Please No.
We should have the opportunity to live in a safe environment, free from known causes of harm that adversely impact quality of life
Passenger Congestion
There are enough congestion related issues on the rail corridors in the area that area already underfunded without adding to the problem, especially given how important the rail connection is between the region and Sydney (not everyone can afford a car) - morning and afternoon peak hour trains frequently experience delays and miss local connections within the city network as it is
Noise
Noise carries - particularly late at night (on a still night you can clearly hear the freight trains passing through) so any plans to run trains outside of peak hours to avoid rail congestion will have a significantly greater impact on noise pollution than day time trains.

Coal dust
Why limit the impact when you can spread it over a wide area or just hope the wind blows in the other direction? Numerous concerns have been raised about both the environmental and health impacts from coal dust in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, none of which seem to have been resolved sufficiently to date - it is strongly likely that the Southern Highlands will be met with the same known issues with inadequate resolutions, negatively impacting the environment health (particularly for those sensitive to respiratory issues)

Again, please reject the Berrima Rail Project

Kind regards

Fabia Palmer

I live in Medway. I need to drive over these rail lines everyday. This proposal will cause delays for local traffic at every crossing.

I am concerned about this for the following reasons:
- I need to take my wife to medical appointments, and a delay waiting for a coal train to pass may not just be inconvenient, but life threatening
- These extra coal trains will cause an increase in my commute time
- These extra coal trains will inconvenience and risk the safety of my clients to travel to see me
- The extension to the rail line will be very close to my home in Medway. The noise and air pollution will be dangerous to my health. This rail extension will result in a profound loss of lifestyle

I implore the decision maker to reject this proposal.

Please don't force me to leave my home, otherwise I will be living in a hospital suffering from severe asthma.

I'm writing to express my extreme distress at the Hume Coal and associated Berrima Rail project proposals (SSD 7172 Mine and SSD 7171 Berrima Rail Extension) currently on public exhibition.

In 2014 I returned to Australia after a decade's absence abroad. I relocated to the Southern Highlands specifically to improve my child's health and in search of a quality of life which had been absent in our lives.

The move was not without considerable upheaval and trauma, but I'm relieved to be able to say that my child's health has reached a relatively normal status quo since settling into Southern Highlands life, and we've become part of the fabric in terms of business, community, schooling, friendships, church and so much more - not something which is easily or automatically achieved.

Unfortunately, this has not been without threat and fear looming over the longevity and security of our new life. Soon after we arrived, I was stunned and shocked to discover that a previous State Government had recklessly sold out various parts of the country to mining interests, and in particular had jeopardised the unique economy, environment and heritage of the Southern Highlands. The ignorance of such a decision beggars belief. The long term consequences don't bear thinking about.

My child's school sits near the railway line which would transport daily tonnes of coal to foreign ports, thereby dispersing micro particles of polluting coal dust into her respiratory system as she learns and plays - the very demon we were fleeing in another country. Not to mention toxic contaminants into the waterways, livestock and soil of the food bowl we and so many others rely on. The regular and characteristic high winds would also magnify the noise. The unique micro climate which creates the landscape of the area would be annihilated by the loss of underground water, thereby wiping out the natural attributes on which it so heavily depends for tourism and agriculture, as well as eliminating the backup water supply for the Sydney metropolitan area. How could such a decision have been taken, which would so clearly undermine and destroy this rare and unique destination, which would so easily jeopardise Australia's largest CBD only 90 minutes away?

The local community opposition has been echoed far and wide, with the most common response being disbelief at a decision which is so evidently wrong, that it couldn't possibly eventuate - surely common sense will prevail, surely it's so obvious. But where short term mercenary greed and gain have a chance, not to mention South Korean interests that have no care for long term local legacies, nothing is secure.

Please right the wrong by rejecting these proposals once and for all - before it's too late for this generation and the ones that follow. And give us certainty that no back door has been left open for future exploitation. The stress and trauma of not knowing our future is debilitating. Enough lives have been destroyed by mining, enough environments have been irretrievably raped by mining in all its shapes and forms. Coal is a dead fuel, which major parts of the developed world have realised and unequivocally acted on by replacing with sustainable and economically viable alternatives - surely NSW can lead the way in this, rather than follow in the wake of past mistakes once the damage has been irreversibly done?

Faithfully and hopefully

Local resident

I will need to cross this rail line everyday when I move and commence my new job. The extra delays will increase my commute time.

I am extremely concerned about being delayed crossing the rail line on my way to the hospital. I care for a friend in the Southern Highlands, and I take her to medical appoints at the hospital and other facilities. Some of these trips are in an emergency, and extra minutes of delay are very dangerous. This would be very high impact, and has the potential to cause death in an emergency.

I regularly use the Southern Highlands rail line to travel to and from Sydney. It is clear that the line is already under stress as evidenced by the high number of delays to passenger services. Adding a very large number of coal trains will certainly make these delays longer. The railway will not be able to cope.

I urge that this proposal is rejected. It will put lives in danger, and negatively impact the lives of many.

I am a long-time resident of Moss Vale and I object to the long-term effects that will be inflicted upon me by the proposed operation of the Hume Coal Project.
Hume Coal proposes to have 4 empty coal trains entering the colliery site and 4 full coal trains leaving the colliery within the space of 24 hours and this is to occur 7 days per week. That means that, on any given day - (weekends included) a coal train will be:
1) blocking motor traffic flow at the railway crossing on the Berrima to Moss Vale Road, an additional eight times (4 "in" + 4 "out"). From the personal experience of waiting for the "Boral cement train" to pass, I would sometimes be stuck at the railway lights for five minutes. The inclusion of Hume Coal trains would mean additional road closures of forty minutes per day.
Oh, yes I should mention that these road closures would also occur at the railway crossings:
* on the Old Hume Highway at New Berrima,
* the Kangaloon/ Sheepwash Road - a major thoroughfare of the Southern Highlands and
* the Illawarra Highway at Robertson - another major thoroughfare of the Southern Highlands)

2) clanging and clanking as its 200 - 250 wheels move over the junction
points that it has to traverse to cross the main southern line to go from Berrima to the Illawarra or Illawarra to Berrima. The act of traversing the junction points, and therefore the subsequent noise which will ensue will occur 8 times per day (of which 3 of these times will be at night when I, and most other Moss Vale residents are trying to sleep.)

In conclusion I would like to point out that Hume Coal is the newcomer to the area and yet, by its proposed operation, it is going to impose hardship and suffering to long established residents. Just because they have the money and the might, doesn't mean they have the right and as such I recommend that the proposed Hume Coal Project be rejected.

I object to the Berrima Rail Project and believe that it should be rejected because:

* Dangerous coal dust and diesel emissions from coal trains pose a threat to human health.

* Noise Pollution created by the coal trains will be ongoing and is a hazard to the health and well being of neighbors to the rail project.

* Hume Coal's trains will add an extra 24 minutes of closures at rail level crossings every day. This creates unacceptable delays on emergency service response times.

* Rich heritage areas and farmland will be destroyed.

I urge the Government to reject this project and protect the Southern Highlands, by supporting a vision for a sustainable and coal-free future for this region.

As a nation, we need to manage our assets with thought to both our own and future generations. The challenge for our society is prudent utilisation of our natural resources such as coal to fund our Country's and out People's needs. Funding for such nationally important systems such as the NDIS, Medicare, and Social Security does not appear from thin air. This project will contribute much needed export income while supporting existing local industry.
As a `first workings' only operation, it will have negligible impact on the overlying strata and leave the land surface effectively unchanged.
The Berrima Rail Project is a critical part of the Hume Coal Project. Both should be allowed to proceed as they constitute a responsible use of valuable national resources, which will be extracted with minimal environmental impact, and will provide much needed regional employment. This latter benefit is so important to a generation of young Australians facing a remarkably fog-ridden set of career options.

I support the Berrima Rail Project. I have lived in New Berrima for the past 30 years. I was born and bred in the southern highlands (52 years now) after working for Boral for the past 30 years I am very excited to see a new business in the area, not to mention the jobs it will bring along side working with the Hume Coal.

I strongly object to the proposal by Hume Coal re the Berrima Rail Project.
There are a number of rail crossings, especially across major roads at Sheepwash Rd, Suttor Road and at Illawarra Road Robertson that would be significantly affected. This would result in potential accidents,traffic delays, access by emergency service vehicles and other community services. When the time these access roads would be impacted is considered it results in long delays resulting in impatient drivers and potential ongoing accidents.
The noise factor would be unacceptable in areas such as Moss vale and Robertson who already have to endure freight train noise.
I urge the planning minister to reject this proposal.