The Hon Paul Scully MP
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces
NSW Government
GPO Box 5341
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Dear Sir,
I ask that the proposal for the Monaro Rock quarry, including industrial site to mine and process rock, and manufacture concrete, hot asphalt and recycle concrete, be rejected outright at this time, thus avoiding further time and expense to the applicant.
There are enough quarries already
I question the need for and object to another quarry in this area, given there is an existing quarry in the Royalla area with associated issues already in operation. This quarry already impacts residents in the area with dust issues (wind knows no boundaries), noise and electricity brownouts. The existing quarry at the other end of the valley has sufficient supplies to extend for many decades. Is another one put into operation for private personal gain worth the risk to people living, eating, and enjoying life in the surrounding area?
Dangers to myself and our community
I question the need for and object to this quarry in this area, given it is within a few kilometres of multiple residences, including my residence purchased more than 20 years ago when there was no flagging of a quarry to be commenced in this location. Having a blasting hard rock quarry and associated concrete and asphalt industrial site so close to several rural-residential estates is irresponsible and negligent.
I continue my letter in the attached pdf document, as my submission is more than the 10000 character limit of this submission box. Please consider the attached pdf as my submission.

I am concerned about the impact of this proposal on myself and my family. We live just over the hill from this development, in the closest Canberra Suburb. My son aged 11 has already been through cancer with long term throat complications and asthma like symptoms that are made worse on days of poor air quality. The report suggests that air quality may be impacted, impacting on people’s health. I see this as a direct health risk to my family.

We regularly enjoy the bush capital nature reserves in between Conder and this area for bush walking, which we will now need to reconsider. This is impacting on our ability to utilise, enjoy and feel safe in our local area.

There are several schools in our local area where children play outside for several hours a day. On high wind days monitoring of exposure by parents during the day will not be possible. We’re putting our children at risk associated with the poor air quality that will occur. This is made worse by the vicinity to local sporting grounds as well.

The particular area of the Monaro highway where the quarry will be accessed from is already a dangerous road, with excessive traffic in the snow season, daily native animal deaths and road users handling (poorly) increasing and decreasing speed limits in that area. The additional 150 trucks per day will increase risks of further crashes or animal injury.

With the growing ACT footprint, there would be opportunities for further development in this area such as the new residential areas that will now be subject to this noise, pollution and risk. Please utilise the land for something that will not jeopardise our health.

I write in support of the development application lodged for the Monaro Rock Project. This proposal presents significant social, economic, and environmental benefits for the Queanbeyan-Palerang and ACT regions and demonstrates a balanced approach to meeting both community and industry needs.

Strategic Resource Access

The project will secure long-term access to a strategically located hard rock resource. With strong demand for aggregates and road construction materials in both Queanbeyan-Palerang and the ACT, this project provides an essential supply chain to support sustainable growth, infrastructure renewal, and future development across the region.

Efficient Resource Recovery

By maximising efficient resource recovery within the defined Extraction Area, Monaro Rock ensures responsible use of finite natural resources. This approach reduces waste and promotes sustainable practices, aligning with industry best standards and government objectives for resource management.

Environmental Responsibility

The development has been designed to operate in an environmentally responsible manner, with clear commitments to meet all regulatory criteria and uphold community expectations. Strict environmental safeguards and monitoring will minimise impacts on air, water, biodiversity, and the surrounding landscape, ensuring that the natural character of the area is preserved.

Consideration of Community and Land Use

The operation acknowledges the diversity of existing land uses and the importance of community amenity. Careful planning around noise, traffic, and visual management demonstrates that the project will be considerate of nearby residents and compatible with broader land use planning objectives.

Health and Safety

Monaro Rock has committed to ensuring that the health and wellbeing of its workforce and the surrounding community are not adversely affected. Safety protocols, dust and noise management, and strict compliance with workplace health and safety legislation will remain central to operations.

Economic Benefits and Employment

The project will stimulate the local economy through the creation of direct employment opportunities, as well as indirect supply opportunities for local contractors, service providers, and small businesses. This economic activity will provide long-term benefits to the region, contributing to community resilience and prosperity.

Operational Efficiency

By operating in a cost-efficient manner, Monaro Rock can provide competitively priced, high-quality construction materials that are critical to supporting infrastructure projects. This efficiency will deliver long-term value to both government and private sector partners reliant on stable, sustainable material supply.

Conclusion

The Monaro Rock Project represents a well-considered, responsible, and beneficial development for the Queanbeyan-Palerang and ACT regions. It delivers on the dual objectives of securing essential construction resources while protecting the environment, supporting community amenity, and contributing to regional economic development.

For these reasons, I strongly support approval of this development application.

The Hon Paul Scully MP
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces
NSW Government
GPO Box 5341
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Dear Sir
I wish to put my objection to allowing the quarry and concrete plant, tar manufacturing and concrete recycling plant to not go ahead in any shape, fashion or form.
There is absolutely no need for a fourth quarry to be put in a rural estate, where the rural estate will be devastated and it will affect the lifestyle that people in this area have enjoyed for more than 30 years.
The quarry would mainly service the Canberra region and will have little or no value to residents of Royalla, Little Burra and Mount Campbell. There are already three quarries within 30 kms of Canberra servicing all the needs to the larger area than Canberra alone.
The amount of additional traffic that the quarry, concrete plant and tar supplies will produce makes this the biggest commercial industrial area for miles. With the amount of wildlife in the area, means with any more traffic flow this will create more vehicle accidents from animals being driven onto the already busy Old Cooma Road. We have also already had fatalities at the Monaro Highway and Old Cooma Road intersection without having this additional vehicle flow. With very slow heavy and large articulated vehicles entering either Old Cooma Road itself and the intersection with Monaro Highway we will end up with more collisions and quite possibly deaths.
The local residents have bought properties in these areas, some more than 20 years ago. For my young family it was to enjoy the rural life and the open air, which will be effected. Now we have grandchildren that spend time at our place and how do I know whether dust in the air blown to my property will affect our drinking water, cover our solar panels and effect our health.
Noise pollution to our area will also affect our lifestyle with blasting and heavy diesel vehicles, ie trucks, on the road and the machinery used to extract the hard rock. I am also concerned about the amount of extra water needed to recycle concrete waste and given the fact also that tar production will also affect our air quality. The extra load to the existing electricity required to drive conveyor belts and all the buildings on the site will also impact residents.
There has been no notification at all to the residents or authorities as yet if the proposal was to go ahead what intervals would environmental impacts be checked by Government authorities that regulate these activities.
There are many unanswered questions and the number one is that the Canberra area does not need another quarry/industrial estate, especially in a New South Wales rural residential location affecting so many locals for one person’s personal gain.
Therefore I wish this senseless project to not proceed and no authority to allow it. The cost is too large to thousands of residents who enjoy a rural lifestyle and this should be respected at all costs.

Please do not allow this project to proceed. The proposed quarry is unacceptably close to nearby residences in the township of Royalla and poses a serious health risk to members of the community, both in Royalla and across the border in the ACT's southern suburbs. This project will have a terrible impact on the community, which has already been impacted by other quarries nearby. The silica dust which will be generated by the quarry will pose a risk to the health of residents near the quarry.

I think it will create more jobs locally. And provide construction materials for the ongoing expansion of the ACT and surrounds.

I am writing in support of the proposed quarry development at Monaro Rock Project. The project represents an important opportunity to provide essential construction materials for the region while supporting local employment and economic growth.

Good afternoon

As an extremely concerned resident within close proximity to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry, I strongly object to this project progressing.
I hold concerns for the long-term effects of environmental and health impacts.

The current infrastructure/roads are nor safe or suitable for consistent heavy vehicle machinery movements and it should not be the responsibility of government (tax payers) to upgrade these to benefit the Monaro Rock and their business when land purchased within this vicinity was of the understanding this is a quiet, safe and residential community.
The increased traffic and health implications will have a major effect on the already over overwhelmed infrastructure and health needs for both ACT and NSW government.
The effects of noise pollution, dust and air quality and the health and wellbeing will impact all residence near and far.
I request mine and all other applicants who oppose this project be considered at the highest level by the appropriate decision makers.

Kind regards
Leticia

Good afternoon,
I write as a very concerned resident in relation to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry on Mates Road, Royalla.

My husband and I were born and bred in Newcastle, otherwise referred as "Steel City". As middle-aged people now and with young children, the ongoing effects of our childhoods growing up amidst dust from the BHP Steelworks at Mayfield, the dust from the uncovered trains rattling to Newcastle Port from the Hunter Valley's numerous coalmines, as well as the lead poisoning from the former Pasminco lead smelter in Boolaroo, Lake Macquarie, is truly not known at this stage. This is of particular concern as my older sister (aged 49) has been diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease, which causes lifelong inflammation of the heart's arteries. There is much evidence globally linking Kawasaki disease to lead poisoning. My older sister was exposed to lead while playing in the dirt in my parent's backyard of their home in Speers Point in the late 1970s. Speers Point is the neighbouring suburb to Boolaroo, NSW. In the late 1970s, Pasminco was a thriving plant, employing many locals.
My parents moved from Speers Point to another Lake Macquarie suburb across the lake to ensure a cleaner environment for my older brother and myself. When my husband and I took redundancy from our journalism careers with Fairfax Media in Newcastle and pursued more-secure government work in Canberra, ACT, we chose Royalla for the space, quietness, safe roads and clean air that it could offer us and our two young children. My parents were particularly pleased that we had chosen a quiet country haven away from the heavy industry of Hume and Queanbeyan in which to raise our family.

As a resident of Royalla, and whose property overlooks the proposed quarry, I am deeply concerned. My main points of concern are as follows:
1. Air quality - as outlined above, this is of utmost importance to us given we are from Newcastle and grew up with heavy industry on our doorsteps.
Additionally, we currently already have two existing quarries nearby - one located within Royalla itself, and the other being Holcim, located off Quarry Road, Queanbeyan. My understanding is that both of these quarries are not operating anywhere near their capacities, and have decades of life left yet. I question why, despite the rapid growth of the Googong township that I have personally witnessed since September 2018, and of which Googong neighbours these existing quarries, why both of these existing quarries have still not needed to expand their operations to anywhere near their capacities to meet the demand for new dwellings. It is clear that, with the existing two quarries nowhere near their capacities despite Googong's unprecedented growth in recent years, that a third quarry is currently not needed to service the demand for new dwellings.
2. Additional traffic - for those who live in Royalla, most use the Monaro Highway as our quickest link to the city and work. Using the Monaro Highway can get us into the city and logged onto our computers within 25 minutes. The initial draft plan proposed using Old Cooma Road, however, this plan was edited to enable the proposed additional 500 trucks per day to access and exit the site from the Monaro Highway. As a resident of Royalla who uses the intersection of Old Cooma Road and the Monaro Highway daily, I am particularly attune to the dangers of this intersection.
I have grave fears for an additional 500 trucks on this stretch of road, and given it has a marked 100 km/h speed limit. I would like to add that the 100 km/h zone is simply what is marked for the stretch of road, not what cars and trucks currently using this highway currently adhere to. From June until the end of September during the snow season, it is particularly busy trying to access the Monaro Highway, and this is at all times of the day, not just during morning and afternoon peak times. I fear that having the addition of trucks onto the highway would result in an increase in fatalities in this already very dangerous stretch of road.
3. Depreciation of house values - like all Australian families, our dream has been to own our home. We were lucky enough that Canberra offered us the opportunity to rebuild our lives after redundancy and find steady employment. We have worked very hard like many Australian families and are deeply concerned by the current and future impacts of depreciation of value on our home. Our home is our nest egg, of which its value will allow us to retire without the need for government support.
4. Degradation of roads - we have lived in Royalla since September 2018 and have watched the expansion of the Googong township. The damage to the roads particularly between Fernleigh Drive, Googong, and Wellsvale Drive, Googong, is particularly of concern. This road is thin, disintegrating and is exposed to heavy traffic including B double trucks servicing the new Googong expansion opposite Fernleigh Drive. Sometimes driving along this very narrow and pot-holed road while passing a large truck in the rain with my two children in the backseat and also keeping an eye out for kangaroos is very stressful. I fear that the same level of degradation of the Monaro Highway will occur. The Monaro Highway is exposed to local commuters from Royalla, Michelago and Cooma driving to Canberra, and snow traffic for four months of the year., of which Old Cooma Road is not exposed. An additional daily load of 500 trucks will only increase degradation of the highway.
5. Noise - my understanding is that the extraction of rock will be done without blasting. While I understand and accept this, I would like to point out that the logistical equipment needed to transport the material including large B double trucks do make noise. From my front, side and rear veranda I can hear the cars driving on the Monaro Highway. The addition of 500 trucks turning into and out of the quarry onto the Monaro Highway will undoubtedly result in additional noise to my property, particularly when this involves the acceleration and deceleration of B Double trucks, which weigh in excess of 60 tonnes.

I am strongly opposed to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry at Royalla due to the above mentioned reasons.