* The quarry provides materials required in many of our projects and without the quarry, some of our projects would not be commercially viable and would not proceed

Martins Creek Quarry is a big part of the organisation and supports many of the infrastructure jobs we undertake
The Success of the quarry helps maintain the jobs of over 850 employees and over 1000 contractors and their families

To Whom it may concern,
I Tony Latham live at the above address which is not far from the quarry and I have serious concerns over the quarries expansion, the proposed extra traffic (i.e trucks) that will be traveling on the proposed route really causes serious safety concerns for myself and my children that travel that road, the main road traveling through Paterson is too small for heavy haulage traffic as well as the state of the road itself, the main corner where the post office is in Paterson has had one incident and many more near misses that I have heard about and I think its only a matter of time before someone gets injured or possibly killed due to the trucks now so extra trucks means more interaction with families and children and I fear for the safety of all people in our community, the little IGA store where I buy my groceries is a real concern crossing the road and large trucks DONT stop as well or have the vision of cars, I should know I have been working on trucks for twenty six years, the road is too small for large vehicles in parts, the road surface really needs replacing also, my daughter travels that road during the week at the time the trucks go though and due the trucks now she says causes driver frustration with drivers taking unnecessary risk to get around the trucks and I believe are taking risk themselves, the noise we hear from the quarry will also I suppose increase which is annoying now, we live in a beautiful quiet little community and the quarry has been there also for a long time but the increase will make it a real concern for everyone who lives here, I was under the impression that government were more inclined to approve this sort of thing if it was taken out by rail, which the quarry has its own rail line, why put peoples lives at risk? why not make them do a rail expansion and ship it out by rail? where I was working over ten years ago at Mt Thorley in the hunter valley the coal was moved by coal trucks from United, Wambo and Lemington mines back into Mt Thorley coal loader due to not being able to get it out by rail, and there was so many movements the counsel made them put in a rail line to stop all the truck movement, why are you are probably about to approve running more trucks though a lot smaller road where there is more of a concern for safety, plus Paterson and Vacy get a lot of tourism with older people and motor bikes and old cars during the week as well as the weekend besides the safety factor do you think they are going to want to sit in what was quiet little Paterson and look at and listen to noisy truck and dogs trailers running through? I think even a consideration would be an extremely bad move on a proposal that has not considered all other options, at the current rate its a concern for safety so I can only hope you consider public safety before you make any detrimental decisions.

I strongly oppose the Martins Creek Quarry expansion....

I have lived in this area since I was 17 years old. I'm now 47, and chose to buy here and raise a family.
I love space, wildlife, bush, the country.
I don't like the quarry, but its there and I accept it. I oppose the greed surrounding the expansion.

I have to wonder whether large corporations ever consider anything other then their bank balances.
You want to destroy a large part of native bushland, what about the wildlife and the environment?
What about the huge, ugly scar left from that clearing that will never regenerate?
What about our roads? They are in disrepair now, Daracon doesn't contribute to the upkeep.
What about the noise?
What about the safety of our school buses picking and dropping off our children?
What about safety in the main street of Paterson?
What about simply crossing the road?
What about having 80 trucks per hour tearing past your house?
Moving isn't an option for us, like we have so bluntly been told to do.
What about the pollution?
What about trying to leave your driveway safely?
What about our beautiful, historic town?
What about the tourism here?
What about the relative peace and quiet?
What about the other multiple towns you also want to drive through around the clock?

This expansion has no positives. It doesn't contribute anything to our community except noise, danger, destruction, pollution and lots and lots of big trucks.

Go away with your greed.

Rebekah

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Martins Creek quarry makes up a big part of the Daracon organisation, in turn providing stability for thousands of employees and local contractors.

The quarry is one of the main hard rock suppliers in the area for the construction industry, supplying high quality products for various large projects all around the region. By limiting the materials, the cost of supply will increase resulting in some projects becoming uneconomical and not proceeding.

Martins Creek quarry plays a crucial role in the future growth and development of the Hunter region, and without its operation many local jobs and infrastructure upgrades would not be possible.

I have a few concerns about the proposed expansion of the Martins Creek quarry. The main concern i have is the damage to my property due to vibration caused by a high volume of big dump trucks passing close by. My house is almost 200 years old, one of the oldest building in the area. It is listed in the Dungog Councils Local Environmental Plan as a building of historical significance. I have been living at the address since March 2015 at which time we had a pre-purchase building inspection conducted on the house. Since that time, and most notably in the last few month, large cracks have developed and existing cracks have worsened. I cant prove that the damage is being caused by the dump trucks, but i cant help but believe that a significant increase in the amount of heavy traffic will only exacerbate the current structural issues.
The second concern i have is the dog leg in Maitland rd near the intersection with Prince St. It is already a very dangerous intersection for both vehicles pulling out from Prince st onto Maitland rd as well as pedestrians making their way down to John Tucker Park. An increase in the amount of heavy traffic just worsens an already bad situation.
My concerns are heavily based on the amount of of trucks passing through Paterson and i feel that idealy the quarry expansion be rejected, however, if the quarry expansion is to proceed than the rail line must be used to transport all of the extra material as any increase in the number of trucks is unacceptable.