Mod 5 - Design Changes

This Complex will be of great benefit to the greater Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Western Sydney area which contains a substantial proportion of NSW shooters.
It is the only rifle range with relatively easy road access in the Sydney metropolitan area, able to cater for a full range of rifle shooting activities.
The range will also benefit Police and the military, who are required to do firearms training and regular practice, but who are currently without adequate range facilities.
The new facility will greatly increase access for people with disabilities and enable them to participate more easily.
With its covered firing points, it can operate as an all weather facility, which the adjacent 800m range does not.
The extended hours of opening will also greatly increase custom and the sound level measurements will be a more reliable and accurate reflection of the complex's compliance.
Shooting noise generated by this range, and the current 800m range is insignificant compared with the generally accepted noise levels in and around Hilltop village, eg vehicles and motor mowers.

This development will be of great benefit to the Illawarra and Southern Highlands. I know people regularly travel from Western Sydney to the existing range, bringing money into the area. The new facility will greatly increase access for people with disabilities and the elderly allowing them to participate in an outdoor activity.
Unlike many shooters I am a genuine and committed environmentalist. I cannot see that modifications to the existing facility will have any impact.

NOTE: There does not seem to be any documents on this web site about the proposed modifications (only previous matters up to MOD 4).
I called this morning for information but as yet no reply from the Department so simply, without all the details, the following are my comments.

I used to shoot on the Welby Rifle Range prior to its closure to make way for the expressway and have been shooting on the Hilltop Range (now Southern Highlands Regional Complex) for many years.
I have been a target shooter for over 40 years and have competed in State (NSW), National and Club events during this time.
One problem that I have always had was reasonable time for practice and this can only occur if the range is open at other times other than competition days and for this reason I would like the range to be open through the week and at night if possible.
Although this range has been open at this site from about 1988, the army used the area for training purposes from the 1960's through to early 1990's utilising machine guns and automatic rifles, using blank ammunition of course.
They used a variety of light and heavy vehicles including APC's for access along these local roads and tracks.
(My information is from personally working in the area as a Water Board Ranger and the Water Board in general for many years).
My point is a lot of vehicle and firearm activity has occurred in this area for over the past 50 years or more.
This Regional Shooting Complex should be fully developed and would not only be a great asset for the State of NSW, but also Wingecarribee Shire Council, the local area and the broader community.
If developed correctly it would be one of Wingecarribee Shires greater assets attracting probably as many people that come to the area to visit the surrounding National Park.

I had put in a submission previously but could not find the actual document regarding the modifications, thanks for the follow-up.

Page 30. 6.4.2 Proposed Modification
B3(g) Soil, Water and Contamination
...This plan must incorporate exception reporting as well as annual reporting of outcomes to the Sydney Catchment Authority..etc...
To Note that the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) ceased to exist as a NSW Government Agency January 2015. (this document dated October 2016 should have picked this up).
Perhaps the Document may be amended to report to Water NSW, of which the SCA was absorbed into (maybe need to contact them)
It is not stated who would carry out the water quality testing and where?
It should also be on record that nearby Rocky Water Holes Creek drains from Hilltop township area and sedimentation (and possible contamination) of the creek occurred many years ago, due to the development expansion of Hilltop township.

I support the modifications for approval to the Southern Highlands Shooting Complex approvals so that honest law abiding shooters can continue to, or start to participate in their chosen legal sport without unduly affecting local residents.

The application to modify the existing consents covers the wide range of work carried out to reduce the impact of the shooting complex on the environment, and to provide an effective facility for sporting shooters.
The logic behind the amendments and improvements is well described, and deserves appreciation by shooters and the local community.
The management of the complex by the Department of Sport will provide accountability to, and enable more efficient working with, other government departments in order to remove unnecessary and overly complex regulatory requirements which will then allow the use of departmental funds for the benefit of all sports.

I support the modifications to the approval.

I would like to fully support the new application due to the fact that the new proposals are mainly due to the incompetence of the previous government contractor and are just rectifications of previous approvals.
The other submissions simply try to to return to how the range operated before the ''new'' range was proposed.There seemed to be no problem with either shooters or residents before this and at no time was there a submission to increase the noise limits at either the present or the future range.
Hopefully sanity will prevail this time around to the benefit off all.

Good spot for it.

I Support it

I support the DA and it's submissions

I fully support this proposal and look forward to using the facilities.

I agree with the modifications and the project as a whole.

I think that there are no changes needed.

I want to notify that I support the Southern Highlands Regional Shooting complex at Hill Top NSW.

As a licenced shooter I am pleased to hear about further possible developments at this shooting range that will provide myself and other colleagues variety in our chosen sport.

In summary, I agree with the modifications and I support the development.

I agree with the modifications and fully support the development of this much needed facility.

I support any shooting range that allows people to participate and train in shooting sports.
The more we can encourage people into local community sporting organisations the better. These sorts if activities clearer good friendships and mental health.

I support fully all the amendments

I support the modifications 100%. It would be a great asset to the local community and bring welcome tourism dollars.

I agree with the modifications and support the development.