Monaro Rock Quarry Project

The project is should not be approved for a number of reasons;
It is based in a high conservation value area of Box Gum Grassy Woodland
It will affect the amenity of local residents through excessive heavy vehicle movements
It will cause significant dust and noise pollution, particularly high silica dust
It will draw down on limited ground water resources which became unavailable to many residents during the last drought with bores running dry.
There should be sufficient aggregate resource in the existing local quarries already

My name is Mark Parton, and I am a Liberal Member for Brindabella in the ACT Legislative Assembly. My electorate covers the most southern part of the Territory, including the suburbs of Theodore, Conder, Richardson, and Isabella Plains.

Over the last month, my office has heard the concerns of numerous constituents around the proposed development of the Monaro Rock Quarry project in Royalla. Although the site is in NSW, many of my constituents have provided their feedback to my office, as their homes fall into the area identified by the EIS. Their concerns are attached.

To whom it may concern,
I am writing this submission in support of the proposed quarry. I believe the quarry will not only provide employment opportunities for the community but will also support the progression of economical and social growth within the ACT and Surrounding NSW communities.
Benefits that I see include:
- Job creation for local residents and skill development
- local business growth by increasing local demand for services
- locally sourced aggregate from the quarry will contribute to affordable infrastructure
- community investment, i can see the quarry putting back into the community through supporting/sponsoring local communities etc
In conclusion the proposed quarry represents a balanced. future driven investment in the regions economy and community. The benefits will significantly outweigh any concerns.
Thank you for considering my submission

Kind regards
Amy Trounson
Resident of the Surrounding Community

This project will deliver significant benefits to the construction industry across NSW and also the ACT. Existing hard-rock quarries in the region are becoming increasingly constrained by both capacity and the quality of materials produced—issues that will intensify as the industry transitions to more sustainable materials such as concrete.
One of the most critical advantages of the Monaro Rock Quarry is its ability to address the local industry problem of alkaline aggregate reaction (AAR) in concrete. AAR can cause concrete seriously to deteriorate, resulting in defective structures. For this reason, TfNSW prohibits the use of rock with AAR unless strict approvals and controls are in place. The industry’s current method of controlling AAR relies on the addition of fly ash to concrete mixes. However, the availability of quality fly ash is declining as coal-fired power stations close or operate under conditions that no longer produce suitable flyash by-products.
We understand that testing confirms that Monaro Rock material is non-reactive and does not require fly ash for AAR control. This reduces dependency on a diminishing resource and avoids the need to transport by-products from outside the region. The result is both a lower carbon footprint and a more reliable, sustainable supply chain for concrete production.
In addition, the new quarry will provide much-needed future supply capacity to the local market, where some of the existing quarries are already showing signs of shortfall in meeting demand for specific rock products.

I write to formally object to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry Project on ecological, cultural, environmental, and community grounds. The proposed development would result in significant and irreversible damage to a critically endangered ecosystem, threaten native wildlife, and pose serious health, lifestyle, and cultural risks to residents and the broader environment.

1. Biodiversity & Environmental Impact
The proposed quarry will result in the clearance of 77.83 hectares of native vegetation, including 22.44 hectares of Box-Gum Grassy Woodland, an ecosystem that is critically endangered under both NSW and Commonwealth legislation. This is not just an area of bushland—it is one of the last remaining strongholds of Box-Gum Woodland in the Royalla landscape, supporting a complex and irreplaceable web of life.
The Box-Gum Woodland is already on the brink of extinction across NSW, the ACT, and nationally. Every hectare lost brings it closer to total collapse.
The site is home to over 300 species of flora and fauna, including species of high conservation significance such as the:
• Pink-tailed Legless Lizard
• Key Matchstick Grasshopper
• Small Purple-pea
• Gang-Gang Cockatoo (threatened under Commonwealth legislation)
These species depend on the connectivity and intactness of this landscape. The clearing will not only remove habitat but sever critical movement corridors between woodland and grassland areas, pushing local populations toward extinction.
The clearing of this habitat would also impact the Jerrabomberra headwaters, degrading the waterways and riparian vegetation, reducing the flow and quality of water that feeds into broader catchments—including areas downstream in Tuggeranong.
2. Cultural Heritage
Indigenous heritage must be respected and preserved. The proposed site includes culturally modified trees, including ring trees and scar trees, as well as numerous Indigenous artefacts and archaeological deposits.
Destruction of this site would mean a permanent loss of cultural knowledge, history, and connection to Country. This land has significance beyond what can be measured in development yield or truckloads of quarry product.
3. Human and Community Impacts
The project is proposed in close proximity to a growing population—49,000 people currently live within 10km, with this figure expected to rise to 69,000 within the next 10 years. The scale and nature of the quarry is wholly inappropriate for a region with this population density.
Major concerns include:
• Traffic: Up to 500 heavy vehicle movements per day, including haulage trucks and concrete/asphalt delivery vehicles. This will significantly increase noise, congestion, road safety risks, and wear and tear on the Monaro Highway, Old Cooma Road, and surrounding rural roads.
• Dust & Health Risks: Quarry operations will generate large quantities of dust, including respirable silica, which can be harmful to human health. Dust will settle on homes, solar panels, gardens, and contaminate rainwater tanks, directly impacting day-to-day life.
• Odour: The production of hot mix asphalt creates strong, persistent odours, impacting liveability for nearby residents.
• Noise & Blasting: Blasting activities will cause noise, ground vibrations, and further dust, disrupting both humans and wildlife. This will be a constant intrusion for nearby communities.
• Electricity Disruptions: Local residents have raised concerns about brownouts and damage to home appliances due to the electrical demands and fluctuations associated with the industrial site.
• Water Use: The quarry would extract up to 42.4 million litres of groundwater annually—in a region already subject to water stress. This could reduce flows in surrounding watercourses, affecting both people and ecosystems downstream.
• Pollution Risks: There is potential for water and soil contamination from washing equipment, concrete recycling, and runoff from the site. These are unacceptable risks near sensitive waterways and residential areas.
4. Economic & Planning Concerns
There is no clear economic justification for the quarry, especially given that four existing quarries within 30km already have capacity for more than 100 years. This project would duplicate supply while adding environmental and social costs that far outweigh any purported benefit.
The proposed development is inconsistent with the landscape character and community aspirations of Royalla and surrounding regions. It is not in the public interest to industrialise this area at the cost of ecological integrity, cultural heritage, and community wellbeing.

No Quarry. No Industrial Estate. Save Enchanted Hill.
This is not just a development proposal—it is a potential ecological, cultural, and social disaster. Once this land is cleared and blasted, there is no going back. There is also no feasible way of offsetting or mitigating the destruction of critically endangered habitat. Once it's gone it's gone.
I urge decision-makers to consider the irreversible damage this proposal would cause, and to reject the Monaro Rock Quarry Project in its entirety.

You cant produce the essential construction material of concrete if you do not have a quarry

Increasing production will help increase work in the community.

I object to the proposed quarry project. The geographical location is not appropriate to establishing a new facility such as this. The likely negative impacts on residential and rural-residential communities in close proximity to the site far outweigh the positives. My family is concerned about a reduced quality of life resulting from the proposed development. Surely there are better locations to establish a quarry that are much further from populated areas.
The issues that most concern me are (but not limited to): dust and noise, the sourcing of water and its use, pollution and traffic.
Regarding traffic, the Monaro Highway is already known to be a dangerous road. Both the Monaro Highway and Old Cooma Road have fairly high traffic flows, which is likely to increase as the population at Googong, Tuggeranong and other nearby areas increases. If an industrial site is eventually approved for this location, significant road upgrades including turning lanes, bridges and road duplication should be a pre-requisite.
Regards, Jason

I appreciate the desire to create jobs but the proposed location for the quarry is surrounded by residences and it seems inappropriate and frankly risky to allow it to go ahead.

I absolutely support this project.
Sterilisation of a regionally significant resource by local residents is not in the interests of the broader community good.
Resources such as this are few and far between, they cannot be manufactured and are reliant on the earths geology.
The EIS has been prepared by industry recognised and competent persons and approval should be given in accordance with the EIS findings.
Other quarries such as Cooma Road are nearing the end of their operational life as a quarry and need to be replaced with alternate resources.
The approval of this quarry is important to maintaining supply of quality quarry products into the local and broader markets.

To Whom It May Concern
I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry Project in Royalla, NSW. As a resident of this community, I am deeply concerned about the irreversible environmental, health, and social impacts this development would impose on our region.
Adding 500 truck per day to the roads which are already dangerous, in snow traffic session, is crazy and irresponsible. It will result in additional fatalities and potential members of our community getting killed.
Families bought properties in Royalla due to the quiet rural lifestyle building, an industrial quarry like this, in the centre of Royalla will destroy this.
The high winds at Royalla are well known and no amount of containment will prevent the deadly silica dust polluting our houses and nearby Condor and Thedore posing serious health issues to all residents.
“Enough is Enough” we already have two quarries near Royalla with the Williamsdale Road and Old Cooma Road quarries. Both existing quarries apparently have years of capacity left. We don’t need another one and this new proposal is just a profiteering exercise by Monaro Rock.
Despite claims of community engagement, the overwhelming sentiment among residents is opposition. No amount of mitigation or compromise can make this project acceptable.
Conclusion
The Monaro Rock Quarry Project is incompatible with the values, health, and future of Royalla and its surrounding communities. It puts the lives of residents at serious risk and I urge decision-makers to reject this proposal and prioritise the wellbeing of residents over industrial expansion.
Sincerely,
Pat Dredge
Resident
Royalla, NSW

Richard Lindsay
59 Whisperer Place Royalla, NSW 260 23/09/2025
NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
Re: Objection to the Proposed Monaro Rock Quarry, Royalla
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am a resident of Royalla, and I am writing to strongly object to the proposed Monaro Rock quarry. My family and I chose to live in Royalla because of its clean environment, peaceful rural lifestyle, and strong sense of community. This quarry threatens all of that, and I ask that NSW Planning reject the application on the following grounds.
Personal and Community Impacts
1.
Health and Dust Concerns As residents, we will be directly exposed to silica dust generated by blasting and crushing. Silica is known to cause serious long-term health conditions, including silicosis. Dust does not stay within quarry boundaries — it will travel to nearby homes like mine, coating surfaces, contaminating rainwater tanks, and posing risks to my children, neighbours, and animals.
2.
Noise, Blasting and Vibration Quarry blasting and crushing operations will shatter the peace of our community. Vibrations can cause property damage, including cracks in homes, while also distressing livestock, pets, and horses — animals many residents, including my family, rely on for our way of life. Constant industrial noise will rob Royalla of its quiet rural character.
3.
Operating Hours and Amenity Impacts The proposed quarry intends to operate six days per week, with product despatch from 5:00am to 6:00pm. This schedule means trucks and industrial activity will begin before dawn most mornings, creating unacceptable noise and disturbance for residents of the housing estate that directly borders the proposed site. Early morning truck movements, reversing alarms, and heavy machinery will disrupt sleep, family life, and wellbeing.
4.
Traffic and Safety Risks An estimated 200 fully-laden quarry trucks per day will travel along the Monaro Highway and Old Cooma Road. As a Royalla resident, I already see traffic risks in the area. The increase in heavy trucks will make our local roads more dangerous, particularly for families, cyclists, and school buses. The dust and diesel emissions from these trucks will also harm our air quality and road safety.
5.
Water Impacts on Local Residents Like many in Royalla, I rely on rainwater tanks and groundwater. The quarry proposes to extract groundwater, which risks lowering the water table and drying up existing bores. Stormwater and wastewater from the quarry will run into Tuggeranong Creek and
eventually into Lake Tuggeranong, degrading water quality and creating downstream pollution issues for residents and the broader community.
6.
Biodiversity and Habitat Loss The quarry would clear approximately 22 hectares of critically endangered box-gum grassy woodland, along with 78 hectares of vegetation. This land is home to hundreds of plant and animal species. As a resident, I value the biodiversity and natural beauty of this area — it is part of what makes Royalla special. The destruction of this habitat is both permanent and unnecessary.
7.
Amenity and Property Values I invested in Royalla because of its unique lifestyle and environment. If the quarry goes ahead, property values will drop, the peaceful amenity of our homes will be destroyed, and residents like myself will be left to live with the constant impacts of dust, noise, heavy traffic, and early morning disruption.
Conclusion
As someone who calls Royalla home, I urge NSW Planning to listen to the residents who will live with the consequences of this quarry every single day. The cumulative impacts — dust, noise, traffic, biodiversity loss, water risks, and reduced amenity — are too great.
For these reasons, I respectfully request that the proposed Monaro Rock quarry be refused.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Lindsay
Royalla Resident

Please see our submission outlined in the attached PDF document

I object to the proposal on the following bases:
1. Incomplete engagement / consultation
I own a property neighbouring the proposed development. At no stage have I received any correspondence or contact from the proponent or any party acting for the proponent. No letters, no emails, no phone calls. I have two residences within 500m of the site, both of which will be heavily impacted, even on the proponent's modest reports on dust, noise and visuals. To find out about this consultation process a matter of days before it closes, with thousands of pages of reports to review, is inadequate and unjust.
2. Impacts on residents
It appears that much of the EIS focusses on the impact of the project on residents in Royalla and surrounds. As the closest party to the blast site, I can find no mention of any assessment on the impacts to the residences on my property. The assessment is therefore incomplete and inadequate.
3. Social and Economic Impact
The Canberra-Bombala railway line is a very short distance (some 200m) from the project site, the Melrose Nature Park is approximately 650m from the site and the Tuggeranong Pines is a just over one kilometre away. Each of these are significant recreational areas for the local community, with the latter holding state sporting events. A significant quarry in close proximity to these recreational areas compromises their utility and there is no mention in the EIS of the resulting social and economic impacts.
4. Housing
The state of NSW is wrestling with what is arguably the biggest housing crisis in its history. The NSW State Government has recognised the inadequacies of various regional plans and housing strategies that underpin the supply of housing in NSW. An assessment of this project against existing and dated plans and strategies is not sufficient. The extremely close proximity of this project to existing residences in Canberra and Queanbeyan-Palerang demands a detailed assessment of the future housing needs in this area, and a cross-border plan for dealing with future housing needs. The site is geographically centred between the high-density communities of Jerrabomberra/South Jerrabomberra, Googong, and Tuggeranong. It is inconceivable that the area that includes and surrounds the site will not be suitable for future residential development. At a time when the State's housing supply is in crisis, future housing supply should not be compromised.
5. Watercourses
The project is located at the headwaters of Monks Creek and Dunns Creek, both of which ultimately flow to the Murrumbidgee River. There has been significant public and private investment in improving water quality in the immediate area of Monks and Dunns creeks, for the benefit of the entire catchment. While there will likely be sediment traps on the site, the terrain and proximity of the extraction site to its property boundary means that sediment runoff will be inevitable, and this will compromise water quality in the catchment. This issue has not been adequately addressed in the EIS.
6. Noise and dust intrusion
As mentioned in section 2 (above) there are noise and dust impacts to my property, but the extraction of 1m tonnes of hard rock aggregates each year, and the more than 5000 blastholes that facilitate this extraction, will have a devastating impact on large numbers of residents, especially those in the Tuggeranong Valley. As residents of the ACT, the NSW Major Projects consultation process has not adequately engaged the community around Tuggeranong. The process is unfamiliar and the consultation has not reached the Tuggeranong Canberra community. Good planning outcomes do not stop at state borders and there are critical cross-border issues raised by this project, not least of which are the environmental ones.

Given the lack of notification and direct engagement with me as a heavily impacted neighbour, I request additional time to engage professional advice to assist my further consideration of this matter.

Please see my Submission attachment below, I strongly object to this Project.

As proposed, the traffic and road implications are significant and show scant regard to the fact that Googong is a rapidly growing township.
As its population grows, so will the number of vehicles traversing Old Cooma Rd, especially to and from the north.
The existing quarry adjacent Old Cooma Rd already causes enough issues with trucks having to cross northbound lanes and entering from the quarry at high speed and showing no regard for other vehicles.
Project proponents, and the QPRC, would do well to heed the lessons from the Greta bus accident in 2023 - regulators, road planners and the designers of that roundabout are now being sued for the contributions their failures made to that accident which claimed many lives. Local authorities may be sued for malfeasance, and they owe a duty of care to residents and road users in their planning decisions.
Unless a more satisfactory arrangement can be made to avoid the 500 per day truck movemts that will be added to traffic on Old Cooma Rd, this project should not be allowed to proceed.

Please see the attached file

I support this proposal as I live in Royalla and currently live unaffected by other similar types of operations, from a needs point of view I believe competition is needed as the current Holcim quarry on old Cooma road is supplying Downer Asphalt plant in Hume with material from its Albion Park quarry which is 220 km away as the Holcim quarry on Old Cooma road is unable to supply inspec quality product this quarry is near the end of its effective life.

This industry is well regulated with the Mines department the EPA and DPHI all more than capable of controlling such a development like this.

I support this project

Personally I have health problems and the added amount of dust, potentially silica dust is concerning. Please find another hill to dig up, somewhere where it not going to have such an impact on us all.

Please refer to the attached submission.