Martins Creek Quarry Project

Letter of support attached

To Whom It May Concern,
I am a frequent visitor to Paterson as I have both family and friends in the village and I wish to register my opposition to the proposed plan to allow a massive increase in the number of quarry trucks using the streets there.
The current proposals I believe will make life even more uncomfortable for residents and visitors as well as the small businesses in Paterson.
When visiting I am woken at 5.45 am, when the trucks start going through each morning. And they are constant, all throughout the day. The noise and vibrations, which cause the windows to shake, must be causing damage to the old weatherboard cottages, many over 100 years old. I can't imagine how much worse the noise and shaking will be if the massive proposed truck increase goes ahead.
As a small car driver I feel unsafe, particularly with the need to slow down to park, with one of the trucks a metre from the rear of my car. To try to reverse to parallel park is nearly impossible now, much less with the proposed increase of trucks.
The proposed traffic island near the post office will further impede traffic and make parking even more difficult. I cannot imagine how the service station will be able to continue operating with only one driveway! The small businesses need encouragement, not further obstacles put in their way.
Having a Left Hand Turn only leaving the service station is highly impractical as anyone wishing to turn right will have to drive down to do a UTurn outside the chemist and then cross the main road again, through the truck traffic, to resume their journey! A recipe for accidents I believe!
The roads are a disgrace now, constant potholes, constantly patched and repatched. This will be so much worse with greater truck volume.

Surely, the quarry gravel should be transported by rail, NOT on the narrow roads through a small village. Common sense would say that expanding the quarry and vastly increasing the number of quarry trucks will make life very unpleasant for the residents of, and visitors to, the lovely village of Paterson.

The Secretary
NSW Department of Planning and Environment
GPO Box 39
SYDNEY NSW 2001

Director, Resource Assessment

22nd November 2016

Martins Creek Quarry Project SSD 14_6612 - Letter of Support

Darryls Bobcat Pty Ltd confirms its support for the Martins Creek Quarry Project.
Martins Creek Quarry has been providing quarry product for railway construction, maintenance and repair, infrastructure and road construction in the Hunter Region for approximately 100 years. This has provided employment for many hundreds of people and contributed to the region and state's economic growth.

Our business is involved in the construction industry and provides small earthmoving, trenching and excavation and associated services to Daracon, and at Martins Creek Quarry.
We have been supplying these services to Daracon for several years.

We understand the Environmental Impact Statement has addressed issues raised by various.

We have found the quality of product from Martins Creek Quarry to be a high standard when used in our work. The Quarry provides hard rock materials to various businesses across the region and is of vital importance to the region, especially the construction industry, including residential construction and road construction and maintenance.

Yours sincerely



Darryl Marshall
Manager/Owner

See Submission uploaded

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I oppose the Martins Creek quarry expansion due to the following concerns
-The disturbance to the visual amenity of the area
-The additional period of time that I will be subjected to quarry operational noise that will be generated
-The additional amount of truck movements on the road that I use twice daily
-The accelerated deterioration of those roads that I travel twice daily causing accelerated damage to my vehicles
-The additional dust generated by the additional quarry operating hours
-The

I believe I speak on behalf of many of the 800 people employed at Daracon when I say that we rely on Martins Creek Quarry for our job security. Many of the projects I work on rely on materials available from Martins Creek Quarry and our jobs and projects would be at risk should the expansion not proceed.
I have worked for Daracon in the quarries for the past 11 years. Without the experience the quarry has provided I would not be where I am today. This experience (which is part of the training in Extractive Industries) is essential and hard to get. If the quarry expansion doesn't go ahead experience, training and progression for our young employees coming through will disappear.

See attached file

I have been working at Daracon for just over 7 years. In this time I have found Daracon follow the company values of respect, integrity, teamwork and safety.
There is the Martins Creek Code of Conduct that trucks going into the quarry voluntarily sign. This I believe is a testament to Daracon's values to the community.
I have recently transferred over to the quarry division and work directly with Martins Creek Quarry. I support the quarry expansion not only for my job but for that of my fellow employees here at Daracon.
Working with the Quarry and the Daracon site personal I see firsthand what importance the quarry expansion has over the company and the 800 plus employees.
The quarry products that come out of Martins Creek are highly sort after for their ability to meet the rigorous specifications set by our clients.
Given that so many of our clients use tax payer's money to pay for the projects, if the area loses the materials from one quarry the potential for the prices to rise from the remaining two quarries is highly likely. This will then flow on to us tax payers increasing our rates.

I object to the expansion proposal for the Martins Creek quarry because of unacceptable traffic movements that would be generated with consequences of greater noise, increased safety risks and reduced amenity of the area we live in.
Full details of objections attached.

I OPPOSE THE MARTIN'S CREEK QUARRY EXPANSION
As a regular commuter to Maitland I am distressed at the impact of Martin's Creek Quarry expansion. The truck impact with present operations is objectionable, for instance, the impact on the roads especially in Paterson, the increased driving risk, particularly with the 'might is right' attitude of some truck drivers. What is sought with the expansion is horrendous particularly for the environment, the reduction in the quality of life for Paterson residents and the increased, stresses dangers and delays for drivers and other road users. Finally there is the cost of maintaining the roads which will fall on local ratepayers. Totally unfair. I suggest the NSW Government does not compound its problems with electorates and arrogantly impose the expansion, negatively affecting the lives of many, many people

I oppose the expansion of the Martins Creek Quarry and the changes to the road in front of the Paterson Post Office, garage and cafe.
The negative impact on this small picturesque town is already too great. To increase this negative impact is grossly negligent and it will only be a matter of time before someone is killed or a train collision happens.
This small village cannot cope with this vast number of trucks passing backwards and forewards all day . There are school buses to contend with, children and elderly residents having trouble crossing the road at times as a result of all these trucks.
The truck drivers offer no patronage to the town - either from the garage or takeaway , the handful of shops and post office.
I cycle regularly from Paterson to Woodville and back twice a week in a group of up to 8 and we are starting to feat for our safety. Why should we have to give up something we have been doing for years because of this greed?
If one of us is clipped by a truck what will be the consequences?
Will Daracon finally get the message. I might add we are extremely safe cyclists with lights and we ride single file.
The suggested road changes in the heart of the town are ridiculous. Why should a 94 year old gentleman using a walking stick have to park too far away from where he buys his
newspaper. Where are the rights of the residents of this small community . Sitting outside the cafe with a coffee is a joke. Trucks rattling past every couple of seconds make it hard to communicate?
If this expansion wants to go ahead use the railway and create a depot away from Paterson, where it will not impact on another community, for gravel pickup. No more trucks. This is just sheer greed . If anything the number should be reduced substantially.
Thankyou.

I oppose the Martins Creek Quarry expansion for a number of reasons including:
- Excessive traffic volumes - even with current volumes it is dangerous to other traffic, pedestrians, cyclists.
- Access into and out of the quarry is totally unacceptable - going through Martins Creek village
- Noise and dust generated by truck movements and quarry operation
- Major damage to road infrastructure - which causes damage to other vehicles
- No contribution to the repair of road infrastructure - cost is being totally borne by council and rate payers
- Impact on Martin Creek village - who would want to live there???
- Impact on Paterson - is a historical township - even with current volumes many historical buildings are being damaged, as well as other Paterson homes.
- Undermining the promotion of Paterson as a tourist location with truck movements destroying the peaceful nature of the village
- Destroys the tranquil lifestyle which is why most people in the area have chosen to live in the area.
- Devalues properties - especially those on the direct thoroughfares. including Martins Creek, Paterson, Bolwarra, Lorn, Brandy Hill etc
- When the quarry first went in - the volumes and blasting methods would have had a much smaller impact on the nearby communities.
Since then with advancements in mining technology the impact of the quarry and its operation is no longer appropriate to be so closely
located to a village and its community. It appears there has been no review or restrictions placed on the quarry as technology has progressed.
It appears that the quarry has basically done what it wanted with no regard the communities impacted. This is shown by the Manager
for Daracon stating in a previously held meeting at Paterson a couple of years ago that if he lived in the area and didn't like it he would
sell and move somewhere else. Well not everybody is happy to just sell and move somewhere else - we ideally expect that there would
be some government agency that would protect the community, its people and the environment we live in.
I moved to the Paterson area 22 yrs ago, the impact of the quarry was bearable at that time. Since Daracon has taken over the increase in truck movements
has become unacceptably high and the blasting methods used appear to be causing greater damage to a wider surrounding area.

I ask that you please take the communities concerns seriously.

Regards

Janet Piper

letter uploaded

I object to this submission predominantly due to the impact on the local community and roads that will result from the increased heavy vehicle traffic through Paterson and surrounding areas.

I grew up in Paterson and my family still live there, I visit Paterson frequently. I have witnessed the existing heavy vehicle traffic and it is a blight on the town at the current levels of traffic, if anything the heavy vehicle numbers on these roads should be decreased but this project would result in an increase to the traffic.

The noise impact from the vehicles is my biggest concern but also the impact on the roads themselves as well as the safety issues this presents with heavy vehicles regularly travelling through a small town with children being the most at risk of an accident. Also, I have family members that cycle along these roads and I am concerned about the risk to them with the trucks frequently travelling past.

Paterson is an historic and peaceful village which attracts many visitors. The unique qualities that make Paterson so appealing for residence and visitors must be protected.

Dear Sirs,

I wish to submit the following letter of objection to the proposed expansion of the Martins Creek Quarry.

The proposed increased output from Martins Creek Quarry, along with the increased movement of materials by road will place unacceptable strain on the Paterson and its environs.

The township of Paterson and the surrounding communities are already under significant burden from the existing Quarry truck movements.

The proposed alterations to the Gresford Road/Duke Street/King Street corner in Paterson will greatly impact on the community's
ability to access the Paterson Post Office, local shops and businesses in the township. This will also ruin the heritage style of the area.

The sheer volume of trucks using the roads in and around Paterson will make local traffic pedestrian movements both dangerous and extremely difficult. Eighty trucks per hour using Paterson Road will make it virtually impossible to turn either right or left onto Paterson Road from Martins Creek road.

The increased truck movements will also negatively impact the lives of all residents in the area due to increased noise, vibration and dust.

Invariably property values will be effected.

The proposed hours of operation are also unacceptable in a rural residential area. There needs to be a night curfew on truck movements between 7pm and 7am, as this meets with the existing council noise restrictions.

The existing 70/30 rail/road haulage ratio needs to be implemented in the new licence, thus preserving some of the rural ambience of the area. This would also limit the destruction of existing rural heritage infrastructure.

Under the proposed road haulage, the roads in and around Paterson and the much wider community will become unsafe and unusable by residents, visitors, and commuters alike.

Regards,

Paterson resident.

Submission: Martins Creek Quarry

As a resident of Tocal Rd, Bolwarra Heights, I would like to make this submission to oppose the application for the expansion of Martins Creek Quarry.
We moved to Bolwarra Heights 6 years ago for its quiet, leafy rural lifestyle. Despite living on the main traffic route, the cars, bikes and moderate amount of truck traffic went unnoticed. It wasn't until Daracon ramped up its output from the Martins Creek Quarry, to what we later found was way beyond its current DA allowance, when we took notice of the devastating effects of Daracon's operations on our suburb and quality of life.

Daracon's DA would affect my household adversely in the following areas:

Noise
The noise of the empty trucks rattling past my house as early as 4:30 am some mornings and at speeds way over the 60km/h limit is unbearable. We tried to remediate it and installed double glazing, but it didn't make things better and is absolutely useless in summer when the windows are open.

Dust
As an allergy sufferer I can attest first hand that the increase in truck traffic has had a dramatic effect on my health. With any increase, we will have no choice but to seriously consider moving. Something we cannot afford.

Road congestion
The proposed haulage route is along narrow country roads through quiet leafy towns eventuating up at either Belmore Bridge in Maitland or the Flat Rd / Melbourne Rd intersection in East Maitland.
The Flat Road /Melbourne Rd intersection is already a high congestion point during morning peak hours with 1km long ques to the traffic lights. This intersection will not handle any additional trucks and will drastically extend my commute to work. I envisage that this will enrage all the local residents once they realise this is permanent.

Road quality
The section of Tocal Road in front of our house was resurfaced approximately 2 yrs ago after a lot of lobbying from residents to Maitland Council. This road has since been patched many times and currently has large pot holes along it. With Council rates currently going up by incredible amounts, how much will now have to be offset away from other local improvements to maintain the roads destroyed by extra truck traffic from the quarry?

Road safety
Most of the trucks do not slow down to 40 km/h in residential part of Tocal Rd. Quite to the contrary, they often speed above 60 km/h. Daracon has no control over the vast majority of the heavy vehicles travelling from and to the quarry. Any increase in the volume of trucks on Tocal Rd would dramatically reduce the safety of pedestrians and other road users, including the many motor bike riders and cyclist .

Property Value
If my house is currently worth X amount, due to its leafy quiet location, how much will it be worth with trucks passing every minute, 6 days/week? We have worked very hard on our 1 acre block to create a tranquil experience, spending thousands of dollars on plants and improvements to attract a variety of wildlife and increase the quality and the value of our property. It would be all jeopardised with any increase in truck traffic.

Detriments vs Benefits
Looking at the number of people disadvantaged by the proposed expansion, compared to how many people would benefit, where is the rationale? In the Daracon's application it reads "overall, it is considered that at full capacity the proposed works will create an estimated 16 ongoing positions" - as opposed to the thousands of people inconvenienced daily by the way of their physical health, mental well being, quality of life, economic loss, safety, environmental damage, just to mention a few. The hundreds of homes devalued, compared to the wealth of one man increasing.
The quarry owner / Executive Director David Mingay, when asked at a public meeting `How would you like living on this haulage route' replied` I would move'. I think it sums it up.

Daracon is a business Partner of Toxfree and we support their submission for the following reasons.
* Daracon is a supporter of local communities and charities
* As a resident of the Hunter Valley, Daracon creates opportunities for people from many different backgrounds
* There are a lot of infrastructure projects in the Hunter. Limiting material supply may increase the cost of projects which the taxpayer is funding
* The construction industry relies on the Quarry as one of only a couple of hard rock suppliers in the region and if the Hunter Valley is to prosper and grow, Martins Creek Quarry will be required to provide the necessary materials for major infrastructure projects.
* The Quarry provides materials to many projects crucial to the growth and prosperity of the region: road construction, housing, railway construction and other public infrastructure.
* I also know of many projects outside of Daracon that also rely on the materials available from Martins Creek Quarry. I believe it is one of only 3 hard rock quarries of this kind in the region.
* For the region to grow at the rate we would like, and at a rate reported in the Hunter Regional Plan 2036, not only do we need to support local jobs but we also need to be able to service the demand of a growing population with the necessary construction materials.