Hillview Hard Rock Quarry Project

The quarry is within 5km of the local school which is concerning with airborne dust from the quarry activities and the potential health effects this could cause. Airborne dust is also a concern with my drinking water as we collect roof water into tanks for our house. What procedures and assurances will be in place to ensure air quality is monitored to protect the health of the local people especially the elderly and children from airborne dust especially as silica dust has been raised as a health issue in recent years?

The quarry hours are too long and the noise will disrupt our peace and quiet especially in the evenings and at night. Why should the quarry be allowed to be open far beyond business hours instead of restricted to business hours 8am - 5pm as it would be in a non rural zone? Also the quarry application has the potential for critical maintenance to occur overnight and after hours but who determines what is critical and enforces the rules so this does not happen all the time?

The Bucketts Way intersection with Maytoms Lane even with a new turning lane is still dangerous due to being near a corner and a small hill where people overtake. The trucks exiting Maytoms Lane will still be crossing traffic to turn right into the path traffic coming over a hill without visibility of then entering the road. The Bucketts Way is in poor condition and an extra 100-150 truck movements a day will cause deterioration of the road surface even faster then it already occurs and increase the poor quality of the road surface. There has already been a quarry approved at Deep Creek which will increase the trucks on the road as will the clean energy hub intended for the old mine at Stratford. Even more trucks for Hillview quarry will add to those already causing damage to the road. Even recent roadwork where the surface has been fixed has already started to break up and degrade within the first 12 months.

The intersection at the Bucketts Way and Pacific Highway is also a concern as it is a dangerous intersection and more trucks will increase the potential for accidents. There has been several accidents there recently incluidng one in June 2025. There is no designated left turn merge lane for trucks turning to Karuah as per the solution proposed by the quarry and having trucks trying to merge into a 100k fast lane from standstill is a major risk. Also who will ensure the trucks follow this directive to turn left and then turn around at Karuah to travel South?

The intersection is also a concern during peak holiday times when traffic is banked up waiting to turn right. The additional trucks on the road from the quarry will make this even worse as there is only a small left turn lane off the Bucketts Way so more than one truck turning will end up blocking the access for people turning right.

The additional trucks are also a concern for the local school buses as there are minimal places for the bus to pull completely off the road for the children to safely access the bus.

What monitoring of the quarry activities will occur to ensure the koala population is not affected by the quarry activities including blasting? What controls will be put in place for remediation work after the quarry ends to ensure the money promised is available and the quarry does not sell up before this work is completed as has happened with mine sites in the past?

I strongly object to this submission, being Hillview Hard Rock Quarry. An outrageous proposal that will cause immediate to extended damage to our community, our environment and safety. Our roads, mainly The Bucketts Way, barely supports the traffic that uses it now. In fact it does not provide a safe and navigable route now! The constant repairs that barely last weeks let alone months are a nightmare. Constant damage to our cars and wheels but mainly the safety of driving this road is a nightmare.
How can adding to that load by hundreds of B Double, loaded trucks daily even be considered. If you take out the poor quality of our roads and then look at the delays we face daily for the constant repairs and upgrades and then take in to account the traffic congestion at peak holiday periods.
To leave the Bucketts Way just to head to work or an appointment you can sit at the highway intersection for more than 30 minutes at these times. Every time we leave our doors to go to work etc etc we will be crowded into hundreds of these trucks daily. The potential for road accidents will be scary as people navigate this excess traffic, take risks to get past said traffic and sit in lines of heavy vehicles.
It will not be long before we are facing multiple accidents among them that will be fatal. Especially the entry to the Highway, what world does anyone think this is a good idea. It is an extremely dangerous intersection at present, exacerbated by heavy holiday traffic and let’s now throw in a never ending stream of heavy trucks. Who will be held accountable for the carnage that will happen, just a case of when not if.
I expect the people looking to make huge amounts of money for this proposal do not care about the impacts, shame on them I say. When the turn of the ‘Big Buck’ influences decency, the right choice, environmental protection and the safety our community it is a sad affair.
Where will be the peace and quiet of our area, the beautiful flora and fauna, the health and safety of our community, our children and our future. In the pockets of a few I dare say.
The proposal is so outrageous I’m not sure how it has gained this much traction. Our roads are a laughing stock now, a danger every day we drive on them, they are busier than ever. How can this even be considered. Woe to the people who will be closest, the noise, the dust and direct traffic will be a nightmare, something that would potentially make people move from the area. What will be the value of our properties then I wonder with a huge mine just round the corner. Wow, glad my kids don’t attend Booral Public School anymore! Mmm, I wonder what our tank water will taste and look like there’s a thought. The Karuah River is also not that far away, what impacts will that see I wonder?
Shame on the applicants and the closest properties who probably support this submission as I am sure the remuneration will be ample to them. However nothing will give back now or in 30 years to what we will lose. There are few beautiful areas in this world, let us not pollute, ruin and decimate the one we are so lucky to live in for the chase of big money to so few. Where is the fairness in that?
The danger to our community on the road would be frighteningly significant, the stream of heavy vehicles travelling only minutes apart constantly, all day on most days of the week will be a nightmare and a hazard. Our roads cannot support this nor can our mental health or physical health navigating this on a dangerous daily basis. Maybe our school buses can leave an hour early to make sure they meet their timetables? maybe we can also do the same to take into account the traffic. Heaven help the police, SES and ambulances who will be called to accidents on The Bucketts Way if this be allowed to continue.
Please accept this as my strong objection to this thoughtless proposal.

KKEPS objects to the approval of Hillview quarry because the proposal needs revision to further avoid and mitigate impacts to:
1. the endangered and vulnerable native flora and fauna on and surrounding the site, and
2. the danger presented by heavy quarry vehicles on Bucketts Way, and particularly at the intersection with the Pacific Highway.

I am writing to express my concern about the enormous potential impact of the quarry on my rural community, on biodiversity (in particular on biodiversity corridors in the face of climate change), on tourism and on road safety. The Bucketts Way intersection is already deadly with 100km/hr merging onto the Pacific Highway. I object to this proposal for all of these reason and find it difficult to fathom that with such direct impacts on the health and economy of this area how this quarry could be approved.

N

Safe driving on Bucketts Way as it is the primary route to get from Stroud to Newcastle or north on the pacific highway. If the project is to go ahead it MUST include prior to launch of the quarry either traffic lights or an overpass at the intersection of Bucketts Way and the Pacific Highway. The impact on tourism and private lives particularly those who travel the road for work or medical reasons - the future impacts of this project have not been thought through. If they have please provide the traffic assessment report from both LGAs and the foreword planning mitigation to address road damage, increased delays on travel times and financial impacts on all the tourism operators involved west of the pacific highway. I had to provide traffic reports for renovating a church and mitigate increased traffic as a result of making it a bnb the least we expect is the same from our government when 100’s of heavy vehicles will be travelling on a road that carries the lives of thousands of people. So please provide your documentation that provides evidence of the future planning from a reputable organisation like Institute for the Future and the budget put aside and the timeline to mitigate the traffic and vehicle impacts.

We moved to Nooroo and invested in Stroud 15 years ago, please also consider the impact of forcing people to once again uproot for reasons of not being considered in the interests of big business and non representative government.

This can have huge environmental impacts to our children. I object this project due to the close proximity to a school.

Submission of Objection to Proposed Quarry Development (Rhyolite Extraction)
To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to strongly object to the proposed quarry development involving the extraction of rhyolite near Bucketts Way. This project poses serious risks to road safety, public health, the local environment, and endangered wildlife.

1. Road Safety – Bucketts Way Is Already Dangerous

As a daily commuter on Bucketts Way, I know firsthand how unsafe this road already is. It’s narrow, full of potholes, and offers no safe shoulders for breakdowns or emergency stops. Drivers frequently swerve or slow abruptly to avoid damage or accidents.

Adding large, slow-moving quarry trucks to this already hazardous road will increase the likelihood of serious collisions. These vehicles cannot travel at the posted 90 km/h limit, and their presence will lead to more risky overtaking, especially by impatient commuters.

There have already been multiple serious crashes on this road. Introducing a high volume of heavy trucks will undoubtedly result in more accidents, injuries, and fatalities. As someone who relies on this road every day, this proposal causes me deep anxiety and genuine concern for my safety and that of others.

2. Environmental Hazards – Rhyolite Extraction and Airborne Dust

The quarry proposes to extract rhyolite, a volcanic rock that, when crushed, releases fine dust particles — including crystalline silica, which is hazardous to human health.

Dust from rhyolite extraction can travel well beyond the quarry site, especially in dry or windy conditions. It can settle on homes, farms, and natural areas, polluting the air we breathe and the soil we depend on. Prolonged exposure to silica dust can cause silicosis, a debilitating and potentially fatal lung disease.

This dust will also enter nearby waterways — especially the Karuah River, which is close to the proposed site. Sediment and pollutants from quarry runoff can severely degrade water quality, destroy aquatic habitat, and threaten the survival of sensitive species.

3. Wildlife Impact – Koalas and Platypus at Risk

As a licensed wildlife carer, I have personally rescued, rehabilitated, and released many koalas in this area. The site of the proposed quarry is part of their known habitat.

Koalas are already struggling due to habitat loss, road fatalities, disease, and climate pressures. Quarry activity — including land clearing, noise, vibrations, and traffic — will only worsen these threats.

In addition, the Karuah River is home to platypus, a species highly sensitive to water quality and disturbance. Sediment and pollution from quarry dust and runoff can clog their feeding areas and nesting burrows, with devastating consequences.

Have the quarry developers undertaken comprehensive environmental assessments? Have they considered the long-term impact on local biodiversity? We cannot afford to lose more of our native species.

4. Community Impact – Noise, Dust, and Lifestyle Disruption

This quarry will disrupt the daily lives of local residents. The noise from blasting and machinery, constant truck movements, and air pollution will turn our quiet rural area into an industrial zone.

People who live here value the peace, clean air, and connection to nature. The quarry threatens all of this. It will damage not only the environment but also our mental wellbeing, physical health, and property values.

Furthermore, the burden of road degradation from heavy trucks will fall on the community — through higher maintenance costs and more dangerous driving conditions.

Conclusion – Reject This Proposal
This is more than a local development. It is a decision that will have lasting consequences for the environment, road safety, public health, and wildlife.

I urge you to reject this quarry proposal based on the following:

The unsafe condition of Bucketts Way, which cannot safely accommodate heavy quarry traffic
The health risks posed by rhyolite dust and airborne silica
The severe threat to endangered wildlife, especially koalas and platypus
The degradation of the Karuah River ecosystem
The negative impact on local residents' wellbeing and quality of life
Please prioritise the safety of your constituents, the preservation of endangered species, and the protection of our environment.

Sincerely,
Linda Darlington

This project should not proceed due to the major affects it will bring which includes: Too many trucks on the Beckett's Way (as there are too many at present) this affects driver safety and the condition of the road being compromised for the general public. Further, the dust that will be created during the process of mining which could also include Siliica. The Buckett's Way is signed as a 'Tourist Route', the introduction of extra quarry mining surely destroys any concept of a pleasant days driving when confronted by B Double trucks driving above the speed limit as I often observe. Mining is a finite source and therefore should be placed in an area that does not have an impact on a 2 lane road, small communities and communities that are starting to expand with young families moving to the area to grow these communities.

The actual b-double truck movements is 126 per direction per day for the Hard Rock Quarry Project and 110 per direction per day for the Deep Creek Quarry Project at Limeburners Creek. So 236 heavy vehicles per direction per day. This means a truck every 2.5 minutes adding to the already congested traffic.
Of greater concern is that the traffic data used by The Hard Rock Quarry Project is completely flawed. It uses 1 day of surveying traffic at the pacific highway Bucketts way intersection on Monday 6 March 2020 as a ‘typical traffic weekday’. This sample is of course too small to make any assumptions on, but it is also when COVID had already slowed traffic significantly and in the last 5 years the growth in our areas has been greater than ever due to the effects of COVID. It is flawed data used to try and say there will be no major negativity in traffic flow. It is very flawed!!

The road infrastructure is not designed and capable of handling the proposed daily traffic movements. The road is sub standard and in poor condition. There is no designated overtaking area going south bound and this will place local lives in danger as people get impatient. This is already evident on weekends with hundreds of caravaners . The intersection at the end of the Bucketts Way turning right onto the Pacific Hwy is dangerous at the best of times let alone when there are an extra 126 truck movements. Turning left at the intersection will only cause a bank up of vehicles turning right as there is not a long turning lane.
The mining silica in the area is unsafe for my family. We moved to the country for open spaces and clean air. The approval of this DA will put our lives at risk and potentially de-value our properties.

We have grave concerns for the continuation of this project as noted in the attached

The Bucketts Way is not built for the predicted truck movements, we have enough trouble getting onto the Pacific Highway now, the roads are not meant for that amount of traffic The Bucketts Way breaks up at the first down pour.
Silica dust is a killer to the environment as well as humans whether close or far, How are the chest and lung infections going to treated ?
How will the local wildlife be protected.
Tanyia McBride

The bucketts way can not handle the added number of trucks on the road and the intersection onto the highway is dangerous and long enough without adding in more trucks trying to get onto the highway everyday.

please refer to attachment below.

I object to the proposed project on the grounds of inadequate infrastructure. The Bucketts Way already struggles to accommodate current traffic volumes while maintaining safe driving conditions. The addition of increased heavy vehicle traffic would further strain the road, rendering it unmanageable and unsafe—particularly for passenger vehicles. This poses a significant risk to the many families, including my own, who live along and regularly travel this route.

We are opposed to this project due to the failure by both the government and industry to engage in any genuine strategic planning and instead to advance a multitude of unsuitable quarry applications in the Hunter Region, without sufficient regard to the cumulative impacts on both the natural environment and the community. We endorse the submission by VOWW relating to the potentially catastrophic impacts on traffic, including the safety of The Buckett's Way intersection with the Pacific Highway. There is also a continuing failure to explore and develop alternatives to the use of hard rock in road infrastructure and construction which is unacceptable in view of the Australian Government's commitments to end deforestation and achieve net zero emissions.

CUMULATIVE IMPACT
The cumulative impact of tis quarry has not been adequately assessed.

Before a recommendation is made to the relevant consent authority that consent authority must fully assess the cumulative effect of 8 other regional hard rock quarries (see list below) with a minimum life of 30 years already approved, expanding or operating within ~25 km.

Each quarry brings decades of noise, traffic, biodiversity loss and combine to cause regional cumulative impacts that adversely effect the rural character which attracts new residents and tourism.
Eagleton Quarry - Italia Road, Balickera (25 km SW) - Approved 2024
Boral Seaham Quarry - Italia Road, Balickera (23 km SW) - Operating Expansion Proposed
Stone Ridge Quarry - Italia Road, Balickera (23 km SW) - Approved 2024 - Community Challenge Ongoing
Brandy Hill Quarry - Seaham (20 km SW) - Expansion approved 2020
Operating - Martins Creek Quarry - Paterson (31 km W) - Expansion Denied 2023, Under Challenge
Karuah East Quarry - 10 km SE - Operating
Karuah South Quarry - 10 km SE - Addressing EIS Submissions
Deep Creek Quarry - Limeburners Creek (8 km S) - Approved 2023
Hillview Quarry - Booral - Under Consideration

ADDITIONALLY, the proposed Stratford Renewable Energy Hub (under assessment) is also reliant on The Bucketts Way transport route. The Stratford Project traffic impacts include oversize vehicles during construction (over four years) and hundreds of construction workers. That project too, will add to cumulative impact.

REGIONAL ROAD DEFICIENCY

As a regular user of the Bucketts Way and the Pacific Motorway I can attest to the poor standard and danger associated with the Bucketts / Motorway intersection and the intersections with Medowie Road and Italia Road.
The relevant authorities consistently fail to address this existing deficiency which will only get more dangerous with the cumulative impact of the quarry operations. Witness the reduction in the speed limit from 110 to 100 km/h on the Motorway to reflect the poor design.
The anticipated 1,000 Balickera (Italia Road) quarry trucks have been directed to exit north at the Highway to make a U-turn at Tarean Road Karuah in order to carryout out south bound journeys. This traffic will cross the already dangerous Bucketts Way and Pacific Highway intersection. Other planned regional development like

BIODIVERSITY

As with the recently approved Stone Ridge Quarry, the EIS inadequately addresses loss of biodiversity and impacts to regional wildlife corridors with inadequate offset measures.

CUMULATIVE IMPACT

The cumulative impact of tis quarry has not been adequately assessed.

Before a recommendation is made to the relevant consent authority that consent authority must fully assess the cumulative effect of 8 other regional hard rock quarries (see list below) with a minimum life of 30 years already approved, expanding or operating within ~25 km.

Each quarry brings decades of noise, traffic, biodiversity loss and combine to cause regional cumulative impacts that adversely effect the rural character which attracts new residents and tourism.

Eagleton Quarry - Italia Road, Balickera (25 km SW) - Approved 2024
Boral Seaham Quarry - Italia Road, Balickera (23 km SW) - Operating Expansion Proposed
Stone Ridge Quarry - Italia Road, Balickera (23 km SW) - Approved 2024 - Community Challenge Ongoing
Brandy Hill Quarry - Seaham (20 km SW) - Expansion approved 2020
Operating - Martins Creek Quarry - Paterson (31 km W) - Expansion Denied 2023, Under Challenge
Karuah East Quarry - 10 km SE - Operating
Karuah South Quarry - 10 km SE - Addressing EIS Submissions
Deep Creek Quarry - Limeburners Creek (8 km S) - Approved 2023
Hillview Quarry - Booral - Under Consideration

ADDITIONALLY, the proposed Stratford Renewable Energy Hub (under assessment) is also reliant on The Bucketts Way transport route. The Stratford Project traffic impacts include oversize vehicles during construction (over four years) and hundreds of construction workers. That project too, will add to cumulative impact.

REGIONAL ROAD DEFICIENCY

As a regular user of the Bucketts Way and the Pacific Motorway I can attest to the poor standard and danger associated with the Bucketts / Motorway intersection and the intersections with Medowie Road and Italia Road.

The relevant authorities consistently fail to address this existing deficiency which will only get more dangerous with the cumulative impact of the quarry operations. Witness the reduction in the speed limit from 110 to 100 km/h on the Motorway to reflect the poor design.

The anticipated 1,000 Balickera (Italia Road) quarry trucks have been directed to exit north at the Highway to make a U-turn at Tarean Road Karuah in order to carryout out south bound journeys. This traffic will cross the already dangerous Bucketts Way and Pacific Highway intersection.

BIODIVERSITY

As with the recently approved Stone Ridge Quarry, the EIS inadequately addresses loss of biodiversity and impacts to regional wildlife corridors with inadequate offset measures.

I absolutely DO NOT support this quarry.

I bought my property almost two and a half years ago and asked my realtor if there were any proposed quarries in the area and was told no.
Had I have been informed of this quarry, I definitely wouldn’t have purchased the property.

The quarry will be right on my back boundary fence, and I’m extremely concerned about the impacts it will have on my family and property.

My concerns are:

The effects the continuous dust will have on my 2 young children, especially long term.
The constant noise from the around the clock blastings.
The devaluation of my property due to having a quarry on its back fence.
The extra trucks on the Bucketts Way making my commute to work and school a lot longer.
The damage to the Bucketts Way due to all the extra trucks.
The damage to our water quality and our animals water quality with all the dust on our roof.
The extra maintenance and cleaning of the property.
Potential cracking and movement of the house.
Concern for animal welfare.
Potential risk of silicosis to our family and surrounding families.
No benefit to the town of Booral whatsoever.

I DO NOT support this project.