth in the area.)

I understand very well that we require quarries to supply the growing building and construction markets in Sydney and its environs and that a number of such large quarries already exist in the vicinity of Marulan, including that currently operated by Gunlake Quarries.

However, what I find incomprehensible about the project is that the products are planned to be sent to markets by road when a very effective rail network is close by and indeed already used by similar operators Boral and Holsim.

The concept of proposing to massively increase the number of heavy truck movements onto the road network around Marulan and up to Sydney at a time when the NSW government has just announced its carbon neutral vision seems almost "surreal" when the much better option of using rail is available and is perfectly suited. Using rail allows quarry products to get to markets without all of the known burdens of road transport to local communities and with a much lower long term carbon footprint.

It seems to me that the only likely benefit from using road transport is to reduce the overall capital investment requirement by Gunlake Quarries for the project; this, of course, is not a valid reason for the project to proceed on this basis, given that it will likely generate very significant returns.

Gunlake Quarries should be required to install proper and appropriate rail siding infrastructure to reduce its dependence on road haulage; they need to play their part in getting trucks off the road rather than taking the cheap way out of adding even move.

Gunlake quarry has proven to be an asset to our community with significant improvements completed to local infrastructure and support to community groups, schools and events

I consider this project to be a valuable asset to the local district and greater Sydney, it is located in an appropriate area utilising land that has poor agricultural value.
Gun Lake has provided valuable support to local businesses

I am most concerned at the increase of heavy vehicle traffic that is proposed for Brayton Road leading up to The Marulan Village and the Hume Highway. Brayton Road leads up a valley to Big Hill and Greenwich Park. The quality of the rural area could quite easily be maintained if the Gunlake Quarry were to move their product by rail rather than road. The extra traffic proposed on the roads does not bode well for road safety on either the rural roads or the Hume Highway . If the Gunlake Quarry is as profitable as the owners anticipate, then the cost of a rail line for a 30 year life time would be insignificant and would allow the quarry to run the hours that it is proposing without further submissions to the NSW Planning Department

We object to the project according to our submission of our two (2) attachments.

I write to you in my capacity as Chairman of the Goulburn & District Education Foundation in support of Gunlake Quarries and the wonderful work they have done towards helping school leavers in Goulburn and District in achieving their post school dreams. Our organization raises money and then distributes those monies in the form of grants to motivated, well orientated but financially needy school leavers to pursue their tertiary, technical, job orientated or trade opportunities . Our major sponsor for many years now has been Gunlake Quarries, providing over $100,000 towards these grants plus taking on mentoring roles for our awardees , not only from Gunlake staff, but also from Ed and Annabelle ONeill themselves . There are hundreds of past and present awardees who are beneficiaries of these great acts of generosity by Gunlake, no doubt contributing to them taking their place in work areas region wide and nation wide. Gunlake has certainly demonstrated to us their great and continuing links with the empowerment and support of young people within Goulburn and District. We are eternally grateful to them. Yours sincerely , Guy Milson Chairman GDEF

Good afternoon,
I have no position on the project going forward but would like to comment on some matters of concern to me. I am a resident of the immediate area and travel Brayton Road regularly.

The project is classed as a State Significant Project (SSD) and as such, I feel, there is little the community can do anyway to prevent it eventually going forward. I believe that this is a realistic not a defeatist attitude. Provided the environmental guidelines are carefully monitored in regards to noise and particularly air quality there should be no significant ongoing impacts on the local community.

My major area of concern is the impact on the road infra structure on the primary transport route from the increase in traffic advised by the application. It should be paramount that Goulburn Mulwaree Council, as the Roads Authority responsible for the maintenance of the road, are held accountable for repairing the inevitable damage to the road. They have fallen short in this area to date. There are several areas along the road where ground water is a problem and this results in deformation of the road surface. The quarry contribute significant amounts of money to Council, by way of their section 94 contributions, to ensure that the road is maintained without the Council having to divert funds from other rate payers to facilitate such work. The current repair schedule is not adequate to maintain the road appropriately so any additional traffic movements would require a review of such schedule. This would ensure the road is maintained in a safe condition.

The other area of concern is that of the speed limit applicable to the road. The current limit of 100k/h is the correct limit for this quality of road. There is a very vocal minority in the community who are suggesting a limit of 80k/h which is absolute nonsense. I would support a limit of 80k/h for heavy vehicles only, as a measure to limit possible damage to the road surface, whilst maintaining the current limit of 100k/h for other vehicles. The heavy vehicle speeds could be monitored, should it be felt necessary, by simple random checks of truck monitoring systems.

Thank you for your time.

I am writing as a business owner to say we generally support Gunlake's application to extend the quarry life by 30 years, on the proviso it meets all environmental and planning requirements.

Great family owned company, that cares about there employees, local community and environmental obligations.
This expansion will continue to help the community with employment opportunities for many years to come.

See attached

See attached.

Please refer to the attached letter