My name is James Faulkner. I reside at 756 Marsh Road, Bobs Farm and have
lived there for well over 30yrs.
I strongly OPPOSE the proposed Sand Mine Project on numerous grounds
(please see attached detailed Submission in pdf).

PLEASE FIND SUBMISSION ATTACHED AS PDF DOCUMENT

PSK's submission is attached in .pdf format.

I strongly object to the proposed sand mine at Bobs Farm.

To whom it may concern,
My name is Jessica Faulkner and I'm a resident of Bobs Farm and have
been for 26 years.
I'm writing in regards to the proposal of the AMMOS Resource
(Tattersall Lander Pty Ltd) sand mine
planned to be where the Fig and Olive Farm is along Nelson Bay Road.
Being a past Native Animal rescuer, committee member and carer for
WINC (Wildlife In Need Of Care), I
am quite concerned for the population, habitat, housing and food
source for many species which rely on
the vegetation IN the Fig and Olive Farm and also the surrounding
areas.
I have Studied Certificate 2 in Animal Studies, Certificate 2 in
Agriculture and Certificate 3 in Captive
Animals which covers a vast knowledge of conservation, species
distribution, environmental impacts on
species, and I am very passionate about native fauna and flora, so I
do have some knowledge of the
impacts this sand mine would have on the targeted area and
surroundings.
The main concerns I have about this proposed sand mine are:
 Destruction of habitat/ecosystems of vulnerable and
endangered species, and old growth forest
which exists in the area.
 Destruction of ancient sand dunes and an indigenous heritage
area.
 Effects this mine will have on the surrounding farming
community and me such as:
 traffic due to the proposed 200 trucks a day exiting on Marsh
road in a designated school
zone and Nelson Bay road
 depletion of water levels in the underground water tables
 changing the salinity of the water tables
 habitat disturbances
 silica dust, Diesel fumes and/or other pollutions
 chemical and/or toxic runoffs
 soil degradation
 Noise pollution
 Potential rainwater contamination
Due to the close proximity where the proposed sand mine will be and
the recent large road upgrade as
well as the current land clearing for construction of the Sunrise
Lifestyle Resort located 3kms away on
Nelson Bay Road, it will disturb species territories once again which
could have an even bigger impact on
their species survival and will cause an imbalance in the targeted and
surrounding ecosystem and habitat.
When the construction began for the extension of Nelson Bay Road, a
vast amount of trees were cut down
as well as land clearing which had a huge impact on the native fauna
and flora. The surrounding Koala
population had been pushed further away from their original
territories which caused a lot of stress within
a koala community putting stress on the population, and when they
stress, they are more susceptible to
catching and shedding diseases/illnesses. Not only are their immune
systems impacted by the stress of the
destruction of their territory and habitat but migrating to a new
territory adds more hazards for the
population such as being hit my cars when being forced to migrate, and
being attacked by predators in the
new territory etc.
Where AMMOS plans to create a sand mine, there exists a dwindling
koala population which will most
likely no longer exist IF the sand mine were to be approved. The local
organisation "Hunter Koala
Preservation Society" is trying their hardest to assist the vulnerable
koala population within this area and
another impact like this (Sand mining) will only make it harder. We
WILL see an increase in animal rescues
around the site of the sand mine and this is something I wish not to
see.
Koalas are only ONE of many species which will be greatly affected if
there were to be sand mining in Bobs
Farm.
I live on a property on Marsh Road which is attached by our south and
western boundary to the property
which AMMOS has bought. The property I live on is approximately 150
meters from our drive way to where the trucks will be exiting on Marsh
Road and 30 meters from our closest boundary to where the
trucks driveway goes through their property where they will be exiting
on and its length goes for about 90
meters along our boundary.
Being in such close proximity to 200 trucks a day, not only will it be
a highly significant disturbance to not
only my family but to all other adjoining properties to which some are
even closer.
My property has been home to many Bush Stone Curlews over the many
years of living here.
The Bush Stone-curlew is listed as Endangered (Schedule 1) on the NSW
Threatened Species Conservation
Act 1995, and has suffered a dramatic decline in abundance across
southern and eastern Australia. It was
once a common species of open grassy woodlands, occurring widely
throughout NSW. The species now
occurs in very low densities at scattered locations west of the Great
Dividing Range and isolated patches
along the northeast and central coast of the state.
Oakvale Farm and Fauna Word (where I previously volunteered for 2
years) has a conservation program in
place for this species to help build the numbers in this and
surrounding areas. They have been taking part
in this program for many years and it would have devastating adverse
effects on this effort if this sand
mine were to be approved seeing as there have been multiple sightings
of these birds inhabiting this area
(multiple sightings roughly 1km away from the Fig and Olive farm).
The Fig and Olive farm property as well as the surrounding bushland
also houses a large population of Grey
Headed Flying fox as well as other flying fox species.
The Grey Headed Flying Fox is listed as
Vulnerable due to having to compete with
humans for prime coastal habitat. Due to many
other projects within Port Stephens and
surrounding areas where habitat destruction has
occurred, it has pushed away the colonies which
resided there which has caused an increase and
more concentrated population with a lot of
properties in Bobs Farm and Salt ash INCLUDING
where the proposed sand mine is to be.
Here is a photograph I took of the colony taking
flight. The first photo is taken roughly 1km away
from the proposed sand mine site. The second
photo was taken from my back yard where you
can see the colony taking flight over the sand hill,
right above where the sand mine is proposed to
be.
Photos supplied in attached document.
Due to the location of this proposed
sand mine, it is surrounding many
local farms and businesses that will
be effected by this sand mine,
whether that be by traffic due to the
proposed 200 trucks a day exiting on
Marsh Road, depletion of water
levels in the underground water
tables, changing the salinity of the
water tables, habitat disturbances,
silica or other pollutions, chemical or
toxic runoffs, soil degradation, sound
pollution etc.
In sand mining procedures where
dredging is being performed,
dredging results in lowering of the
alluvial water table which, in turn, directly affects groundwater
storage capacity. Excessive dredging allows
for saline intrusion into groundwater. The lowered water table implies
a rise in water costs, thus restricting
access to only those who can afford it. It results in habitat loss
including destruction and fragmentation of
fragile, endangered ecosystems and reduced species richness. My
property relies A LOT on the
underground water tables to water livestock, and it would greatly
affect us if it were to deplete or if
contents were to change.
Mines can affect surface runoff and groundwater quality through
contamination with dissolved and
suspended materials. Mines can de-water groundwater aquifers some
distance from shafts or open
pits, which can make nearby wells or groundwater bores run dry.
Would my property be affected if it were to flood? Seeing as the
proposed sand mine is on the high
side of an ancient dune and my property is on the lower land below the
ancient dune, would the lower
properties be affected by chemical runoff even more so when prone to
flooding?
Another one of my main concerns with this proposal is the
inappropriate location.
This sand mine has proposed to have 200 trucks a day exiting into a
designated school zone ONLY 20
meters away from the local public school (Bobs Farm Public School,
where I once was school captain). For
many years it has been a great concern that "Hay Enterprises" (the
earth moving company which AMMOS
will have access to with their trucks) has their many trucks
disrupting the school and local traffic along
Marsh Road. "Hay Enterprises" is located to the rear left side of my
property and it produces a lot of noise
pollution with their loud banging from their trucks and machinery.
This will only become a lot worse with
an extra 200 trucks exiting from "Hay Enterprises" property.
I'm concerned that Marsh Road isn't capable of withstanding an extra
200 trucks a day for 15 years. The
road is poorly maintained, full of potholes, cracks, not lines etc and
there has already been MANY road
accidents on the east end of Marsh road where the trucks will be
existing onto Nelson Bay Road.
The traffic along Nelson Bay road (where Marsh Road starts as well as
all through the sand hills) during
holiday season the traffic banks up for kilometres. With the amount of
trucks that will be exiting on to
Marsh Road then onto Nelson Bay road, this will cause terrible traffic
conditions for a town that's a popular
holiday destination. This could then result in our Holiday destination
being turned away by people due to
poor access and poor traffic conditions which will put people's safety
at risk.

It would be such a shame to see this mine being approved as it will
also affect the value of all properties
surrounding the location which includes my parent's property which
will be my siblings and I inheritance.
To sum up my response to this proposal I do have some requests:
 I request that this sand mine proposal to be rejected! It
will have great effects on the targeted and
surrounding habitat as well as adverse impacts on the surrounding
farmers and residence. I feel
that this proposed sand mine is poorly situated and doesn't belong in
such a beautiful holiday area.
 I also request for an extension on the exhibition period for
the EIS so that the larger community
can have enough time for all to assess and understand it. The EIS was
released during the busiest
time for all of us in Port Stephens being a holiday destination and
being the summer holidays.
 Funding for a peer review of the EIS submitted with the
proposal is supplied by the developer due
to concerns of a conflict of interests with local MP's (Bruce
Mackenzie, local MP owns and
operates another sand mine locally - Macka's Sand, and has personal
interest in the industry) DA
approval processes may be swayed by personal economic interests.
 There are a number of cases in which independent reviews of
EIS have aided communities
in reviewing state significant development proposals in the extractive
industry.
For example: Bogabri/Maules Ck state significant Dev. Mine
 If the sand mine were to be approved, choose another location
(such as on Nelson Bay road) to exit
the trucks on a road away from the primary school.
 To have the local wildlife rescue groups (WINC-Wildlife In
Need Of Care, Hunter Koala Preservation
Society) on call during the time in which the vegetation and old
forest were to be destroyed.
 Ongoing monthly testing of all possible pollutants such as
Silica dust (which can cause Silicosis),
ground/soil testing, hydrology reports of salinity and aquifer levels
on site and neighbouring
properties within a 20km radius, at the cost of the operator, by a
professional independent
scientific organisation.
I urge you take all these concerns and information into consideration
when determining the end results
and fate for our beautiful land where this proposed mine will be, and
consider the effects it will have on
the farming producers surrounding the proposed site, the vulnerable
flora and fauna, as well as the local
primary school. Are the short term gains more valuable than our long
term community welfare and the
long term suffering it will inflict if this mine were to be approved?
Regards,
Jessica Faulkner of Bobs Farm NSW.