Dear Sir/Madam

As a resident of the Kiama LGA I strongly object to this proposal by
Boral to extend their right to sand mine 2 new pits on private land,
distinct and distant to the existing operation at Dunmore Lake.

I urge NSW dept of Planning and Environment to apply the Precautionary
Principle given the sensitive nature of the EEC of Banagalay Sand
forest in this location and the proximity to the Minnamurra River and
floodplain. The Coastal Management Act 2016 (and the former SEPP 71)
objectives are about "protecting coastal wetlands and littoral
rainforests in their natural state." This Act should be upheld to
provide protection in this case.

This is valuable remnant forest and habitat for native fauna, which
would be irreparably damaged by this significant mining operation.
There is precious little of this EEC remaining on the South coast and
this special ecosystem must not be considered economically expendable
for the short term and unsustainable practice of sand mining. This
community will never be recreated or replaced by vegetation offsets.

The people of this area demand that you safeguard this environmentally
sensitive land, also valuing and respecting the natural beauty and
recreational value of the Minnamurra river. I am also very concerned
about the impact of the mining operation vehicles on the local roads.
The current Boral operation has a private road with access directly
onto the Highway. This would not be possible in this new location.

Although the private land is in the Shellharbour LGA, Kiama Council
have tabled an extensive document setting out why they oppose the
development. Having read the document, which is well reasoned,
supported by legislation and comprehensive, there is little else that
I can add at this point other than stating that I support the Kiama
Council document in full.

Finally, I request that this application is terminated and requested
to be submitted for approval as a separate application rather than en
extension to the existing Boral sand mining application, which is not
on the same parcel of land in question here. This parcel of land needs
a full, transparent and independent process to any existing to
determine any right to mine this land.

Thank you for your consideration of my submission in opposition.

Kind regards,

Penny Rushby-Smith

Please consider this submission to Dunmore Lakes Sand Extraction
Modification 2.

This submission has been written without my access to studies and
documents as I am overseas and currently unable to access source
documents.

I am concerned about the environmental impacts of this proposed
sandmine extension on the biodiversity values of site and surrounding
vegetation.

The extension site is situated in a complex vegetation unit that
comprises a sequence of mangrove, salt marsh, bangalay sand forest and
subtropical rainforest. Most of this vegetation is listed as
endangered ecological communities (EECs). This vegetation sequence is
unusually intact and the only one of its kind in the Illawarra.

The impacts of groundwater balance may impact on this vegetation and
the proposed removal of bangalay sand forest will impact on the
overall vegetation unit and degrade its integrity.

Studies of wetland vegetation in the Minnamurra River provide evidence
that the mangrove vegetation is migrating inland into the EEC salt
marsh due to sea level rise.

The Minnamurra Estuary Management Plan recommends the extension of the
wetland buffers in the Kiama LEP however this proposed extension could
limit any opportunity to accomodate these sea level rise changes.

I am opposed to this sandmine extension and suggest the mine site
avoid any disturbance of the bangalay sand forest.


Howard Jones
Secretary Gerroa Environmental Protection Society

Sent from my iPad

I write to express my objection to the extension of the Boral Sand
Extraction project.

As I understand, the areas proposed are very close to the Minnamurra
River and have a very high likelihood of causing environmental damage.
There are coastal wetlands, mangrove forest and salt marsh. The local
community loves the river. It is a treasure.

The location opposite the Minnamurra Waste Depot is so very close the
Minnamurra river, that any contamination will likely make its way into
the adjacent river. The other areas (5B) is very low lying and
potentially impact on the adjoining coastal wetlands.

The increased traffic and pollution (noise and dust) will impact on
our local community.

I believe that minimal studies have been undertaken to analyse the
impact of the proposed sand mine and that there has been insufficient
information provided to the local community. It appears that this has
been tabled during the Federal election period which has meant that
very little information has been heard by the community in regard to
this project.

I request the Department to press pause on this project and conduct
further inquiry, involving the local community and an appropriate and
extensive environmental impacts analysis.

Kind regards
Jodi Keast

I write to request that the dept. of planning consider the Modification 2
of Dunmore Sand mining be regarded as a new project rather than a
continuation of the existing mine for the following reasons
The area is reasonably distant from the existing approved area and as
such will have different matters to consider .
I am also concerned that Council has NOT been provided access to the
site to permit it to do its own evaluations of the proposal . It makes
me think that maybe there is some reason for the obstruction of
transparency .
I am aware that the Council is concerned about traffic and dust and
noise concerns for the people living with several hundred metres of
the proposed site.
I am also aware that council has some concerns regarding the area 5b
as it is low lying and there are concerns that Area 5B is very
low-lying and the extraction will impact on natural groundwater and
surface water (flood) flows with resultant impacts on the adjoining
coastal wetland ecosystems
Similarly there are concerns about Area 5A as is located opposite
Kiama Municipal Council's Waste and Recycling Depot and sand
extraction in that location will potentially impact upon groundwater
hydrology, mobilising contaminated groundwater with resultant impacts
on the adjacent Minnamurra River. This potential risk has not been
sufficiently evaluated.
Areas 5A and 5B are both located in very close proximity to the
Minnamurra River, and unlike the existing extraction areas, has the
potential to impact on ecologically important ecosystems such as
Coastal Wetlands and Bangalay Sand Forest, in addition to impacts on
tourism and the scenic amenity that is of very high value to the Kiama
Community.
Furthermore there is the matter of nesting sites for sea eagles to be
considered.
Overall we need transparency and this is best seen to have occurred if
the proposal is treated as a new development rather than skating thru
as a modification to and existing approval.
Regards

I object to this proposal, and my reasons are as follows:

1. These pits are very close to the Minnamurra river and are on low
lying areas

2. The trucks brought in in order to fill pit 5A will result in
thousands of trucks onto the main local road, used by local residents,
and will potentially cause traffic risks

3. The pit is planned to be 27m deep over an area of almost 8
hectares, and this will result in removal of trees and vegetation and
7 endangered species and will cause the loss of mature forest

I object to this proposal. The areas considered in this proposal are
physically separated from those considered in the original sand mining
approval and have a far greater likelihood of causing environmental
damage.

The proposal is inconsistant with the objectives in Part 2 Section 6
of the Coastal Management Act 2016 (and the foirmer SEPPO 71)
objectives.

The potential impact on flora and fauna in Area 5B is likely to be
significant and will (among others) threaten the protected and rare
White-bellied Sea Eagle pair nesting in close proximity to the
southern boundary of Area 5B.

As a long-term resident of Minnamurra, I am concerned at the possible
impact of this development on the pristine beauty of the Minnamurra
iver Estuary.

I object to DA 195-8-2004 MOD 2 ( ie. Dunmore Lakes Extraction Project -
Modification 2) including "Establish two new extraction areas (Stage
5); extract sand by excavator and dredge; construct a pipeline between
Stage 5 and Stage 2; pump extracted sand from Stage 5 to the Stage 2
processing area; pump processed water from Stage 2 to Stage 5;
partially backfill the Stage 5 ponds with VENM; and rehabilitate the
site."

My objection to this DA is on the basis:-
1. That the proposed two new sand extraction pits endanger 7
threatened fauna species and vegetation 'bangalay forest' listed as
endangered;
2. Proximity to Minnamurra Tip means the organic toxic bloom in the
water table threatens the ecology of the Minnamurra River;
3. Additional truck movements calculated at over 8000 related to this
proposal will negatively impact the already congested Albion Park Rail
traffic flow.

All in all, this proposal to construct 2 new sand extraction pits at
Dunmore is short-sighted and poses a significant threat to the
immediate environmental area and surrounds.

Thank you.

As a resident I am against continue sand dredging of th Minnamurra River.
I am a teacher with a passion for science and I consider further
dredging will do irrapairable damage to this fragile filtering
ecosystem. I request no further dredging be allowed to take place in
the Minnamurra catchments. This is essential to protect our
environment for future generations for b plants, animals and people to
enjoy! Protect the mangroves and the Minnamurra groundwater stop
selling it out from under the community for short term narrow minded
profit.
Our council needs to represent the community and the majority of our
community is strongly against it.

Please see attached submission