Sancrox Quarry Expansion Project

Submission attached outlining basis of my objection to the proposal

I DO NOT wish to see this project approved based on
1/ This quarry is near its original life expectancy to end and have been anticipating this, also this project is not a extension on the current but a new mine with extra activities put in it being a crushing plant, concrete batching plant and asphalt production plant running 24/7.
2/ This company owns other high quality deposits in this area as well and a new quarry has recently been approved near this deposit, this is another option to pursue.
3/ Hanson states that it will not affect or impact any existing local land uses, this is a huge mistruth and one of many out of there EIS, my home is on the south west boundary side of the proposed pit on Le Clos SANCROX road and other houses are within 300 meters and very easily be subjected to noise, dust, vibration and smells, no mention of the high speed rail proposal that goes through the middle of the pit, no mention of the fact that it will be situated on medium to high use koala habitat, no mention is made of the fact a key Endangered Biological Community Corridor identified in previous investigations of the Greater SANCROX Area runs through the middle of the new quarry.
4/ 43 hectares of native vegetation is to be cleared and that The Greater SANCROX Area Structure Plan ( Port Macquarie Hasting Council, 2014 ) identified the land as medium to high koala habitat. Recently the Draft Coastal Koala Plan Of Management 2018 (CKPOM ) produced by PMHC identifies the area as core Koala habitat.
5/ This multi national company cannot be trusted with there environment record being fined $ 15,000 by the EPA in 2016 for breaches of water management operational obligations. ( Refer EPA 24/03/2016 )
6/ Increased truck movements 24/7 will be detrimental to local road conditions and safety, also my sister has already been hit by a quarry truck.
7/ There is a significant residential development proposed very close to the extension of the mine boundary that will put it close to homes. These residential developments are very important to the Port Macquarie region and is a sought after area for living, they should not be put at risk by this development of a new Quarry, (Mine).
8/ How can the mitigation measures be truly affective and based on what ? I have been previously employed at a hard rock mine as a blast hole driller and am fully aware of the impacts and what they can have with a pit proposal this size.
9/ The future of the Greater SANCROX Area to provide a suitable clean residential living precinct will be highly impacted by this development proposal.

We object to the removal of 43 hectares of habitat for fauna and flora, especially in the light of the recent severe bushfires. These fires have burnt through hundreds of thousands of hectares and have resulted in the deaths of many animals and the loss, permanent in some cases, of habitat for threatened fauna. We ask that this development be rejected. Port Macquarie Hastings Council has rightly voted for a pause on this development. The attachment below outlines our objections.

There has been much destruction of wildlife habitat, mainly for subdivision for new housing estates, in & around Port Macquarie. This depletion of forested land has had a serious impact on a wide range of native animals, with Koala being being the most noticeable. Recent bush fires within prime habitat has made preservation of existing habitat areas even more critically important.
Clearance for commercial & developers purposes benefit only those developers & businesses not the greater community. Financial return appears to take priority over the wider benefits of preserving our environment for the future. With the advancing changes to our climate, removal of forest can only have further negative impact.

See attached letter of objection

Due to Koala Habitat being destroyed - which is identified as medium to high activity koala activity, would be devastating.

Pleas find my submission in opposition to the Sancrox Quarry Expansion Project

Attention: Director - Coal and Quarry Assessments
Planning and Assessment
Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
GPO Box 39, Sydney NSW 2001
Re: Public Submission for SSD – 7293
Name: Frank Dennis
Address: 319 Plomer Rd, Port Macquarie, 2444
Applicant: Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd and Application No: SSD – 7293 Sancrox Quarry Expansion Project
I submit my objections to the above development application.
Appended as PDF document

Keith and Elizabeth Charles
192 Rawdon Island Road
Sancrox 24463

3 December 2019

https/www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/project/9946

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
GPO Box 39
Sydney NSW 2001

Dear Sir/Madame

Public Submission for SSD-7293, Sancrox Quarry Expansion Project

We strongly object to the application to expand the Sancrox Quarry.

We live on Rawdon Island Road and own land in Bengal Street Sancrox. Both our properties are seriously affected by the Sancrox Quarry proposed extension.

• We have been anticipating the closure of Sancrox Quarry for several years
• There is already increased local traffic due to the expanded Expressway Spares and Hands Engineering. Both Sancrox and Rawdon Island Road are very unsuitable roads to cater for trucks and heavy traffic flow, especially truck and dog vehicles, these roads are designed for light rural traffic. It is already too dangerous a road to walk, ride a bike or a horse safely, the roads are too narrow. There is very little maintenance carried out on these roads and little line marking. Both cars and trucks venture on to the wrong side of the road especially on the sweeping bend at the bottom of our property.
• We object to the Quarry and proposed increased traffic, both heavy and light vehicles as it poses a safety risk to us our family and our friends. It means that resident traffic is competing with these heavy vehicles and increased traffic.
• We understand that by allowing the quarry to extend it involves clearing 43.1 hectares of native forest vegetation, with .55 ha identified as the threatened ecological community Subtropical coastal flood plain forest, this would cause serious and irreversible environmental damage.
• We understand that the application involves a quarry operation on different land to the existing approved operation.
• We object to the clearing of land, both as to the visual view of landscape scarring as well as native animal habitat.
• We object to the risk to buildings from blasting vibrations, once again this is a rural lifestyle area that does not need blasting of the earth.
• We object to the noise pollution due to blasting.
• We also understand that Flyrock may occur during blasting; we do not accept this risk.


Yours faithfully

Keith and Elizabeth Charles

I wish to submit my objection to the above development application. The following submission has been lodged already and I fully agree with the content and support the statements. The proponent’s application and EIS is inaccurate and flawed. I believe that any and all of my submissions below are just reasons for halting this development and the application should be rejected.

Attached is my submission.
Also attached are pics of our property adjoining the proposed site and pics of our horticultural operation.

We object to the expansion of this project on environmental grounds. Particularly in light of the recent bushfires and devastation to natural environment of NSW mid north coast. Please see attachment for further comments.

Objection made on the grounds of
-completely inadequate community consultation
- proposal will involve clearing valuable koala habitat this is particularly disgraceful considering the bushfire crisis and threat to this endangered species as a result of nearby bushfires
- carbon emissions associated with this proposal place an unacceptable risk to our communities safety
- increasing industrial use of water is inappropriate in a period of drought and climate change
- noise and dust and health impacts from same are unacceptable for this residential location
- unacceptable biodiversity loss from cutting down native forest
- will reduce amenity and house value for neighbouring properties
Anyone who approves this project should be ashamed of themselves.

My name is Lyn Ward and I am a resident of Thrumster that works from home.
I wish to make a formal objection to the proposed Sancrox Quarry Expansion.
The quarry development is approximately 6km west of Port Macquarie and one kilometre from my home. My surrounding residential development will be directly affected by the increased environmental impact of the proposed quarry expansion. The Sancrox area has already had a substantial increase in noise (24/7), due to the upgrading of the highway to the motorway. Despite noise mitigation measures, the rural ambience is already reduced and any extra noise generation, especially at night, will only make it worse. Sleeping at night with our windows open is already hard with the sound of trucks screaming up the highway. The noise impact of a 24 hour, 7 days a week operation is particularly concerning. There will be no respite from constant noisy plant and equipment.
We moved to Port Macquarie as part of our retirement plans. This area was chosen because of its proximity to our nearby hinterlands and quick access up and down the coast to accommodate our love of travelling.
Please reconsider this proposal for the benefit of the this young and developing community

Regards

Lyn Ward

My name is Sue Bilton and we have recently moved to this beautiful area to get away from the big cities and live a more sustainable peaceful life.
I wish to make a formal objection to the proposed Sancrox Quarry Expansion.
Specific issues relating to Loss of Koala habitat.
The recent catastrophic bushfires in NSW have resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of hectares of bushland habitat and hundreds of koalas. Injured and now homeless koalas may migrate to, or have to be moved onto, the proposed development site. It is unbelievable that proponent wishes to clear a viable patch of intact koala habitat when so much habitat in the region has been recently lost to fire.
The Greater Sancrox Structure Plan (Port Macquarie Hastings Council, 2014), identifies a portion of the the land to be cleared as medium to high activity koala habitat. The Urban Growth Management Strategy 2017-2036(PMHC 2017) classifies the area as a ‘medium biodiversity asset/constraint’ and identifies that the site could provide a ‘major conceptual habitat link’. The Draft Coastal Koala Plan of Management 2018 (CKPOM) produced by PMHC identifies the area as core koala habitat. The clearing also destroys an identified critical link needed to maintain vegetation connectivity for animal movement.
Project area falls directly within a sub-regional biodiversity corridor. It is absurd to suggest that the loss of vegetation in the project area will not result in habitat fragmentation or the loss of connectivity between the proposed offset area and the remaining vegetation south of the project area. The figures in Appendix E of the Biodiversity Assessment are incomplete – widths are missing, and they seem to suggest that Connecting Link 2 will persist despite the clearance of all vegetation and the presence of machinery. The removal of the vegetation in the project area will effectively isolate fauna that remain in the proposed offset area and the disconnection the offset area will greatly reduce its ecological viability.

Please see attached Submission.

A mining project of this size is not appropriate for the location.
In the many years since the quarry was first commenced, the growth in residential population of Port Macquarie has been significant, to the point where the quarry in its current operations is surrounded by newly-developing residential property and tourism-related businesses.
A small increase in the size of the current quarry should not cause too many problems, but this proposal is to triple the size of the existing quarry and increase its operation to 24hrs per day with all the accompanying adverse impacts on local residential amenity.
There are issues with water supply and the potential impact on groundwater that are not adequately addressed by the EIS.
There are massive environmental problems that the EIS does not adequately address - including the proposed destruction of up to 60Ha of core kola habitat in a significant regional wildlife corridor. Our local koala population and its habitat has been decimated since the recent bushfires, and more loss of habitat will have disastrous long-term impacts on the local koala population.
A large mine with concrete batching plant and bitumen manufacturing facility operating 24hrs per day is not an appropriate development to be located right in the middle of the fastest growing residential area in one of the fastest growing regional LGA's in NSW.

Please refer to my attached PDF file for submission

I object to the proposed Sandcrox Quarry expansion for a number of very important reasons.

At a time when we are seeing the completely unsustainable rate and scale of land clearing, and the local area has been so devastated by fires this year already, we cant afford to lose the trees and habitat at Sandcrox. The proposed clearing of 43.1 Hectares of Koala Habitat is unacceptable and would have such a devastating impact on threatened ecological communities.

The Port Macquarie region is expanding rapidly. This development is in the Sancrox area, approximately 6km west of Port Macquarie, which is undergoing significant residential development that will be directly affected by the increased environmental impact of this quarry expansion.

The Sancrox area has already had a substantial increase in noise (24/7), due to the upgrading of the highway to a motorway. Despite noise mitigation measures, the rural ambience is already reduced and any extra noise generation, especially at night, will only make it worse.

Finally, the process of this development approval is not acceptable and the fact that State Governement, not Local Council, assess this Development Application is very inappropriate and concerning. On 20.11.19 Councillors of PMHC unanimously agreed on their own URGENT Submissions to the State Government highlighting very serious issues including:

lack of transparent consultation with the broader community;

indequacy and lack of integrity of the Environmenal Impact Statement and

community concerns with multiple aspects of the proposed project


Sincerely

Lauren Edwards

Submission attached