Mackas Sand Project - Mod 1

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Paul


I live at XXXX Nelson Bay Rd., Williamtown, a short distance from the proposed intersection.


I wish to make the following points about the proposal


1. I found the tables on the web site, supposedly explaining the proposal, incomprehensible


2. Nelson Bay Rd is already a busy road, I believe it takes more traffic than the Pacific Highway at Raymond Terrace


3. Sometimes we have to wait up to 5 minutes to get out of our driveway


4. Any more traffic on this single lane rural road will obviously make it busier and noisier especially when the noise is coming from fully loaded semis and B-doubles. It appears that the original Lavis Lane proposal took into account the effect of noise on "affected" residents but this one, as far as I can see, does not. Why not?


5. Any extra traffic is also going to make it more dangerous with merging trucks into an 80k zone and there have been quite a few serious accidents on this stretch of road in recent years


6. There is also the added danger of being in front of a fully loaded truck, and there will be a lot more of them than there are at present, when turning into our driveway. This also applies to all the residents on our side of the road. Our daughter, a few years ago, was hit from behind doing this. Fortunately it was a small car that time. It still wrote off her car.


7. Because of the problems that peak hours bring I suspect that the majority of truck movements will be concentrated outside those hours. It is my understanding that 16 (?) trucks per hour per day is only an average over a 24 hour period and not a timetable. Those outside peak hour times are our quiet times at present but will become intolerable otherwise. I invite you to visit our place to see what it is like now and anticipate the future for us


8. All we have to look forward to is a dramatic drop in our quality of life, constantly interrupted sleep and a big reduction in our property value


9. My eastern most paddock is very near the access road and I fear constant dust pollution, with the prevailing winds being generally easterly, to our pastures will have a very detrimental effect on the well being of our livestock


10. The original proposal giving access through Lavis Lane had none of the above effects



Sue Fidler

I refer to my wife's email 4 December, last week

A couple of other things have occurred to us since:

1. With the original egress from Lavis Lane to Nelson bay Road, trucks would either go west, south or north at the McDonalds round a bout and the impact on particular parts of Nelson Bay Rd would be, in that respect, limited.
The current proposal, with a left turn onto Nelson Bay Rd to the south the only possible way of entry, means that every truck entering Nelson Bay Rd MUST go past our place, no matter which way it eventually wants to go

2. My guess is that 99 pc of trucks going to the pit to load will also go past our place unloaded and then do a u turn at Paul's Corner before turning left into the access Rd. That in effect means an average of 32 EXTRA truck movements past our place EVERY hour of EVERY day

Tony Fidler

I am a Worimi traditional owner and custodian of our lands and have been involved in all aspects of the cultural and heritage in all application and modifications made by this applicant i would like it noted that I DO NOT agree and support this modification to the approved Major Project Approval 08-0142 when there is an access that does not destroy or harm culture and very little impact on flora and fauna ( Please see attached map indicated in black the access point) also leaving Worimi's Sand dune Adventures high dune knoll in tacked The proposed route runs straight through site 38-4-0649 A3 it is my belief that there has been a lot of illegal destruction of sites in the area and I will not stand by and see any more destroyed for self gain I am opposed to this modification to protect my culture which should be a priority with all Aboriginal people and organisations and not to be lead by the mighty dollar. The proponent states there is a dispute with the property owners preventing them from using the approved access via lot 13 I know this not to be true and there is a signed agreement between the proponent and the property owners that they should be made to act upon Therefore providing the ultimate protection for culture Flora and fauna and the eco system The EA states that if approved it would create employment opportunities all this was also a part of the approved DA 08-0142 If this application is approved and Aboriginal cultural object are destroyed I will do everything in my power under the act to bring the destructor to justice

I use Nelson BAY Road on a regular basis the location of the intersection is one of the most dangerous spots on the road with many accidents the traffic study that was done did not give a true assessment as no truck where used in the study therefore not disrupting traffic. I note in the study there was no consultation with any truck driver that would use the access and the restrictions put upon them The estimate is that one million tones of sand will be mined from lot 218 per year and hauled through this onto Nelson bay Rd. intersection the study said 5 trucks per hour and this equates to upwards of one every ten minutes, this is an impossible load and places massive traffic restrictions on the main thoroughfare between Nelson Bay peninsula and Newcastle home to more than half Port Stephens population, I believe B Double Trucks will have to use the two lanes to turn left into the haul road and the run out lane is not long enough to bring a fully laden truck up to traffic speed. This application places the lives of thousands of road users each day at serious risk This applicant must be made to use the roundabout at Williamtown via Lavis lane and use the DA already had approved back in 2009, with the route modification I suggest (see attached map) To haul sand out of lot 218 across lot 13 property through Lavis lane and out onto Nelson bay Rd at Williamtown Cabbage tree roundabout which has the capacity to deal with high heavy traffic volume which was indicated in the approved DA
In closing before making your decision please explore my suggested route into Lot 218 which would leave all other concerns in tacked and of the upmost safety of the public using Nelson Bay Road

Summary: Approval of an alternative route onto Nelson Bay Road has serious safety implications for the travelling public and an approved viable alternative is already in place. No modification to the existing DA is warranted or required, the applicant simply needs to meet the agreement he made with neighboring property owners and get on with development of the mining site. The Port Stephens Council Traffic Officer has been asked to review this item and make comment and this item is included in the RMS Traffic Committees inspections on Wednesday 21st November so Council will potential not make any submission on this matter to State Planning. The environmental impact of this road across coastal wetlands has yet to be assessed in terms of long term environmental impact and downstream implications for constraints with flood water movement.

Objection lodged on grounds of safety of the access road and the impact on Nelson Bay Road. Refer to attached detailed analysis which highlights shortcomings in the information provided to the public in the Modification application

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