Martins Creek Quarry Project

WesTrac NSW supports this proposal.
Please refer to our submission for details

The region has changed in many ways since the quarry began operating in 1915 (100years+). People have chosen to live in this beautiful area for its regional lifestyle (yet also its proximity to Maitland / Newcastle / Karuah / Forster/Tuncurry ) - with more people moving to and also building and making their homes in this area in recent decades. Further development of the quarry and major increase in extractions will make the area a very different and a less appealing and enjoyable place to live and visit. House prices will go down, as will tourism (a lost opportunity given the uptick of regional travel/tourism due to the pandemic) and certainly will make Dungog and the surrounding areas less amenable and attractive. It is on these grounds that I object to the project.

Due to the Covid Pandemic this project is essential and critical to the local areas and local businesses.
This project not only provides employment but helps small business in the area thrive.
I believe that Daracon will stand firm in line with the planning and environmental controls and no doubt will do the right thing by the local communities and the environment.
As Daracon is a family owned company it is here for the long haul not like a corporate overseas companies who just care about making revenue and will cut corners to do so.

I wish to strongly OBJECT to the expansion of Martins Creek Quarry.

As a local resident to the Paterson Village, I have been witness to the adverse effects of Daracon's illegal operations between 2012 and 2019.
Up to 60 trucks/day brought with it dust that would blow into the local Butcher, Grocery store, Cafes, Post office and pharmacy. The trucks would often cross the outside of their lane at the corner of King Street and Duke street, barely avoiding oncoming traffic, did not slow to a safe speed, and would hit parked cars if 2 trucks were trying to pass each other at this intersection.
Trucks coming from the Quarry would not have covers on their load and would break windscreens with debris and stones flying off the loads.

We have a community of elderly citizens and families with young children, the trucks are often doing more than the speed limit and barely slowing for the tight corner mentioned above, and I am surprised there has not been a fatality from one of our community members going about their daily business in town.

Our roads are in disrepair due to a lack of funding by our local government, and these heavy loads only make it worse and cause further potholes and destruction of our roads.

Daracon seems to have no regard for the safety and respect of the communities in which it operates. It does not engage with the communities to address these concerns, nor does it offer any compensation to the damage it inflicts on the roads, the people nor the property of the people within the towns. They appear to be more willing to go to the supreme court and spend millions of dollars to justify and defend their actions, rather than work with the communities to come to an understanding, put in place some safety measures and training for their drivers, all of which would cost a lot less than a Supreme Court defence.

Our local native wildlife and vegetation have recently been put through a disastrous time with bush fires, floods, and drought and Daracon's expansion would do nothing but put more stress on this through their clearing further native vegetation, and the increased amount of wildlife killed by their trucks on the road.

Daracon's increased operations in the local area will not financially aid our town. None of the trucks stop here to spend money in the town, and if anything deter tourists from stopping and visiting due to the increase noise, traffic, dust pollution, risk of damage to themselves and their property.

I object to the proposed Martin’s Creek Quarry expansion. As one of many cyclists who regularly use these roads, the associated danger of increased truck traffic is unacceptable. The township of Paterson, both commercially and residentially, would be impacted to a level where businesses and residents would suffer as a community.

As a long term resident of Lorn (more than 20 years) I have seen a dramatic increase in truck movements on local roads and particularly in bulk haulage semi trailers and truck and dog trailers used by quarries and earth movers.
The area has a network of lightly built rural roads that cannot cope with past increases in light vehicle traffic let alone the increased truck movements it has seen to date.
As well as road damage local residents are already subjected to substantial truck noise running through Lorn along Belmore Road, any further increase cannot be justified.
Also as a recreational cyclist I see first-hand the danger wide, fast-moving quarry trucks already present to light vehicles and cyclists on our narrow roads and again a further increase cannot be justified.
The only basis for the Department to grant a quarry expansion would be a condition for ALL and ANY increased production to go via rail. For that matter, a requirement that ALL existing quarry production was to be handled by rail would be a benefit to the community

I object to the road transport of the quarry product. The 2015 traffic study is now obsolete as the Bolwarra Heights area population has increased by at least 100 % with the completion of the Hunter Glen estate. Traffic volumes in the area which contains a school and an early education centre are now saturated, particularly in the morning periods (this is when the projects trucking volumes are at their highest). Both the flat road to Melbourne street and Lorn to the Belmore Bridge do not need these additional truck movement numbers.
If the project is to be approved all product should be taken by rail to a hub where the trucks can then utilise major road systems to supply work areas. The suggestion that there will be insufficent rail paths because of export coal movements is now false. Port waratah have not proceeded with T4 . Coal exports are now at their peak, over the life of this project coal export levels will decrease making sure there is sufficient pathways for the quarry product to be moved by rail.
Do not allow these truck movement to destroy Paterson and the Suburbs that Paterson Road runs through.

Having lived through the ILLEGAL truck movements from this quarry, I strongly object to any expansion of this quarry.

How any consideration can be made to increase the output of Martins Creek Quarry is questionable beyond belief. If any government official has been to our area they will have seen that the trucks into and out of this quarry have to transit through Paterson Village whose main thoroughfare (even with any proposed changes) is not conducive to a safe environment for anyone who lives, works or visits the village. There is no way of bypassing a tight corner in the middle of the village, and as we experience when Daracon were ILLEGALLY extracting and transporting more product from their quarry than they were legally allowed, Paterson Village became an unsafe and noisy place. School buses, school children and a non stop stream of B-double quarry trucks had the whole community on edge, especially when the trucks very often did not slow down enough to navigate the tight corner, leaving more that one parked car damaged by being sideswiped. The noise from constant truck movements through town was having a detrimental affect on the communities moral.

Every local road that experienced the ILLEGAL truck movements was constantly damaged with potholes making it dangerous for all the local traffic.
The weekly blasting that took place used to shake and rattle our house, and the constant dust was becoming a health issue with my asthma.

Having lived through the years of ILLEGAL mining and truck movements I can say it was horrible and depressing, there were just too many trucks going through roads and villages that are just not designed for that volume of trucks movement.

If this Quarry is profitable enough for Daracon to expand then Daracon should be looking at alternative truck routes. Or procuring tracks of land at the back to the Quarry to build a truck only access road to and from the Quarry that will bypass Paterson and Tocal.

Again I strongly object to this expansion.

See attachment

OBJECTION TO THE MARTINS CREEK QUARRY EXPANSION
We live in View street Vacy, approximately one kilometre from the current workings of Martins Creek Quarry.

I am writing to STRONGLY OBJECT to the plans to expand the Martins Creek quarry.

I have several objections to this expansion.

TRUCK MOVEMENTS
The increased level in trucks is going to be a major issue for the surrounds.
The current roads cannot take the level of traffic as it currently stands and the Dungog Council has little to no money to support the repairs to roads as it is. This will only become worse if this expansion goes ahead. This is a massive safety issue as far as I am concerned and should be a major factor taken into account when reviewing this submission.
The levels of trucks on the roads at the moment are a nightmare to deal with. Convoys of trucks are a danger to other motorists. Increasing the levels of trucks will increase the amount of convey that gather along the roadways. It is dangerous and frightening and the roads in this rural community are not made for such occurrences. How long will it be until someone is killed by colliding with one of these trucks. Truck Vs car will never result is a good outcome to a car driver!

DUST
Extra blasts will increase the dust dramatically in the area. This is a major health issue. My husaband has Asthma and we are concerned for his health and believe that expanding the quarry will exacerbate his health issues and could cause him to end up in hospital. This is a massive public health concern for anyone living in this area who suffers from any respiratory problems.

BLASTS
Increasing the blasting creates more dust.
I have lived in View Street Vacy for 12 years. In the past when I have been inside my house I have actually felt the blasts. This HAS to be causing structural damage to my house over time. Increasing the blasting will only cause more damage to my house. This is a major concern for us.

PATERSON AREA
We are very concerned about the effects to Paterson. The truck movements currently are of a huge concern. The roads are not made for large numbers of truck movements and increasing them is a disaster in waiting. There WILL be a major accident in Paterson at some stage.
There are plans to cut the corner off the post office, take away all footpaths and increase the road turning space. How will this add any benefit at all to the Paterson community??? This will actually create a public safety issue because pedestrians will be put at risk accessing the post office. A post office is the life blood of a small town and I think it is disgraceful to think that anyone would propose this.

HOURS OF OPERATION INCREASE
The proposal of increasing the hours of operation to be 6 days a week 7am – 6pm Monday to Saturday is unacceptable. I can already hear the noise from the crusher and the blasting at the current levels of business operations. Increasing this to 6 days is ludicrous. This is a rural area. I do NOT want to be hearing blasts at the quarry in the evenings and on Saturdays. I am VERY OPOSED to this.


INFRASTURCTURE DAMAGE
Roads and infrastructure such as the Gostwyk Bridge will (and already do) sustain constant degradation and damage over time. Increasing truck movements to/from the quarry will exacerbate this issue. This adds more burdens to council and local users of this infrastructure. They are barely standing up to the current levels of trucks traveling on them as it is.

RURAL LIFESTYLE
We live in a rural community. We moved here for the lifestyle and the peace and quiet. We are retired and love our rural lifestyle. Giving the green light to this expansion will result in a deforested industrial wasteland instead of the lovely rural setting it currently is. I do not want to see an unsightly quarry expanding and expanding. I do not want to listen to the noise from the expansion over the next 25 years encroaching on my lifestyle and my home. I do not want to have this expansion shoved in my face.

CONCLUSION
Martins Creek quarry has no State Significance as a resource. Hard Rock can be sourced from other locations where there are no adverse impacts to the local community.

The Land & Environment Court Decision Handed Down in October 2018 stated “that the operations have had far greater amenity and environmental impacts on residents surrounding the facility and the haul route than was ever envisaged to have been allowed to occur when State Rail Authority lodged and Dungog Shire Council approved a development application for a 300,000tpa railway ballast quarry at the site in 1991”

Logic tells me that if the Land & Environment Court Decision has already deemed the CURRENT levels of operations have had a major negative impact on the surrounds and the communities nearby then how on earth can this application possibly be granted?

I reiterate that I am VERY OPPOSED to this proposal

Thank you for your time in reviewing my submission

I live locally and the increase in large vehicles and trucks drastically increases the dangers to vehicles and persons in our small community. My families quality of life will reduce along side that of animals and wildlife due to the re expansion of the quarrie. I do not support this under any circumstances this is not the industry I endorse in my community.

To whom this may concern,
I work in the area, and do not think the roads are safe.
Therefore increasing the number of heavy veichles is only going to make the roads more dangerous.
Furthermore this will impact upon the livelyhood of many farming familys, as increasing dust and pollution will negetivily impact upon agricultural productivity.
Please consider these objections as they will impact the Martins Creek community in an irreversibly negetive manner
Thanks for understanding
Kind Regards
Sam Bliss

As a LOCAL resident ( not in Cessnock or elsewhere as some supporters of this project are! ) I was previously impacted by the trucking madness in the Paterson area before it was curtailed. If this project is given the green light it will change the regional atmosphere and well being in the Paterson area and surrounds.
For me the immediate issues are as follows:
The danger of heavy vehicles negotiating the corner near the Post Office where children get off the school bus.
Cyclists having to share the road with multiple trucks every few minutes ( this is an area of recreational cycling).
The endless windscreen chips I received during the previous trucking madness from debris falling out of trucks, on one occasion a fist sized rock falling out of a truck on Butterwick road which totally destroyed my windscreen.
The destruction of the local roads at a faster pace than usual; given the current rate of pothole repairs, this would not bode well on car suspension systems or tyres!
Given the current world madness it would be good to keep our sanity by keeping Paterson a place worth visiting!

14 July 2021

Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
c/-James Mcdonough

RE: Submission: Martin’s Creek Quarry Project Proposal

I submit this letter on behalf of the Greens NSW in objection to Daracon’s Amended Development Application, number SSD-6612. This application includes the expansion of the existing quarry site, a significant increase in extraction and freight and clearing of 21 hectares of native vegetation, including threatened wildlife habitat.

Community members and action groups have been vocal in their objection to the application, predicting that the development will decrease local amenity, property values and business activity for tourism, hospitality and events industries as well as increase noise, dust and toxic air pollutants. Finally, of great concern are the impacts to native wildlife, particularly the resident koala populations on site.

The Biodiversity Assessment Report prepared by Conacher Consulting Pty Ltd in May 2021 indicates that a number of threatened species will be ‘significantly impacted’, including koalas, Regent Honeyeaters, Swift Parrots and Spotted-tailed Quolls. The site area is within the Barrington Area of Regional Koala Significance and koalas have been detected within the project area by several different environmental consultants’ assessments since 2007. The report states: “the site is also likely to contain Core Koala Habitat as a resident population of the Koala is considered to be present, as evidenced by recent sightings and historical records of a Koala population”.

Last year, a NSW Upper House Inquiry found that, without urgent government intervention, koalas would be extinct by 2050 and “fragmentation and loss of habitat poses the most serious threat to koala populations in New South Wales”. The Martin’s Creek Quarry expansion proposes unacceptable loss and degradation of core koala habitat and further harm to populations that have already suffered the devastating effects of drought, bushfires and land clearing.

In 2019, the NSW Land and Environment Court found that Daracon had been conducting unlawful operations on the site since 2012. This decision does not imbue confidence that Daracon has the either the willingness or capacity to successfully undertake the delicate task of conserving koala habitat within their project area. Regardless, the edge effects of blasting, extraction, processing and freight are likely to negate any efforts to retain a healthy koala population in the area should the application succeed.

The Greens NSW object to this proposal on the basis of strong community opposition and the unacceptable impacts further loss of core koala habitat will have on the remaining local populations.

Cate Faehrmann MLC
Greens NSW Environment and Wildlife Spokesperson

I support the project and the contribution to local people and local businesses. The Daracon Group are a locally owned company who support the greater Hunter area and the people who live in it.

Expansion of the quarry will negatively impact many surrounding areas, both rural and residential.

The major roads are not suitable for the current traffic, evidenced by constant pot hole development. Without significant upgrades, the road conditions will deteriorate.

The main route goes past many residential developments, it will highly impact noise levels, traffic congestion, wildlife and value of surrounding properties.

My main concern is a complete lack of appropriate infrastructure being in place prior to the expansion. This lack of appropriate infrastructure could have someone killed, of which responsibility should fall back upon the government for allowing the expansion to take place prior to foundations being in place.

The environmental impact is too high. Major residential developments in the area have pushed native species out of their usual habitats. It is unreasonable to have both a major quarry and multiple, expanding residential developments within the same area.

Personally this will affect our property with noise, of which there is already too much. The trucks do not slow down to the speed limits and are generally unsafe on the roads around my property

The infrastructure, roads etc are not of a standard that will support the increase of traffic especially trucks. The council can’t even maintain the roads with current traffic and it is becoming dangerous

I wish to voice my concern over the expansion of Martin's Creek Quarry. I do not support this project. As a local resident, I have 'lived experience' of what the increased volume of truck movments will mean for our town through the quarry's illegal truck movements in the past. I do not wish for this to be our future. As a mother of 4 children who are regularly crossing the main road and who need to to board and disembark from their school buses in this main road, I am not prepared to gamble with their safety. The increased volume of trucks poses a risk to every school child catching a bus, every day! Looking to the future, my teenage children will be learning to drive soon and the expansion of the quarry will add another layer of danger to these country roads. They will need to contend with impatient drivers trying to pass the steady stream of trucks and also the number of trucks themselves pose added risks on the roads. Then there are the environmental concerns of this number trucks and the dust they will spray through our air, there is the noise this volume of trucks will create, and there is the decrease in our property values when this is no longer a desriable area to live to due to the steady stream of industrial traffic. These concerns are not limited to residents of Paterson, the issues will spread into the surrounding community with flow on traffic and safety concerns in areas such as Bolwarra. Our community and our children deserve better. We are not prepared to sacrifice their safety for your profit.

I have resided in View St, Vacy since 1989. At that time the quarry was operational in a minimal capacity. Since the quarry has been owned by Daracon there have been major issues. From previous experience when there is blasting, objects would fall from my shelves from the vibrations, I also have cracks appearing in the walls. The dust settles on my fruit and vegetables and trees causing some to die. Also, the noise from the blast is frightening.
From my previous experience I have had to replace the windscreen in my vehicle at least once a year, sometimes twice because of debris falling from the back of the trucks, and have damage on the bonnet of my vehicle from the same. The traffic of the trucks passing through Paterson is dangerous as the main Street is not wide enough for the trucks to take the corners, this causes the trucks to travel on the opposite side of the road into on coming traffic. The truck drivers, also do not seem to be aware of people crossing the road, who are trying to get to businesses, most of these are elderly.
The new road entrance proposed for Dungog Rd is dangerous, it is proposed for the top of a crest in a 80kms zone. The exiting trucks would not have enough time and room to manoeuvre out into traffic, as well as having to cross over to enter. The road is not wide enough to cope with this, so a four lane road would have to be installed. Then, there is the wildlife that inhabits that area, there are a large amount of possums and kangaroos etc that cross that road, this would all disappear.
I bought in this area to be able to retire to peace and quite not an industrial zone, this is no longer a quarry but an open cut mine and they are not allowed in residential areas. My property has devalued over the last few years because of the quarry as no one wants to live that close to it. I believe that there is a proposal for 24 hour rail loading, if the noise from the blasting is bad, the continuous noise from the loading of trains will be horrendous, we are in a valley, the noise travels.
I strongly oppose the Martins Creek Quarry Project.

To the Department of Planning , Industry and the Environment,

I wish to forward this submission contesting any expansion of Martins Creek Quarry.
In particular I wish to strongly object to its general operation, the impact on our residents, the disturbance affecting community life and impact on movement and road conditions.

The operators of this venture have shown continued disrespect towards Martins Creek, Paterson and Bolwarra residents for many years through illegal truck movements, unlawful extraction limits and excessive noise levels. The courts have continued to support these communities by blocking their plans for expansion, however Daracon have continued to submit proposals for increased output with no regard to our community. We urge the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment to continue to reject any submissions to increase operations.

The impact on residents needs to be central in determining Daracon’s submissions. Martins Creek residents suffer excessively due to blasting, dust and truck movements. Paterson already has a rail crossing and increasing population all affecting the flow of traffic. There are young people in our area learning to drive from our township and also a great number of young inexperienced drivers from Tocal Agricultural college all at increased risk due to the number of truck movements. Trucks are a very dangerous addition to this small, historic village. The 90deg turn in the centre of town with its proximity to the rail crossing make expansion very unwise.
Geoff and I wish to add our voice contesting the proposed expansion of Martins Creek Quarry which will have unbearable impact on the local communities.

We strongly urge the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment to continue to reject any submissions to increase operations and safeguard the safety, of our residents.
Yours faithfully
Sue and Geoff Wells