Martins Creek Quarry Project

Increased volume of traffic along Paterson road. Already impossible to turn out of Hunter Glenn estate with the volume of traffic now. Increased danger for children trying to walk/ride to school.

Paterson road is already busy enough without adding and additional 280 trucks to its volume! Trying to get out of Hunterglen onto Paterson road is busy and hard enough as it is and adding more trucks will make it harder and more dangerous.

It will completely destroy the feel and livability of the surrounding communities. Commute times for work and school will be excessive due to the traffic it would create and the pollution it would cause would be disastrous for the environment and wildlife.

My reasons for objecting to the expansion of the of the Martins Creek Quarry Project are threefold. Of prime importance is the increase in truck traffic which will have a deleterious effect on traffic passing through Maitland suburbs with Bolwarra and East Maitland being very badly affected. Already to the rapid expansion of Maitland's population has led to the areas being completely clogged traffic-wise and the addition of the trucks will make this situation untenable for residents.
also of concern is the presence of koalas in the area to be quarried. This iconic species is already suffering due to the 2019 bushfires and the quarrying of more habitat will contribute to their demise by a thousand cuts.
My third reason for opposing this project is the track record of Daracon. The history of this organisations attempts to circumvent conditions imposed by regulatory bodies is not conducive to belief that they will abide by reasonable strictures in the future.
The proposed expansion must be refused

I and my family have been residents of Bolwarra Heights since 2008 and are living on Paterson Road.
In 2013 to 2014 we have experienced illegal operation of Martin's Creek Quarry by Daracon and have lived with the consequences for years. I would like to outline these and the objections we have to approving the current proposal by Daracon. In the years Daracon operated illegally with increased trucking loads, we had constant deposition of soot in the outside areas of our house, due to the increased diesel emissions by the trucks. It was almost impossible to cross the road or join Paterson Road from our driveway due to the heavy truck traffic. The roads including Paterson Road and through Bolwarra were constantly in bad condition because of the heavy traffic. They are just not suitable for a truck going through every two minutes!
We have been living here long before Daracon increased or planned to increase the output by the quarry and any change to the conditions will result in a detrimental effect on house prizes.
The proposed changes to the operating conditions for Martin's Creek Quarry would lead to an enormous increase in heavy haulage trucks (both empty and loaded) through Paterson, Bolwarra Heights, Lorn and subsequently through East Maitland and beyond. The number of trucks proposed per hour would lead (as it has in the years of illegal operating) to enormous increase in noise, particulate pollution and vibrations in the house and outside. I am a cancer survivor and we are very worried about health implications for me and my family. The noise and fine particulate pollution from the truck diesel engines already experienced and expected will have a highly detrimental effect on health and mental well being.
Crossing the road will be nearly impossible and leaving our driveway will be increasingly dangerous. Trucks have and will not abide by the speed limit - they often do not in the moment and can approach at dangerously high speeds. The entrance to the Hunterglenn Estate is just down the road from us. Cars already have to wait a long time to exit, with heavily increased traffic this will get worse and lead to cars taking greater risks when leaving. School children are walking along the road to school and have to cross the road - it is only a matter of time until a major accident happens. School children who are picked up by buses at the lookout point in Bolwarra and to a large extent come from the Hunterglenn on the other side of the road will have to cross the road – an impossible task with the proposed increase in lorry traffic. Similar is true for the junction between Flat Road and Melbourne Street, which is already congested and would result in big queues on both roads at peak times.
Since the last proposal by Daracon the traffic situation has gotten worse just by increase in resident numbers - adding the enormous number of additional truck movements will cause intolerable congestion in Bolwarra, Largs, East Maitland and Maitland, with all the consequences for residents in those suburbs.
The value of houses and residences along the haulage route will decrease and impact on the health and well being of every person living along the route from Paterson to Maitland.
In terms of employment, operation of the quarry only needs a few staff thus the local advantage to the area is missing. Massively increased operation of quarry works and as a result increased road traffic will have an extremely negative effect upon the local environment, and these will be disproportionate to the assumed benefits of the Martin’s Creek quarry.
Martin's Creek Quarry was never intended to serve as a major quarry - it was operated as quarry for the railway and the roads and village of Paterson have been growing with it. Thus, the quarry has the facilities to load and transport gravel by train - a perfectly viable solution for residents. If the quarry needs to mine and transport more product, they should do so by train. If the coal industry could switch to train transport, this should be very possible for Daracon as well - especially since the product mined has largely been used for rail construction anyway. A good example for transport of quarry products by train can be found in Melbourne, the Kilmore East quarry train and the various superquarries in Victoria and NSW.
The argument that this would impact on profits (as mentioned by the current owners of the mine at a meeting years ago) just furthers my point - is the greed of one person or family more important than the health, wellbeing and prosperity of many, many families and voters of Paterson and the Hunter? It costs $1 per t to load onto a train which will be partially offset by the lower transport costs on the train. In the light of more than $100m of revenue made during illegal operation only a small dent in the vast profits Daracon makes. While Daracon mentions rail transport in the application, they put the caveat “if feasible” into the major project application which essentially will result in even more road transport given their history of illegal operation.
In line with the above, the negative externalities clearly outweigh the benefit for both the company and the community.
I notice in the submissions who support the proposal, all people who submitted these do not live in the area. I am wondering why they have an interest in this other than being connected to Daracon.
I object to the project and ask for rejection of the proposal.
Prof. Dipl.Ing. Dr.techn Michael Stockenhuber

I OPPOSE the Martins Creek Quarry Expansion!!! I live on Tocal Road which is the primary hall route for the proposed Martins Creek Quarry. My major concern is living on a main road having to deal with the significant increase in the number of trucks going past daily. I live in a small rural community which makes me rely on using these country roads with our cars to access day to day life, the increase in the volume of trucks will make this difficult and unsafe as trucks do NOT stick to the speed limits. Along Tocal road there is a bus service that picks up school children daily, there is no bus stop and the buses stop half in the lane and half on side of the road in a 100km zone. This is a clear example of how small countries towns work and adding additional trucks to this creates major safety concerns. You need to understand how small country towns operate.
I have significant concerns about the impact on our local air quality and the product from the quarry has silica within it which causes lung disease. I am a beef farmer and I provide beef to your supermarkets and plates if I become sick with untreated lung disease from the increasing number of trucks, pollution, silica I will not be able to provide for you. Please consider the flow on effects this will have on other industries.

Why has there been limited information provided or considered in regards to the Quarry moving products via rail?

Dear Sir/ Madam;
I wish to object to the proposed expansion of the Martins Creek Quarry due to the negative impact it will have on me, my family and people in Bolwarra/Lorn.

My main concerns involve the significant increase in truck movements on Paterson and Tocal Roads.

• Increased traffic congestion
There has been a significant increase in population and traffic in the Bolwarra, Bolwarra Heights, Largs and Maitland Vale areas in recent years.
It is estimated that extra truck movements will occur every 90 seconds due to empty trucks travelling out to quarries at both Martins Creek and Brandy Hill and loaded trucks returning. There is already significant congestion and I am concerned this will increase, most concerning at intersections of Paterson and Tocal Roads and Paterson and Hunterglen Rd, Victoria Rd, Canna St, Bolwarra Rd and Maitland Vale Road. I am also concerned for residents living on Paterson Road who will have increased problems entering and leaving their properties.

With 2 young children, both at the local Mother Goose daycare I am already affected by delays especially at times of high drop off and pickup. With increased truck movements this will become a large problem for myself and other parents of Mother Goose Daycare, Tilly’s Daycare and Bolwarra Public School.

My son also attends King Street Preschool in East Maitland and I will also be impacted when traveling to and from East Maitland via Melbourne street.

• Increased risk of accidents
Increased truck movements will increase the danger and risk of accidents. This is of great concern to me when turning right off Paterson Road into Bolwarra Road I am already concerned of being rear ended by a truck behind me, with a truck every 90 seconds the chance of a truck following me down the hill is almost guaranteed.

With two young children and no marked Pedestrian crossings on Paterson Road it will be very dangerous when trying to cross the road. We do this frequently if walking to or from daycare, visiting Maddies Cafe or visiting friends in the housing either side of Maddies. This will effect us greatly if truck movements increase as it will become too dangerous to find a safe distance to cross with young children.

• Increased noise
Noise from empty trucks early in the morning has been so bad families have had to sell and move in the past, negatively impacting property values. Noise issues have increased significantly in the Bolwarra area since the roundabout was constructed at intersection of Flat Road and Paterson Road. Noisy trucks stopping and starting at the roundabout will be unbearable especially early in the morning.


If this development goes ahead major roadworks including multiple sets of traffic lights, roundabouts and Pedestrian crossings will be needed on Paterson Road to address the above issues. Restriction on travel times (eg 7am similar to building site start times) will be needed especially for empty trucks in the morning.

I have made no political donations in the past two years.

250 plus trucks on our already full infrastructure would be detrimental to locals that share it.

I object on the basis of habitat destruction, noise pollution and the impact of a significant increase in heavy vehicle movements on local roads, degrading infrastructure at the expense of local rate payers.

I am opposing the Martins Creek Quarry project based on a variety of issues:

1. Child & Road safety:
i) Trucks causing damage to the roads, which council already can't keep on top of.
ii) Chipped windscreens from debris and poorly maintained roads, again caused by heavy use of haulage trucks.
iii) Banking up of traffic at various exit/entry points between Paterson, Bolwarra and East Maitland. A major concern is for all of the children and parents having to cross two lanes of traffic coming out of Bolwarra Public School - if there were to be an accident with a truck here, it most certainly will be deadly and the local families will be outraged!
2. Health issues
i) Air quality and dust fragments causing allergies and heightened asthma conditions.
ii) Mental health and anxiety - the thought of having to try and battle the roads with hundreds of additional trucks daily is enough to make anyone want to stay home. I will not let me children ride a bike or walk to a friend's home in fear of them being collected by one of 280 trucks a day whilst crossing the road!
3. House Pricing
We purchased a 3 acre block of land in Paterson in September 2020, with the plans to build our forever home; after hearing Daracons response to a question asked "what would you do in our position?" And responded with, "I'd sell" at a local discussion session in June.

As a long term resident of Bolwarra Heights and new land owner of Paterson, I ask the department to refuse this application due to adversely impacting on my families quality of life and that of my neighbours, adverse health issues, safety and damage of roads with so many trucks, blasting noise and vibration, along with devaluation of our properties. There are alternative hard rock quarries available making Martins Creek Quarry not a State Significant resource.

They have a fully operational rail line which leads right into the quarry which can be used to transport to various ports or depots if need be. Would this not be a better environmental move on Daracons part to lessen the impact of pollution and the additional points made above?

Brooke Farrell

I OPPOSE the Martins Creek Quarry Expansion!
I OPPOSE the increase in the number of trucks on our road.

My major concern is the safety issue caused by the increased number of trucks ; traffic, congestion, noise and air pollution and road surface. It will impact how I run my business and how I access both the Paterson and Maitland communities.

I operate a physiotherapy business from home and also a mobile service for the area. Driving from Paterson I must make a right hand turn into my driveway which exits at 90 degrees from Tocal Road in the middle of a 100 kilometre speed zone. There is no verge, shoulder or turning lane.

I am also concerned about the decline in our Koala population.The Brandy Hill quarry expansion recently destroyed 52 hectares of native habitat, while Martins Creek is just 23 kilometres away the Martins Creek Quarry expansion will cause substantial destruction of more Koala habitat and this will impact their numbers negatively.

Creates a very busy, dangerous main road. The amount of trucks using Paterson Road will have huge impact on traffic and houses on main road. Will cause even more traffic delays exiting Hunter Glen.

I object to the extension of the Quarry for the following reasons.
I believe the air quality report is not accurate as it uses data for the air quality of Martins Creek based on Singleton air quality data, the air in The Paterson Valley is much cleaner than the dirty mine dust air of singleton. This should not be used, and therefore will change the air quality report.
The air pollution report states the green house gasses calculated by workers who only live 10km from the quarry. This is floored. Check where they live, If you look at the submissions, they are filled with workers who come from Newcastle... This will have an impact on the report.
Air movement is also based on Tocal data, i would have though the Quarry should have had to have recorded their own data, or the data should have been recorded from the quarry for the report. This is not accurate as the quarry is inside the Paterson valley and would be impacted differently.
The Data used in the reports are from 2013 to 2016, are outdated and needs to be updated with regards to traffic, crashes etc. Especially when the trucks were at their peak of the unlawful operation of the quarry.
The quarry has for years treated the residents of this area with contempt. They disregard the lives of the people who live near the quarry as evidenced by the accoustic reports. The fact that the EPL allows them to operate with no limit as such shows it should be changed to allow some sort of normal life for the nearby residents.
I have lived in the area for all my life and have always known the quarry was there but in the recent years, noticed increased dust and noise from the quarry. My family has also had land in vacy for 30 plus years.
The number of trucks got to a ridiculous level before the quarry was stopped. I note the traffic report says there will be no impact of the trucks, bull shit. The trucks disrupt the traffic flow, causing people to take unnecessary risk to overtake, drop rocks from their tubs, many a people i speak to know of someone who has their windscreen cracked by a rock falling from a loaded passing truck. They also tail gate traffic closer to knock off time trying to get their last load. They might not be involved in many accidents but certainly cause a lot of anxiety in the older drivers in the area.
They also are very scary with the way some of the dog trailers sway around the lane of the road.
The increased truck numbers make the commute to Maitland more unsafe. Paterson villiage has been destroyed by the noise, and vibration of all the trucks. The increased hours will all but destroy any tourism of the village, something that has increased since the quarry stopped.

The trucks create so much more costs for our community in damage to the roads which creates a more dangerous road for car drivers.

I note the application for 24hr train loading but the application states that they propose to send most product by truck. I do not agree this should be done 24hrs due to the noise generated. I believe more of the production of the quarry must be diverted to the train line to keep our roads safer. Less trucks.
I believe that land values in the vicinity of the quarry will be diminished due to the increased noise, dust and light pollution. I do not agree with the increased operation hours.
I believe that the quarry should not be approved for increased capacity due to the adverse impacts of the LOCAL community.

As a resident of Bolwarra and one who lives on Paterson Road I can’t even begin to imagine how horrible it will be having so many trucks on our road. The noise, higher risks of accidents, wildlife, road damage and tranquility of the local area are just a few examples of what will be affected if this Quarry goes ahead. Big no from this household!!

I strongly object to the expansion of the Martins Creek Quarry.
During the time Daracon was operating the quarry it illegally exceeded its operating limits and the number of trucks using the road to Maitland caused costly damage to the road infrastructure and created traffic holdups on the road. That road was not designed to carry that number of trucks, there are many narrow sections and no safe overtaking areas. Daracon has not contributed to the upkeep of the road.
I was travelling to work in Maitland about 6am and regularly encountered trucks from the quarry and heading north towards the quarry. In winter it was dark, foggy and not safe on many sections of the road.
How can Daracon be trusted to conform to their operating limits in the future?
The project offers no benefits to the local community. There is no local employment created, you cannot purchase product from the quarry any more, it creates noise and dust for people living near the quarry and generates too many vehicle movements through the village of Paterson (and over the rail level crossing).
If Daracon is given a licence to operate the quarry ALL the product should be moved by rail to remove the trucks from the roads.

As the amount of trucks on the road. The roads have so many pot holes. The noise of the trucks which go past my place at all hours. The

Only a moron would approve this expansion. It's something the community clearly doesn't want, even the local councils have distanced themselves from any kind of support for this. I'd like to enjoy a beer out the front of the pub without having to wear earmuffs.

The proposal to expand the quarry appears to be based from a position of profit with little consideration for the local environment or the local communities.
Our daughter attends Nillo Infants school in Lorn and there have been too many instances where large trucks have not registered the zebra crossing at the front of the school. An increase in truck traffic of the proposed magnitude is irresponsible and could have disastrous consequences for our small community.
I note that the majority of supporters are connected financially to the quarry and reside in other communities and will not be negatively impacted. Consideration also needs to also be given to the families and businesses who have chosen to call this part of the Hunter home.

Daracon's Amended D.A is to increase it's production and expansion to the quarry is detrimental to our local community.
It will not cope with the increase in the trucks per day on our residential roads as our infrastructure is not currently coping with the current residential growth within the area.
The residential roads are already stressed and to capacity without a further 1.1 million tonne to be extracted annually.
I live in Hilldale Drive Bolwarra Hgts and make the journey everyday....
The roads are already stressed with major traffic and congestion.
Please consider the community and the infrastructure that should have been proposed and planned prior to granting an expansion to this capacity.
I therefore appose this expansion due to the capacity of trucks that would increase on our road system , traffic will increase, noise will increase
Our community needs to protected from this 25 year old operation proposal!

I vigorously object to the expansion of Martins Creek quarry.
The increase in truck movements resulting in some 280 trucks per day on a local road that is unsuitable for such large vehicles at such numbers would be unsafe. The road design and construction was never intended to cope with this stress. This type of traffic will destroy the amenity of the village of Paterson - which is also the gateway to the Barrington Tops World Heritage Area. This is a major tourist attraction in the Hunter. Maitland Council identified tourism as one of the major employers of the area and a huge potential growth industry.
I myself own and operate an eco- guesthouse which relies on the natural beauty of this area to attract our guests - many of whom come to weddings at local venues. The area is so popular for weddings due to its natural beauty and serenity. So many of our guests comment on this natural environment and how quiet it is. The increase to Martins Creek quarry will undoubtedly impact on our guest experience. At times, we can hear the quarry operations and the heavy vehicle movements. It will also detract from our guest experience as they travel around the area to visit local attractions. The expansion would be yet another barrier to our business success.
Maitland Council have noted several tourism destination projects such as a large Adventure Playground. When developed, this tourist site would be diametrically opposed to having so many heavy vehicles accessing the same roads - which undoubtedly would eventuate. Additionally, the historic tourist town of Morpeth would experience congestion with their many visitors having to jostle for road space amongst the many trucks. The impacts would be both unsafe and unsuitable.
In conclusion, I would like to draw attention to the fact that our entire district which would include Paterson, Martins Creek, Tocal, Bolwarra, East Maitland, Butterwick, Morpeth, Dungog and beyond - would ALL be impacted negatively for the benefit of a small few.