Stone Ridge Quarry Project

The noise, vibration & dust impacts on my family & community will be massive
the roads are in very bad shape around the existing quarry, the trucks turning on the intersection of the Pacific Highway & Italia Road is already extremely dangerous. If this is approved the intersection will become a death trap
when the existing quarry does a blast we see & smell the dust & it shakes our home & we feel the vibration
If this quarry goes ahead we would be seeking compensation for ducted airconditioning, double glazed windows & doors, insulation etc
we live our lives around the existing quarry we get woken up at 5:30 went they start with the reversing beeper, gravel going into the bins, front end loader revving up & the scaping of the ground & every gear change of the trucks going up the pit. The same at the end of the day we can't go to bed till after 10pm for all the same reasons. This is only an 8 hour break, shift workers are entitled
to a 10hour break & we don't even get that in our own home.
if this mine is approved for 24 hours it will have a major effect on our health & quality of life, sleep deprivation etc.
we live here for the lifestyle that living in a rural area brings & we do not support any new quarries or any changes to the existing quarries conditions.
we live in this area for the native animals that also call this area home the Koalas, Kangaroos, possums etc. There is a large koala habitat area & this will affect the koala population in this area
surely the resident in these areas should be entitled to some quality of life or is it another case of money for big business is more important than peoples biggest investment in life their home, which property values will be affected

I object to this project on the inadequate assessment of the traffic impacts
See attached document.

RESPONSE TO STONE RIDGE QUARRY EIS
TRANSPORT
The road transport of quarry products from the proposed ARDG Stone Ridge Quarry as well as the cumulative effect of the other quarries (Boral East Seaham, Eagleton Quarry, & Hanson’s Brandy Hill Quarry) within minutes of the proposed Stone Ridge Quarry is an issue that affects local residents of Balickera, East Seaham, Seaham and surrounding areas, as well as all road users beyond just the intersection of Italia Road and the Pacific Highway.
This has not been dealt with in the EIS for Stone Ridge Quarry.
The volume of existing and future truck movements along already congested roads in the Lower Hunter and into Sydney to the points of both dispatch and where they will be used is already threatening the safe and attractive life-style and the environment of this semi-rural area by way of noise, pollution from heavy vehicle emissions and carriage way dust.
ARDG’s Stone Quarry’s submission of 344 truck movements per day COMBINED with Boral’s East Seaham Quarry’s current and future movements in relation to its application to extend its current operations TOGETHER with the truck movements from Hanson’s Brandy Hill Quarry (when it has business north of Raymond Terrace or Seaham Road is closed) will enhance existing congestion; noise and pollution from diesel particulate. Eagleton Rock Quarry Pty Ltd has yet to lodge its application and declare its truck movements. Boral East Seaham Quarry proposes “maximum production rate of 2 million tonnes per annum” that could be over 400 truck movements per annum. So, within a short period of time there would be +1,000 truck movements along a local country road and at the intersection of Italia Road and Pacific Highway.

To get the trucks of 4 quarries (Boral’s East Seaham, ARDG’s Stone Ridge, Hanson’s Brandy Hill and Eagleton Quarry) off Italia Road and the Pacific Highway there should be a freight only rail spur line installed between Hexham and East Seaham.

Such rail spur lines are used to haul quarry products into Sydney from the south of Sydney and from the coal mines in the Hunter to the Port of Newcastle. Of note is the Gun Lake Quarry decision and the LEC Conditions of Consent_2017_108663 is section 29, about a 10-yearly review of rail alternatives.

Rail must be used once the volume bound for Sydney exceeds a combined threshold for ALL quarries in the Seaham/ East Seaham/ Karuah and Balickera and associated areas including the trucks from the sand mines located in Port Stephens Council which use the Pacific Highway. Any quarry in the local area should pay a contribution to NSW Government, for the eventual provision of a rail line to service ALL quarries in the area including Karuah and Brandy Hill eg $1/tonne or more OR agree to build a private rail freight line at their expense.

The quarries have a life of +30 years and will make millions of dollars so the cost of a spur line is affordable and economical when road congestion, pollution, noise and dust as well as ongoing road repairs are considered.

Until a rail spur lie is built then (1) no haulage trucks from any quarry should use the western end of Italia Road for arrivals or departures, unless servicing local jobs along local roads.
(2) Only left turns should be made out of Italia Road and no right turns for ALL trucks, requiring the slip/acceleration lane to join northbound highway traffic, and a 180 degree turn at the next interchange if heading south. Local residents should still be able to turn right off Italia Road on to Pacific Highway and not be delayed by slow moving trucks.
(3) There should be only left turns into Italia road from the northbound lane of the Pacific Highway and no right turns southbound across northbound traffic on the Pacific Highway for ALL trucks, requiring a similar extended deceleration/turning lane from the south.
(4) When Seaham Road, East Seaham Road and Clarence Town Road are closed due to flooding and Italia Road is the only local road open then ALL truck movements along Italia Road should cease until these Roads are open.

HOURS OF OPERATION

The needs of the local community and the needs of industry must be balanced for the welfare and harmony of the community. For quarries to operate within daylight hours is fair and reasonable. That is 10 hours (Winter) and 12 hours (Summer) for 5 or 6 days per week of daylight hours only. These hours of operation should apply to ALL current and future quarries in the area.

The cumulative effect of Boral’s East Seaham Quarry and the proposed Stone Ridge Quarry and Eagleton Quarry operating beyond daylight hours, especially the noise of truck loading and crushing/screening, would be intolerable especially during enhanced meteorological conditions.

Conditions for transport and hours of operation should be consistent for Stone Ridge Quarry, Boral East Seaham Quarry and Hansons Brandy Hill Quarry and any future quarries in the area.

On the basis of the issues cited above I object to Stone Quarry Ridge.

I stand with the koalas who were found in the survey of 76ha of pristine koala habitat proposed to be clear-felled in the Wallaroo State Forest for a noisy, dusty, and explosive quarry. My family and I stand with the Hunter Community Environment Centre & KKEPS: Koala Koalition EcoNetwork Port Stephens in our strong objection to this.

Surely there are other places to mine where it doesn’t involve damaging habitat, wildlife and upsetting large communities. My family and I strongly disagree with this proposal.

Please find the NCEC Submission attached.

Respectfully yours,

Jimmy Malecki
Honorary Secretary for the NCEC
(02) 66619156

Stone Ridge Quarry Submission

To Whom It May Concern

I am involved with the Community Consultive Committee for this proposed quarry and I’m confident that any concerns raised by the community regarding fauna, flora, noise, dust, blasting and traffic will be addressed by the process of approval.

However, I would like to also point out the concerns that I have that the CCC have neglected to consider and that is the impacts caused with the delay in approving this proposed quarry.

The construction industry is desperate for these high-quality quarry materials. The state of NSW is trying to; rebuild roads after flooding and generate real economic positive value after unprecedented covid lockdowns and payments.

My project is ~1.5 km from the proposed quarry however because of a shortage of suitable materials, the closest source that had capacity was Karuah East Quarries ~22 km away. This added to the transport costs as well as the relatively higher prices due to the shortage of these high-quality materials. This higher than usual pricing will be passed on to my customers adding to inflationary pressures, etc. Now I understand that there are people in the community that don’t care about motorsport enthusiasts or those of us who want to enjoy their motor vehicles in a safe environment, but what about the environmental cost, this impacts everyone?

I have imported more than 66,000 tonnes of material from Karuah, and I still need at least a further 3,000 tonnes. Using the 30 tonnes per truck load as per the proponents’ estimates, totalling 2,200 truck loads which is 4,400 truck movements. So that is 96,800 km of trucks on the road. If you compare that to if I was able to source this material from the proposed quarry, it’s only 6,600 km. I’m sure someone will be able to calculate the environmental impact, but simply it’s more than 14 times what it should/could have been.

Please, hurry up and approve this proposed quarry, our state needs it and so does our environment.

Thank you

We live in Port Stephens and are writing to object to the Stone Ridge Quarry Project SSD. The reasons for our objection are outlined in the attachment.

See attached PDF letter

I use Italia Road on a regular basis to attend Aged Care Facility in Tea Gardens
I am concerned in regard to the impact of trucks coming from Italia Road
Cumulative of the other quarries opposite being Boral and Eagleton
State Forest being used and the impact it will have to the environment and wildlife within the area

Please see attached document in relation to my objection to the Stone Ridge Quarry Project.

It is really important for society, the local community and industry, and NSW that there are abundant and diversified supplies of construction materials available for personal, business and government building and landscaping projects. This Stone Ridge Quarry Project meets those objectives without an undue impost on the local community. I support that this project is approved and goes ahead.

OBJECTION
Application No SSD-10432

Stone Ridge Quarry
Corner of Italia Road and Hamburger Trail,
Within the Wallaroo State Forest
Balickera NSW 2324
Introduction
I have lived in Nelson Bay Port Stephens for over 25 years and seen first-hand the effect on the local roads of the large increase in sand trucks travelling along Nelson Bay Road eventually reaching the M1 Motorway.
In the past twelve months I have purchased a property at Stroud and frequently travel along Medowie Road, the M1 Motorway from the intersection of the Bucketts Way to Hexham and have become very aware of just how difficult and dangerous it is to use some of these intersections due to the amount of general traffic but particularly the increasing number of large trucks.
The threat of another 334 heavy vehicle movements per day from this proposal is very concerning.
Cumulative Impacts from truck movements

The proposal for Stone Ridge is expected to add another 1.5mtpa to be transported by road which equates to 334 heavy vehicle movements (inbound and outbound) per day.

I believe that this increase alone is enough to be of concern, it is easy to do a desk top study of ‘numbers’ but it is a totally different situation when you are actually driving with the family in a small vehicle trying to turn right onto the M1 motorway.

The prospect of the potential cumulative increase in truck movements if this proposal is approved together with the planned expansion of the Seaham Boral quarry opposite which is also proposed to increase to 1.5mtpa and the adjoining Eagleton quarry adding an additional 0.6mtpa will have a significant impact on the road system.

Combined with proposed quarries at Hillview Booral and Deep Creek at Limeburners Creek which will travel along the Bucketts Way, these 5 quarries will but extra strain on the intersection of the Bucketts Way and the Motorway.

Traffic from the Seaham quarries may only have to travel the short distance
along Italia Rd but will be forced to turn left on the Motorway and travel another 11 km north and then 11km back southward to safely do a U turn at the Karuah interchange. The two proposed quarries off the Bucketts Way will also have to travel north to the Karuah interchange compounding the problem.

The impact on the M1 intersections at Italia Road, Medowie Road and the Bucketts Way which are already unsafe intersections, will be significant, raising concerns from not just my family but the general community and even from the Federal MP David Gillespie (Newcastle Herald 27/7/2023).

The compounding effect of these hard rock trucks together with other nearby existing or proposed quarries (Brandy Hill, Karuah East and perhaps Martins Creek) and the growing number of sand trucks will all converge on the M1 Motorway at Tomago.

The impact on these huge haulage trucks will adversely affect the safety and amenity of the general community and the hundreds of thousands of tourists who travel through or visit the Port Stephens and Lower Mid North Coast region.

Loss of Natural Environment
The destruction of 79 ha of State forest permanently will have a significant negative impact on the loss of the natural habitat.
The EIS appears to concede that the project is likely to have a significant impact on the koala. In Port Stephens the koala population is already under great stress and any further loss of habitat cannot be accepted.

Other threatened species will also be effected including squirrel gliders, brush-tailed phascogales as well as threatened species of birds, bats and orchids which all been identified on/near the development site.

The reduced wildlife corridor is of concern, as the site is an import link located centrally in the vitial green belt incorporating Karuah, and Wallaroo National parks and Karuah and Medowie Natural and Conservation areas.

The noise, dust and vibrations from blasting from this one quarry must have an impact on the wildlife, but when combined with the cumulative effects from other nearby quarries it will be unbearable for local residents and wildlife.

The cumulative impacts of the proposal on the environment would clearly fail the principles of sustainable development.


Conclusion
The cumulative impacts of this proposal along with the existing and planned rock and sand quarries in the greater Port Stephens region will have a negative impact on my amenity, particularly on the road system.
The proposal is not sustainable, and any economic benefit doesn’t outweigh the loss of the native habitat and negative impact on threatened species.
The Stone Ridge quarry should be refused.

I strongly object to this project proposal.

I am a local resident and a member of the following groups:
V.O.W.W. - Voice of Wallalong and Woodville Including localities of Rural West Ward
Koala Koalition EcoNetwork Port Stephens

I fully support and echo their reasons for objecting. Enough is enough in our area!

See detailed letter dated 19.07.2023

I am writing to protest the proposed Stone Ridge Quarry inside the Wallaroo Stste ForestItalia Road Balickera.
This proposal will lead to the direct loss of about 80 hectares of state forest and the downgrading of another 60 to 70 hectares of the same forest with provision of roads and parking infrastructure.
I note there will be a significant impact on known and sighted Koala population in the vicinity. Other impacted species will be squirrel gliders, Phascogales and assorted birds, bats and numerous land dwelling reptiles.
Clearly there will be a significant impact on a range of flora including a number of native orchids. Other threatened ecological communities listed under to Biodiversity and Conservation Act ( BC )act.
Nationally listed endangered communities such as eucalypt floodplain and forested woodlands of NSW North Coast and SE Queensland are also to be cleared.
Why is a quarry sustainable in a state forest? Clearly State Forests are "guilding the lilly" on their submission. What financial benefit will State Forests receive from the Quarry? Certainly not from the clear felling of the timber!
There are a number of quarries which are less destructive than the one proposed for Stone Ridge. Lets actually decide to keep forests for what they are intended. Sustainable wood harvests, clean water and clean air.
Sincerely Bernard Griffin

The social and environmental impacts of the proposal are far too significant to permit a quarry in the Wallaroo State Forest.

28 years of my working life was spent in the Bitumen resurfacing, concrete and extractive industries in NSW, VIC and SA. During this period, I have witnessed many quarries reach the end of their extractive life without replacement. Mother nature does not always provide suitable rock sources that can provide high quality aggregates and crushed rock product that meet stringent State and Australian Standards test methods which are close to major transport routes and within a region with high infrastructure and building materials demand, however in this case all the boxes are ticked.
This is a long term, essential raw materials supply project which is extremely well positioned to minimise transport costs and provide the region with building and construction materials to facilitate the predicted growth of the region.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I wish to object to both the expansion of Borals Seaham Quarry and the establishment of the Stone Ridge Quarry.

My family have owned the property "Balicka", the name by which the surrounding area is now known, since the 1890's, and we do not wish to see the area with further degradation by quarry operations being further expanded and the quality of life that the family have enjoyed for the past approximately 130 years taken from us.

I feel your EIS and NIS reports seem to have been fabricated in a Sydney Office, how otherwise could you come to a conclusion that there are no known cattle and grazing lands in close proximity. From my great grandfather to my father, cattle grazing and breeding was their sole source of income with which they raised their families. My brother now continues this operation since my father's passing.

At day/night time while crushing is in operation the noise is clearly audible from our house, and that is while the ridge is still in existence at the Boral Quarry.

We and the local people along Italia Road are not in favour of these proposals and therefore our objections must be taken into account. Locals tend not to like outsiders coming into their environment and trying to run roughshod over their lives. I'm sure we've all seen these situations brought to the public's attention by media outlets such as the ABC's Four Corners program and others.

Let's hope a fresh look at these proposals can come to a better outcome for the local community that suits their wishes for a clean and protected state forest for all flora and fauna that inhabits this area.

Yours sincerely

Bob Kerr

I object to a forest being converted to a quarry.
Forests seem to be viewed as expendable, because no-one lives there and that are not private property. In fact the forest is home to thousands of animals that will likely die when the trees are cleared and the land becomes a hole.
I don't believe the proponent has shown the need for another quarry. There are already several in the area. Better they are exhausted before a new one is opened. Maybe in a decade or so a quarry will be desperately needed, or maybe by then, the value of habitat for Koalas and Squirrel Gliders and Threatened Ecological Communities will be worth more that any royalty gained from the rock.
Wallaroo forest is public land. The assets of the community should not be allowed to be exploited in this way for private profit. The Forestry Corporation has shown itself to be a poor manager of public land. It manages the rest of the native forest estate as a loss because the royalties of the wood are so low. If the true cost of the destruction to our catchments was factored in, this loss would be much much greater. So why would they manage this 'deal' any better, when it coming to the return to the public?
The site is known Koala habitat. Death of a thousand cuts for the Koala. With each arm of it's family tree that gets cut off, the likelihood it will survive in the wild diminishes. Every decision-maker that allows Koala homes to be bulldozed carries the weight of that decision as their legacy.
"What did you do to stop Koalas going extinct?" You either hurry it along or you slow it down.

I, Dr AnneMarie Clements, object to the proposed Stone Ridge Quarry Project hard rock quarry located within Wallaroo State Forest at Balickera, From the Australian Resource Development Group website (assessed 18 June 2023). The proposal is for the extraction, processing and transportation of approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year of quarry products from the site over a 30-year period.

Objection reason 1 – None of the products are from recycled material, nor from sustainable resources; all of the proposed quarry products are derived from virgin rock materials.
The proposed products are aggregates for concrete, High-PAFV (Polished Aggregate Friction Value) asphalt aggregates, sealing aggregates, gabions, Armourstone, road-base and crushed rock products.

Objection reason 2 – The proposal requires clearing of approximately 80 ha native vegetation. This vegetation is the known habitat of threatened entities listed under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and /or the Commonwealth Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 including:
• at least two endangered ecological communities of coastal floodplains and possibly Lower Hunter Spotted Gum - Ironbark Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion. The BDAR fails to assess the presence of Lower Hunter Spotted Gum - Ironbark Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion despite 45.63 ha of vegetation being mapped as PCT 1590 Spotted Gum - Broad-leaved Mahogany - Red Ironbark shrubby open forest;
• vulnerable listed orchid species, Pterostylis chaetophora (Rusty Greenhood orchid) and probably Corybas dowlingii (Red Helmet orchid). ;
• endangered listed Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus);
• vulnerable listed Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa);
• vulnerable listed Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis).

Objection reason 3 - Clearing of 80 ha of known habitat of iconic nationally significant species Koala is likely to lead to a Serious and Irreversible Impact, and place this species at risk of extinction.

Note: The koala (combined populations of Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) was listed as endangered on 12 February 2022.

Objection reason 4 – inadequate assessment of the cumulative impacts of quarries within the Wallaroo State Forest.