Monaro Rock Quarry Project

Please find attached a submission from the Jerrabomberra Residents Association.

Please find attached submission against the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry

I am a retired Landscape Architect with over 50 years of working experience on projects in the ACT NSW and VIC.
Experience included a full range of project types and a full range of size and scale of landscape planning and development, visual assessments and community based projects.

NO QUARRY - SAVE ENCHANTED HILL - THIS IS INSANE.

Objection to Proposed Quarry
Dear Member,
I am writing to formally object to the proposed quarry development.
As a local resident and parent of two young children, I am deeply concerned about the serious impact this development would have on the health, safety, and overall wellbeing of families in the area.
1. Traffic and Road Safety
The increase in heavy vehicle traffic, particularly large quarry trucks on our already busy and often narrow dual roads, poses a significant risk to residents. These roads are not designed to handle such volumes or sizes of industrial traffic.
One of my children is due to begin learning to drive shortly, and the prospect of navigating alongside large quarry trucks is deeply worrying. The potential for accidents increases with the addition of slow-moving, heavy vehicles on routes used daily by families, school traffic, and young, inexperienced drivers. The risk to life is simply too great.
2. Health Impacts – Silica Dust
Another major concern is the generation of silica dust from quarry operations. Silica is a known health hazard, particularly dangerous to children whose lungs are still developing. Airborne silica dust can travel significant distances and be inhaled even by those not in close proximity to the site. With two young children, I cannot accept the risk this poses to their long-term health.
There are also concerns about dust affecting nearby homes, gardens, and public spaces — reducing air quality and negatively impacting our standard of living.
3. Impact on Community and Lifestyle
Beyond the health and safety risks, the quarry would also fundamentally change the character of our community. Increased noise, vibrations from heavy machinery, early morning operations, and dust pollution will make it a far less pleasant and healthy environment to raise a family.
I urge the council to consider the lasting consequences this development would have on residents — particularly children — and to reject the quarry proposal in the interest of public health, road safety, and environmental responsibility.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Kylie Slade

Areas of Objection:
1. A large area (approx 22.5 hectares) of natural vegetation will be destroyed. Also a great number of flora and fauna, many hundreds of species will be endangered.
2. Dust carried by the prevailing westerly winds( particularly silica dust) will be deposited on house buildings, rainwater tanks, swimming pools, water drinking infrastructure, including school facilities, contamination of home produced vegetables.

3. Traffic will be a major concern due the huge increase in haulage heavy vehicles. Increased travelling times will be an issue for commuters, including drop off for school. This will also have a damaging effect on the state of the roads due to the weight of vehicles. Noise pollution of heavy haulage vehicles using air brakes will be huge, also going up hill on Old Cooma Rd and Monaro highway.
4. Proximity to residents is a vital point. Approximately 50,000 residents who live within 10 km will be affected. There have been a number of studies conducted from quarries in the US of huge contamination with health issues being highlighted of early deaths and subsequent closing of such mining facilities.
5. Ground Water extraction of some 40 million litrers will be needed for dust suppression, as well as, production of concrete and asphalt . This will not only affect water to catchment areas (e.g. Googong dam) but will impinge on local watrer courses. Also local residents dams will lose their water supply.

I strongly object to the proposal for the Monaro rock quarry, asphalt plant and concrete recycling due to the negative impact it will have on the environment, the local community, and the overall well-being of our region.
We bought our property in 2019 for the semi rural peaceful, clean air, and tranqil environments away from industrial areas. We have been told that you cant do this with you land. I have found out the jumped council rules and regulation and we all have to abide by and went to federal law. This is really sad that they can even do that. Had i have know we would never have moved our life from here to live our Royalla dream. We love Royalla the way it is. Its unique and should be considered prestige.
The development of the quarry creates risks for the native wildlife habitats, increases dust and noise pollution, and a massive rise in heavy vehicles on rural roads poses a safety hazard, reducing the quality of life for all nearby residents. Therefore, such industrial activity threatens the natural landscape, and it can also affect the local water sources, the agricultural land, and the cultural heritage sites.
Health issues, in royalla we have huge winds that travel through and the silica dust will become more of a problem. We already have more than enough quarries in the area. I am at riskm of lung health issues and the harm of silica dust can make this worse for me. I get bronchitis and asthma from my environment already. I worry about these effects on my lungs.
Heavy traffic. Whether its the proposed 150 or the 500 movements a day from the EIS. There is already a huge impact on Old Cooma Rd and pot hole issues, trucks driving in the wrong lane and these roads being small. The company said that it part of a code a conduct not to use this road. How do they stop them. I have teenagers getting licence and the forseeable 500 trucks a day is frightening with an increase of accidents and safety issues to all of us. Who pays for all the road maintance will it be the property owners in our council rate as we have already had huge increases. I feel its also dangerous for monaro highway to be an exit rd turing right out of it especially with all the snow traffic.
Water table- we use boar water and are worried about the consequence of the proposal and them affecting out water table.
This proposal is both harmful to the community and the environment therefore, it should not move forward. We are also concerned it will affect our property values of our houses. Since the quarry met people in 2021 and addressed the community. People have been highly concerned and moved away from the area and their dreams. I dont want this to be us. I want to keep Royalla the way it is.

We act for Sandra Walsh, the owner of 223A Alderson Place Tralee NSW 2620, which is comprised of a number of lots including Lot 151 in DP754912, her most southernmost paddock. Our client operates a significant sheep farming enterprise with approximately 700 sheep grazing freely across her land. She has managed this operation solely since 1993.

We are writing on behalf of our client to formally object to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry Project proposal (SSD-27223807) currently on exhibition on the NSW Planning Portal. Under this proposal, Monaro Rock Pty Ltd seeks development consent to establish a new hard rock quarry in Royalla on land located adjacent to the ACT/NSW border, approximately 5km north of the intersection of Monaro Highway and Old Cooma Road.

In my client's view, the Application is in its current form is unacceptable and should not be supported as it will cause unreasonable noise, air quality, water, and visual amenity impacts—not only to her land being within an environmental conservation zone, but also to the surrounding community. In addition, the Project is wholly incompatible with its surroundings and the local area.

Attached to this submission is our client's formal objection to the Project. We ask that you take these matters into consideration when considering the subject application.

Dear NSW Planning Authority,

I wish to lodge my objection to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry Project (SSD-27223807).

This quarry will have significant negative impacts on the local community and the broader region. The health, environmental, and economic consequences of the project far outweigh the limited benefits. In particular:

Health impacts: Increased dust, noise, and traffic from quarry operations will pose long-term health risks to residents, especially in a growing community.

Environmental impacts: The quarry threatens to degrade the natural landscape, damage local ecosystems, and contribute to ongoing environmental pressures in the region.

Economic impacts: The projected benefit of approximately 30 jobs is minimal compared to the potential decline in property values, amenity, and the attractiveness of the area for sustainable economic activity such as tourism and agriculture.

The application also fails to properly account for the growing size of the community and relies on poor assessment assumptions that understate the true scale of the impact.

For these reasons, I strongly object to the Monaro Rock Quarry Project and urge the NSW Government to reject this development application in the interests of protecting the health, environment, and long-term prosperity of the region

A good project to assist the region's continued improvement and expansion.

Dear NSW Planning Authority,

I wish to lodge my objection to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry Project (SSD-27223807).

This quarry will have significant negative impacts on the local community and the broader region. The health, environmental, and economic consequences of the project far outweigh the limited benefits. In particular:

Health impacts: Increased dust, noise, and traffic from quarry operations will pose long-term health risks to residents, especially in a growing community.

Environmental impacts: The quarry threatens to degrade the natural landscape, damage local ecosystems, and contribute to ongoing environmental pressures in the region.

Economic impacts: The projected benefit of approximately 30 jobs is minimal compared to the potential decline in property values, amenity, and the attractiveness of the area for sustainable economic activity such as tourism and agriculture.

The application also fails to properly account for the growing size of the community and relies on poor assessment assumptions that understate the true scale of the impact.

For these reasons, I strongly object to the Monaro Rock Quarry Project and urge the NSW Government to reject this development application in the interests of protecting the health, environment, and long-term prosperity of the region

Please see the attached letter.

I am a current student aged 14 I live less than 5 kilometre away from where they would like to build the quarry.i strongly believe the quarry should not be built for many reasons but because there are so many I am only going to give a few. The first reason is because it could cause harm to not only my family but people living in near it. The quarry will cause a huge amount of dust,noise and traffic they are just a couple of this that could impact everyone. The dust will blow everywhere even into Googong potentially causing harm to students at my school and googong public school some kids have serious asthma and having dust blow around while playing outside during break could be life threatening because it could cause asthma attacks .The noise will have a massive impact on humans and animals as it will scare animals away causing animals to relocate further away and it can also cause damage to our ears not only that.The main reasons people move away from towns and cities IS BECAUSE OF THE NOISE putting a quarrying right next to where lots of people live is defeating the whole purpose of country lifestyle.Not only with all of that impact us but the traffic will impact many people not only people in Googong but people that don’t live in this area.old cooma road is a extremely busy road putting trucks on it will create longer drive time for people to get from Googong,Queanbeyan,Jerrabomberra to Canberra this will impact many and potentially even emergency services that use that road to get to place quickly.The quarry will impact the glossy black cockatoo’s that are engaged they are a key part of Canberra and Googong area and them leaving will destroy the eco system and the environment.Not only will the dust impacts us it will impact the planes flying over the dust could block there vision and ruin the view for passengers looking over the wonderful country land.The quarry will cause serious problems. we have survived so long without ruining our wonderful environment why ruin it now.If we want to keep people happy safe and healthy I strongly believe the quarry shouldn’t go there. Not only this but there is suspicion people that own Monaro mix sold one of there houses in Royalla because it’s close to where they want to build the quarry showing that they have no empathy for other and only care about themselves. im a 14 year old whoever makes this decision should know that they are not only making it for everyone now they are making this decision for the future generation (me ) I hope you know that we are not going down with a easy fight.

I am a long term resident of chisholm in the ACT and I have real concerns about the potential health impacts of this project, particularly damage to my health from dust being blown from the quarry across the tuggeranong valley.
The quarry should not be established because it is too close to residential areas.

Please find attached the submission for UMLC that opposes the Monaro Rock Quarry.

As a family living in the Tuggeranong valley of ACT I object to this planning due to the health impacts on my family. Multiple members of my family have asthma, allergies and are immunocompromised. This project will have serious health implications on my family whom are residents of ACT housing and do not have the ability to move away due to complicated disabilities. The impact on possible noise and air pollution so close to residential areas is unrealistic and unsafe. I oppose the proposal due to the health impacts to my family.

This project will bring unwanted attention to this area and its surrounds. The movement of not just humans but of trucks and machinery will be detrimental to the surrounding landscapes and its occupants. The noise and business will disrupt day to day lives of working civilians whilst causing other economical factors such as house price decreasing and tax money being spent on roads and other infrastructure needed to complete this project. People’s commute to work as well as general road safety is also implicated during this project, in a time we yearn for 0 road deaths what we don’t need is hundreds of extra trucking trips daily.

My family and I strongly oppose the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry. The increased trucks poses a safety risk, as well as the detriment to wildlife and the potential health risks involved to residents of Royalla; including my family.

I am deeply concerned about the proposed development of a quarry in Royalla. I am a resident of nearby Michelago and this development will impact on me and my family personally.

We commute via the Monaro Hwy or Old Cooma Road to Canberra and/or Cooma almost every day to access shops, healthcare, daycare, work and other services. An additional 250 trucks per day on these roads is not sustainable. Monaro Hwy is already quite congested and very dangerous. There are frequent car accidents and most of the road is single lane with no emergency lane. Wildlife are regularly hit by motorists in the area between Royalla and Canberra. I am worried about safety and also increased commute times for my family and community.

I am extremely concerned about the use of groundwater for the quarry's operations. We utilise bore water on our property for our livestock and gardens and a development of that size and scale may impact on the availability of water in shared aquifers. I am concerned also about potential contamination of groundwater.

The impacts of the quarry on biodiversity is very concerning. I have a great appreciation for critically endangered box gum grassy woodland in our region and the incredible species that inhabit the ecological community. I understand that the development will impact more than 300 species of flora and fauna. I want my children to grow up knowing the beauty of our local grassy woodlands. The destruction of 22ha of critically endangered habitat and 78ha of vegetation overall is unacceptable. This is particularly the case given the site's zoning - C2 (environmental conservation) and RU2 (rural landscape).

I feel a strong sense of empathy for Royalla residents who will be subjected to silica exposure and noise from blasting and crushing. I am also concerned about the impacts on their livestock and equines.

My understanding is that there are 4 existing quarries within 30 km of the site. Consequently, there is no justification for adding another site at such a huge environmental expense and impact to local communities.

As a mother, I am very concerned the 18 schools within 17km of the site. It is so important for children to be able to learn and play in a safe environment free from toxic silica exposure. My own children will attend high school within that radius and I know that the development will impact the region for many decades.

In conclusion, I do not think that such a development is justified in the context of the significant environmental, health and safety impacts for residents in the region. There are already 3 quarries in the region which are more than capable of serving the construction industry in Canberra and surrounding areas of NSW. We must not let corporate greed get in the way of sensible planning decisions that put communities first.

I am very concerned about the Monaro Rock Quarry project. I live nearby in Banks and its proximity to my home and many others is worrying me. My concerns include the vast number of trucks, the noise, the air pollution especially the silica dust and other particulate matter and fumes, the land degradation, the water pollution in Tuggeranong, and the drop in house prices. I am also concerned about the environment and the destruction of the native plants and wildlife, and also the proximity to the tree of immense Aboriginal cultural significance. Please do not build this quarry and asphalt and concrete manufacturing plant.