Modification 2 Gunlake Quarry Continuation Project - Mod 2 Trucks

Attached please find our submission objecting to the Gunlake Quarries Continuation Project - Modification 2 (SSD-12469087).

As stated in my previous submissions Gunlake should immediately rebuild and improve safety on the Primary and Secondary Haul Routes. While this is necessary it is only a “ band aid “ fix to Gunlake’s increase every few years of another 100 or so trucks on Brayton Road. This use of Brayton Road as a quarry haul road is incompatible with the growing number of other road users and is unsustainable.

Gunlake Quarry is basically beside Holcim’s Lynwood quarry which predominantly uses rail transport but also has a haul road direct to the Hue Highway overpass at south Marulan. Gunlake unladen trucks from Sydney currently use this overpass to access the Primary Haul Route.

Gunlake should be required to construct a new dedicated haul route to connect with the existing Holcim haul route. This would solve all the problems on the Primary and Secondary Haul routes by completely removing quarry trucks. The haul distances would be comparable with existing haul distances. Based on a cursory review of a possible route for a new haul route there are no impediments. It could avoid crossing grazing paddocks; fit inconspicuously beside Holcim’s boundary and easily bridge the rail line ( as Holcim have done ).
I see this exercise as no different to the original construction by Gunlake of Ambrose Road bypass. The problems being addressed are exactly the same. Importantly it provides a long term sustainable solution. Gunlake should be required to develop it immediately.

Number of trucks on a single lane carriage way is already detrimental to households and air pollution.
Adding more trucks is therefore adding to both noise and air pollution to households on Brayton rd and the town of Marulan.
Commuting traffic on Brayton rd will have added congestion to navigate.
Road surface upkeep on both Brayton road and Ambrose rd is not adequate. Deterioration of surface is rarely addressed.
Original road surface construction was unsuitable. Trucks are too heavy on the surface and erode easily when wet or overused.
Pot holes, ridges and complete surface breakdown is the normal state of these roads.
No consideration was given to the original design to accommodate heavy loads. No passing lanes or wider lanes to accommodate wide trucks was considered.
Community has to navigate substandard road at present. Added truck haulage will increase this problem.
The original construction was a cheap, quick and substandard construction.

I would like to object to this submission made by Gunlake quarries as I have health and safety concerns for myself, my family and our local community.
Firstly Brayton road, Ambrose Road and the M31 roads are already unsafe due to the damage caused by the excessive heavy vehicles that use these roads daily. These roads are under managed and I have over 100 photographs of the damaged to these roads ready to support this. The increase of 100 heavy vehicle movements per day will significantly impact the road safety particularly when our roads are not designed to handle such tough traffic. We are will be at risk of more accidents and vehicle damages.
Increasing quarry operations will lead to an increase of dust and poor air quality. It might also affect our underground water and run-off putting more pollution into our area where we are already experiencing poor water quality for the township.
Ongoing quarrying and increased heavy vehicles will cause high exposure to dust, noise and increased traffic. This can contribute to stress and health problems like respiratory diseases, hearing loss and general well-being of the people living in this area.
Environmentally, a 30 year quarry operation raises my concerns about long-term sustainability of the project, irreparable damage to our ecosystem and landscapes.
I would like to see Gunlake quarries explore alternative methods to transport there products and be responsible for the roads that are in need of repair.

I drive passed Gunlake every day and very often I see up to 6 trucks in the short distance between their entrance and Ambrose Rd. Adding another 100 and then an unlimited amount is untenable for noise, pollution, delays, damage to the road and wildlife on both Brayton and Ambrose Roads. The Hume Highway is already full of trucks. There are signs which advise drivers to be careful around trucks. Why? They tailgate each other; overtake each other; and are often involved in incidents causing serious delays.

As one of the most affected residential housing blocks being approximately 80 metres from brayton road (on the primary haulage route) this proposal of extra truck movements will definitely affect our limited lifestyle. everyone is entitled to quality family time at home. when we purchased our 13,000 sqm. vacant land parcel in december 2022 no person or body had informed ourselves of any conditions that were agreed to upon gunlake gaining approval for transportation of quarried material. it was only when we were granted building approval and commenced house slab construction that we were contacted by ed o,neil from gunlake who informed us onsite that there was a 250 metre buffer zone in place from brayton road to any proposed residential build, and yes it is displayed on goulburn mulwarree council media pages. obviously it wasn,t relayed to us by council. in 2022 and not living onsite we had not much of an idea about truck movements. circa 2024 and yes we have a very good experience of the noise generated by truck movements noticed by a returning truck at 11.45 pm the other night and then it,s the very early 4am and earlier starts.everyone seems focused on truck movements but for this to happen gunlake has to start operations and at the moment with approximately 52 permanent employees and 20 contractors working onsite PLUS company drivers having to start , a continuous flow of vehicles is already making noise prior to truck movements. circa 2025 and gunlake is asking for increased road usage. at what stage would you call a fair nights sleep?, 5 hours?.gunlake installed an acoustic meter in the front of residence for 7 days with no feedback given concerning noise out of courtesy .my last statement would raise the subject of transparency, none exists as i was made aware of this proposal only through a flyer put in our letterbox privately. no australia post deliveries are made here, no local newspaper adverts.no one has told myself that they heard it on the local radio stations. larry stone.

refer attachement

Gunlake Quarry is expanding to become one of the largest and most profitable quarries in Australia. Since opening about 15 years ago there has been a five fold increase in trucks on Brayton Road to the point trucks exceed cars. Brayton Road used to be a quiet rural road now it is a quarry haul road full of large trucks with the pavement permanently in disrepair. It is beyond time for Government to cease “ favoured status “ for Gunlake and apply the same standards as are complied with by the other public company quarries in the area. This application to increase daily trucks to nearly 500 should be refused unless….
1) The primary haul route is completely rebuilt and strengthened.
2) The maintenance protocols must change due to the continuous state of disrepair. Presumably Gunlake need to contribute more money to Council for road maintenance. If GMC are incapable or uninterested in proper maintenance then it should be outsourced to reliable contractors.
3) The outbound section of the Primary Haul Route should be continuous two lanes. If this is not feasible then at minimum there should be overtaking lanes on the incline before Johnniefelds and the Ambrose Hill. This section of Brayton Road was 100kph before Gunlake. Now cars plod along behind trucks often limited to 20kph. This is not only a huge problem for the cars but the trucks also don’t appreciate being tailgated. The result is regular illegal overtaking often facilitated by the cooperative truck drivers waving cars past. Eventually this will end in a disastrous collision. If DPIE requires confirmation of this just talk to the truck drivers or view their dash cam.
4) Culverts should be widened as required by previous consents.
5) DPIE and/ or Gunlake should directly advise the hundreds of road users from Brayton, Big Hill, Grenwich Park, Towrang, Canyonleigh etc of this application. This should be by letter drop or similar.
6) DPIE should arrange a public meeting.
7) DPIE should directly advise the 50 plus residents of Marulan of the significant increase in trucks on the Secondary Haul route in Marulan. Brayton Road in Marulan is effectively single lane with residents street parking and a game of “ chicken “ results for passing vehicles.
8) A Traffic Impact Assessment and Noise Impact study should be conducted on the Secondary Haul Route as well as the Primary Haul Route.
9) DPIE should do a complete audit of the quarry operations including noise; dust and in particular environmental and visual management of overburden dumps. These massive dumps have no flora shields and are clearly visible over 5 kilometres away.
10) The exhibition period and deadline for submissions should be extended by at least 4 weeks. No regular users of Brayton Road will be aware of this major increase in trucks.
11) Gunlake should be required to report truck movements on their website. Other public companies provide comprehensive public information. Gunlake’s excuse of “ commercial confidentiality “ is irrelevant.
12) As with previous expansions my submissions have confirmed support for the quarry BUT Gunlake should use rail transport. With their massive expansion this quarry is a “ gold mine “.

In the first submission we were not told that truck movements would be an additional 200! that means there could be 950 truck movements a day, a truck movement every 90 seconds. This was not mentioned at all in the first submission to increase production, which me and my family agreed in principle.
Now Gunlake realizes it cant remove the amount of product without increasing the truck movements and truck movements through our town were our biggest concern in our first submission.
Surely Gunlake knew this fact before but they obviously have got the proposal through now want to increase the truck movements.
No good cricket and certainly a stealth way of advising us, the towns people.
We oppose the whole thing and will endeavor to make Gunlake accountable for a very un Australian wat of getting permission to virtually build another quarry.
Gunlake do not look after our roads now and we are of the opinion they will not in the future, our road, Brayton Road, from Gunlake Quarry, destroyed by Gunlake Trucks and Sub contractors is in complete disaarray and is unsafe and Gunlake do nothing.
Shame on you Shame

I object to yet another increase in the daily Gunlake truck movements. Marulan is rapidly expanding along the ‘haulage route’ and this will significantly impact the well being and safety of residents. The local issues of safety, pollution, noise and constant road repairs, plus the additional Hume Highway traffic congestion and pollution are all becoming unbearable. Other local quarries send the majority of their loads to Sydney via rail, why has this not been imposed on Gunlake by now? I believe that, at the very least, Gunlake must be compelled to provide a ‘green corridor’ incorporating substantial planting on both sides of the roads of either native or exotic varieties along Brayton, Ambrose and Red Hills Roads haulage route for the sake of our wildlife and the fast deteriorating environment.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to formally object to the proposed modification to increase truck movements as part of the Gunlake Quarry Continuation Project. As a resident already struggling with the current level of truck activity, I am deeply distressed by the excessive noise, environmental degradation, and overall decline in quality of life that this proposal would further exacerbate.

The current number of truck movements is already unbearable, causing constant noise pollution, vibrations that impact my home, and severe stress and anxiety. Increasing truck traffic would make living in this area intolerable. Additionally, the continuous movement of heavy vehicles raises serious concerns about road safety, air quality, and the long-term impact on the environment.

What is most concerning is that our house was approved for construction without any prior disclosure to us regarding the impact of these truck movements. We were only made aware of this issue after approval, when Gunlake representatives informed us something that should have been disclosed beforehand. It is unacceptable that residents should now face even more disruption due to a lack of transparency and consideration for those living in the area.

Adding to this issue is the lack of transparency surrounding Gunlake’s operations and requests for modifications. The information regarding their proposed changes is not freely available to the community, making it difficult for residents to stay informed and have a say in decisions that directly impact them. Instead of openly communicating with those affected, Gunlake has left residents in the dark, forcing us to rely on other residents to update us about their plans and truck movement increases. This lack of accessibility and clear communication is completely unacceptable for a project of this magnitude.

Furthermore, Gunlake previously conducted a noise study on our property, yet the results were never shared with us, leaving us completely unaware of the true extent of the impact. In addition, Gunlake attempted to offer us a mitigation proposal, which clearly acknowledges the significant effect the noise and truck movements have on our home and well-being. Their willingness to make such an offer proves that they are fully aware of the issue yet instead of addressing it properly, they now seek to make the situation even worse.

The proposed increase fails to account for the cumulative toll on local infrastructure, wildlife, and the well being of residents. While Gunlake justifies this modification based on market demand, this should not come at the expense of the community’s health and quality of life.

I urge the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure to reject this modification and explore alternative solutions that do not impose further hardship on residents. The well being of the community must come before corporate interests.

Thank you for taking my concerns into serious consideration

Should you require further information please do not hesitate to let me know.

Completely ridiculous for anybody who lives in the vicinity. The town is small and revolves around George Street. It’s a thoroughfare for the towns only school, it’s dangerous having that many trucks driving through. The elderly or children cross that road constantly, it’s simply not an option. There are alternate access routes that need to be taken.

There is already enough trucks driving down George St Marulan where we have schools and the towns major shopping centre making it very difficult to continue to live in Marulan. I feel the additional trucks de-value the land and make Marulan an undesirable place to live. I am STRONGLY AGAINST IT!

1) Gunlake have not widened culverts on primary haul route as required in previous approval.
2) Gunlake have not done an independent structural assessment of primary haul route pavement. The road which is constantly littered with pot holes etc is clearly inadequate.
3) With proposed increased trucks there should be overtaking lanes on incline approaching Johnniefelds and Ambrose Road
4) There should be a limit on trucks on the secondary haul route through Marulan. MAJOR QUERY…HAVE THE RESIDENTS OF MARULAN ON BRAYTON ROAD BEEN ADVISED BY LETTER DROP OF THE POTENTIAL UNLIMITED TRUCK MOVEMENTS? There are at least twenty residences directly affected.
5) There are many residents and businesses in Marulan which will be affected by the truck traffic and a PUBLIC MEETING SHOULD BE HELD.

I cannot understand the justification or reasoning behind the proposal to increase truck movements by Gunlake Quarries by 30% over a period of 24 hours.
Currently the truck movements occurring along Brayton Road, which is a residential area of Marulan currently housed by young families and elderly is excessive enough.
The increased traffic by heavy vehicles will place the residential area of Brayton Road under much stress and is most unwelcoming.
The residents of Marulan deserve better than this.
Why should the residents be impacted so severely by this huge increase of the number of trucks coming through the area at the cost of Gunlakes profites.
I whole heartlly object to this submission by Gunlake and will continue as with other residents of Marulan to protest against this application.
Further to this submission to you, the residents of Marulan are urged to contact their local member for assistance on their behalf. Even without the increased numbers of trucks requested by Gunlake, I have started to consider the structural integrity of my own dwelling with regards to noticeable cracking in some areas of the exterior of the property. I am documenting such.
This appears to be quite unusual considering the house is only 3 years old. There must be dsome form of comprising on behalf of the quarry. In perhaps seeking alternative roads.

Marilyn

See attached submission

I do not agree with adding more trucks to the daily route on Brayton Road. Already there are numerous trucks each hour causing extreme noise and also having to wash my car every few days due to the dust coming from the trucks passing by.