The quarry is unnecessary when there are others in the area. This area is amongst a growing residential community and I object to the additional trucks in our roads as well as having serious concerns on health impacts

My name is Gary Slater. I am a permanent resident of Australia on a Global Talent Visa residing in Royalla at a home I purchased in Jan 2025. I intend to live in Australia with my family of 5 at this residence indefinitely for many years to come. I moved to Australia, to the ACT region, and specifically to Royalla intentionally for the unmatched work-life balance, opportunities, quality of life, sense of community, and rural lifestyle that makes the greater ACT region and Royalla in particular a high quality of life area to work, live, and raise a family.

I object to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry as an assessment of the EIS clearly indicates it will negatively impact the quality of life of surrounding residents including myself and my family.

I have relocated 10 times in the last 15 years in pursuit of a better life and greater opportunities for myself and my family - and I won't hesitate to move again for those same reasons. We moved to Royalla deliberately, purchasing a home and paying significant stamp duties in the process. Since moving to Australia I have founded two companies, hired workers, and pay both corporate and personal income taxes at some of the highest rates among OECD nations, contributing to the tax base and economic vitality of the region. If the negative externalities and unintended negative impacts of this project reduce property values, degrade quality of life and contribute to environmental degradation, result in extensive roadworks and excess traffic contributing to lost productivity and increased safety hazards I will be forced to consider relocating and taking my substantial contribution to the local economy and tax base with me.

My family and I commute to work, school, church, shopping, and sporting activities along the Monaro Highway and Old Cooma Road multiple times daily, every day of the week. Safe, efficient, and assured access to these major thoroughfares is a critical component of many aspects of our daily lives. The current road construction on the Monaro Highway, whilst important for the future development of the region, has added significant time, cost, and additional safety impacts to local residents including my family already. The proposed road expansions and extensive trafficking in heavy vehicles required in support of the Monaro Rock Quarry will undoubtedly add tremendous strain to the area's infrastructure and transportation capacity. The cumulative negative impact of roadworks,changed traffic patterns, heavy vehicle traffic, wear and tear on existing and new roads and bridges will lead to degraded quality of life for local residents and reputational damage to the area which will contribute to population exodus, reduced land values, and a declining tax base. It will make Royalla and surrounding areas less attractive and rewarding for current and future residents and will undoubtedly have a series of unintended consequences that the local governments of both the ACT and NSW should consider and conclude that the cost-benefit analysis is not in favour of the quarry going forward.

As an Australian permanent resident and aspiring citizen I admire Australia's democratic government and the voice residents and citizens are afforded. I also appreciate the ability of local taxpayers and voters to hold local governments and elected officials accountable for their decisions and how those decisions impact the freedom and quality of life of their electorates. I look forward to living in Royalla, voting in Federal, state, and local elections, and paying even more taxes for many decades to come. I urge the policy making elected officials of all jurisdictions impacted by the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry to vote NO and not approve the quarry for further development. Your local community will thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Gary Slater

I object categorically to this project. My reasoning is in the attachment.

I wish to register my strong objection to the proposed quarry development near Googong. While I understand the importance of sourcing materials for construction, this location is highly unsuitable and would cause significant harm to the surrounding community.

Googong is one of the fastest-growing communities in the region, with thousands of residents already living here and many more moving in each year. Families have chosen Googong for its natural setting, schools, and community lifestyle. The addition of another quarry so close to the township is incompatible with this residential environment. The community already lives with the effects of existing quarries in the surrounding district, and the cumulative burden of yet another facility is unreasonable.

One of the most pressing concerns is traffic. Quarry operations will require a large number of truck movements every day. This will increase congestion on roads not designed for such heavy use, raise the risk of accidents involving families and schoolchildren, and contribute to noise, vibration, and dust along transport routes. Residents already experience truck traffic from nearby operations, and this project would make the situation significantly worse.

Health impacts are another serious issue. Dust emissions from quarrying can contain fine particles that travel downwind into residential areas. These particles can worsen asthma and other respiratory conditions, especially for children and the elderly. With Googong located in the path of prevailing winds, it is likely that dust would be carried directly into homes, schools, and recreational areas. Residents should not have to accept increased health risks simply because of where they live.

The cumulative effect of multiple quarries around Googong must be considered. Each quarry adds more dust, more traffic, and more loss of amenity. Taken together, these impacts erode the liveability of the town and diminish the quality of life for families who chose to settle here. Googong was planned and marketed as a vibrant, family-friendly community surrounded by natural beauty. Allowing yet another quarry undermines this vision and damages community trust in the planning system.

For these reasons, I believe the proposal is entirely unsuitable for its intended location. The impacts on traffic, health, and community amenity are too great, especially when added to the existing burden from surrounding quarries. There are other locations in the region where industrial-scale quarrying would be far more appropriate and where impacts on residents would be significantly lower.

I respectfully urge the Department to reject this proposal and protect the health, safety, and liveability of the Googong community.

Like many Royalla residents (many of whom have joined together), I am in opposition to the proposed quarry. The reason are the same as the materials that have been published by advocacy groups - unreasonable traffic impact on the Monaro Highway, silica dust pollution as a health risk to residents - especially the elderly adults in my household as well as my 4yo daughter, the fact that this would mostly benefit ACT (not NSW) residents, reduction in property values and overall nuisance. I implore you to respond to massive community opposition (we've not heard of one person in favour) and cancel this project as soon as possible.

We chose to purchase in a rural residential area in 2009 where we could have nature, silence, watch our children develop and grow organic vegetables and cattle. I have reviewed the project information; I disagree with the quarry and have several concerns with their EIS.

Need? Monaro Rock has not proved there is a need for an additional quarry. The Monaro Rock EIS asserts that the existing quarries in the greater ACT area can only meet supply for 13 years yet it later states that the ‘quantity of reserve rock held by operating quarries are not published and generally treated as confidential.’ Without independently verified evidence that the quarry is required, within a specific timeline, for a need in NSW, it should not be considered.

Traffic. The figures of 2021 are not valid and provide a distorted view of the volume of traffic using Old Cooma Road and then turning onto Monaro Highway. The traffic data was collected in 2021 when Googong township was only part way through its growth. Since 2021 there has been considerable growth in Googong, Mt Burra and Mt Campbell and a marked increase in the number of vehicles using Old Cooma Road. I can attest to the increased traffic as it takes several minutes to wait for a gap in the traffic to safely leave my driveway at 0815 each morning.

The following excerpts from public websites indicate the scale and growth of the Googong area:
‘The masterplan for the [Googong] township is well underway and includes give connected neighbourhoods set to host around 18,000 people in 6,500 homes over the next 15 years. Work on the second neighbourhood, Googong Central, begain in 2018 with infrastructure to support the growing region and 1,800 homes for 4,500 residents. Googong North is already home to more than 2,500 people.’ (Invest in Googong near Queenbeyan, a new community | DPN)
‘In addition to the hotel milestone, a site has now been settled for the Town Centre’s main retail centre with Coles Group Property Developments. The retail centre will feature a Coles supermarket and more than 20 specialty stores. Once complete, the Town Centre will also include a medical centre, gym, library, community centre, petrol station, childcare, and more, creating a one stop destination for both residents and visitors. These significant advancements come as Googong, which celebrated its 10th anniversary over the last year, continues to expand. The township is now home to over 8,000 people with over 18,000 at expected at completion.’ (GOOGONG HOTEL COMMENCES CONSTRUCTION)

Quarry heavy vehicles exit directly onto Monaro Highway. Allowing the quarry traffic to exit directly onto the Monaro Highway will relieve pressure on Old Cooma Road. However, I foresee that the NSW Government will approve the quarry, but the ACT Government will not approve direct access to the Monaro Highway. Monaro Rock will then send 25 truck and trailers per day on Old Cooma Road at 100km/hr from 0600-1700 six days a week. As the houses along Old Cooma Road have driveways which exit directly onto Old Cooma Road, the increased risk of vehicle accident will be very high as the heavy quarry vehicles will not be able to stop quickly as residential cars emerge from their hidden driveways. The children need to cross Old Cooma Road to catch the bus to and from school, and increased traffic, particularly heavy vehicle traffic poses a risk to the children’s safety. Direct access onto the Monaro Highway for quarry traffic must be a mandatory requirement of any approval of the quarry.

Noise / Blasting/ Vibration. The proposed quarry will decimate the silence of our rural lifestyle with explosions. I live within two kilometers of the proposed quarry and the dynamite blasting in the quarry will be triggering for my husband and I who have completed multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan where we endured rockets and explosions. We were very conscious of the requirement to reside in a quiet neighbourhood when we bought out house in 2009. We considered the impact of the two rock quarries in Williamsdale and Queanbeyan, looked at prevailing winds, hills and valleys before deciding to purchase. The Monaro Rock EIS acknowledges that noise cannot be mitigated for those of us who live closest to the proposed quarry.

Bird life. This noise, blast and vibration will disrupt the native birds who live in Royalla or seasonally move through the area. We have cultivated tree shelter belts on our acreage and a garden free from fox and cats to allow the birds a sanctuary. Monaro Rock will destroy this.

Dust / Rain water / Tank water. The Monaro Rock EIS acknowledges that the impact of dust cannot be mitigated for those of us who live closest to the proposed quarry. The Monaro Rock EIS states that ‘changes to the conditions necessary for a clean, reliable water supply may disproportionately affect their lifestyle.’ Monaro Rock is referring to the dust that they will generate, which will land on our roofs and sheds and then collect in our rainwater tanks. It is not a ‘lifestyle’ to collect rainwater to drink, it is function of living in a residential area that has not been supported with town water or town sewage. My family and our animals drink this water, and it will be a considerable and unreasonable expense to buy water from somewhere else in NSW and have it driven to our house. Clothes will not be able to be hung in the fresh air, rather will need to be dried inside using a dryer. Will our vegetables be safe to eat and what of the impact on the grass which our cattle eat? It is unreasonable to minimise and dismiss this significant impact on our lives and our wallets.

The Monaro Rock Social Impact EIS identified that Royalla has a strong community spirit based on our quiet, rural, environmentally friendly existence. The Monaro Rock EIS has not proven there is a requirement to build the quarry, they have not mitigated the dust and noise pollution, and they will increase heavy traffic in the area. The noise and disruption from the Monaro Rock quarry will destroy our piece of heaven and we deserve better treatment. The quarry should not be approved.

The project will harm significant wildlife and protected species in the area. It will also cause significant disruption to nature and the local community in that area. I would not like to see a short term quarry built there that will affect centuries old flora and fauna including the protected legless lizard.

As a resident living close to this project in Gordon ACT, I am concerned local residents will be exposed up health risks caused by air born silica. The estimated average of 95 trucks per day with entry via the Monaro Highway is also concerning, on an already congested and dangerous road. This project is too close to residential areas and will cause financial loss to Royalla Home owners.

The suburb I reside is in close enough proximity to the project to be impacted. I echo the concerns already presented to you: The construction of a quarry in an established E2 Environmental conservation area, blasting weakening the foundations of homes within 5km of the site, use of groundwater, and the concern of silica dust.
If we start letting companies operate in conservation areas, what is the point of establishing conservation sites? The legislation is then worth about as much as the paper it's printed on.
I recently bought this place with my Fiancee, and the draw to it was how peaceful the area is. Imagine my dismay when I hear we may hear the blasting from a quarry for the next 30 years. This is going to disrupt all the local wildlife, and the domestic life. Such as my cat, who has only just starting purring since moving out of the Tuggeranong city centre. I am also beset on all sides of my property by dogs, so I am dreading the cacophony that will come with each blast. Further, I saw there would be shockwaves from the blasts up to 5km out from the site. 5km doesn't sound like much, but it catches Theodore ACT in the radius. I'm not going to pretend to know how frequently one blasts in a quarry, but I do have concerns that homes within the vibration radius will be negatively impacted from prolonged exposure.
Regarding the groundwater use, we are in prime bushfire territory. If a majority of our groundwater is going to the quarry, what's left for the bushfire efforts? We can say "If the bushfire comes," but let's be honest with ourselves: "When the bushfire comes." We don't have so much groundwater that we can afford both bushfire resistance efforts and cutting stone.
We in Canberra are in a valley. Anything that blows in on the wind has a habit of settling here and never leaving. It's why we're horrendous for hayfever. I am concerned about the silica dust settling in. We can have in our reports "It's well below acceptable levels" all we want, but instead of acceptable levels I would like ideal levels of silica dust in the air. Which is zero. I don't need to tell you that 30 years is a long time to be exposed to anything. I could hang out in "acceptable levels" of radiation, but I think most would advise I don't do it for 30 years. I also have a fiancee that is immunocompromised and has asthma in the family; She would be something of a canary in the mine and I would rather not have her suffer.
Finally, I would like to make clear: I do not care about property values. I don't. I do care than the place remains standing, the air is clear, and the area is quiet and peaceful after 30 years. I believe in my heart that this quarry would undo that. I implore you to reconsider this project. I'm sure there's perfectly good stone somewhere that will be less disruptive to acquire.