Good afternoon

As an extremely concerned resident within close proximity to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry, I strongly object to this project progressing.
I hold concerns for the long-term effects of environmental and health impacts.

The current infrastructure/roads are nor safe or suitable for consistent heavy vehicle machinery movements and it should not be the responsibility of government (tax payers) to upgrade these to benefit the Monaro Rock and their business when land purchased within this vicinity was of the understanding this is a quiet, safe and residential community.
The increased traffic and health implications will have a major effect on the already over overwhelmed infrastructure and health needs for both ACT and NSW government.
The effects of noise pollution, dust and air quality and the health and wellbeing will impact all residence near and far.
I request mine and all other applicants who oppose this project be considered at the highest level by the appropriate decision makers.

Kind regards
Leticia

Good afternoon,
I write as a very concerned resident in relation to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry on Mates Road, Royalla.

My husband and I were born and bred in Newcastle, otherwise referred as "Steel City". As middle-aged people now and with young children, the ongoing effects of our childhoods growing up amidst dust from the BHP Steelworks at Mayfield, the dust from the uncovered trains rattling to Newcastle Port from the Hunter Valley's numerous coalmines, as well as the lead poisoning from the former Pasminco lead smelter in Boolaroo, Lake Macquarie, is truly not known at this stage. This is of particular concern as my older sister (aged 49) has been diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease, which causes lifelong inflammation of the heart's arteries. There is much evidence globally linking Kawasaki disease to lead poisoning. My older sister was exposed to lead while playing in the dirt in my parent's backyard of their home in Speers Point in the late 1970s. Speers Point is the neighbouring suburb to Boolaroo, NSW. In the late 1970s, Pasminco was a thriving plant, employing many locals.
My parents moved from Speers Point to another Lake Macquarie suburb across the lake to ensure a cleaner environment for my older brother and myself. When my husband and I took redundancy from our journalism careers with Fairfax Media in Newcastle and pursued more-secure government work in Canberra, ACT, we chose Royalla for the space, quietness, safe roads and clean air that it could offer us and our two young children. My parents were particularly pleased that we had chosen a quiet country haven away from the heavy industry of Hume and Queanbeyan in which to raise our family.

As a resident of Royalla, and whose property overlooks the proposed quarry, I am deeply concerned. My main points of concern are as follows:
1. Air quality - as outlined above, this is of utmost importance to us given we are from Newcastle and grew up with heavy industry on our doorsteps.
Additionally, we currently already have two existing quarries nearby - one located within Royalla itself, and the other being Holcim, located off Quarry Road, Queanbeyan. My understanding is that both of these quarries are not operating anywhere near their capacities, and have decades of life left yet. I question why, despite the rapid growth of the Googong township that I have personally witnessed since September 2018, and of which Googong neighbours these existing quarries, why both of these existing quarries have still not needed to expand their operations to anywhere near their capacities to meet the demand for new dwellings. It is clear that, with the existing two quarries nowhere near their capacities despite Googong's unprecedented growth in recent years, that a third quarry is currently not needed to service the demand for new dwellings.
2. Additional traffic - for those who live in Royalla, most use the Monaro Highway as our quickest link to the city and work. Using the Monaro Highway can get us into the city and logged onto our computers within 25 minutes. The initial draft plan proposed using Old Cooma Road, however, this plan was edited to enable the proposed additional 500 trucks per day to access and exit the site from the Monaro Highway. As a resident of Royalla who uses the intersection of Old Cooma Road and the Monaro Highway daily, I am particularly attune to the dangers of this intersection.
I have grave fears for an additional 500 trucks on this stretch of road, and given it has a marked 100 km/h speed limit. I would like to add that the 100 km/h zone is simply what is marked for the stretch of road, not what cars and trucks currently using this highway currently adhere to. From June until the end of September during the snow season, it is particularly busy trying to access the Monaro Highway, and this is at all times of the day, not just during morning and afternoon peak times. I fear that having the addition of trucks onto the highway would result in an increase in fatalities in this already very dangerous stretch of road.
3. Depreciation of house values - like all Australian families, our dream has been to own our home. We were lucky enough that Canberra offered us the opportunity to rebuild our lives after redundancy and find steady employment. We have worked very hard like many Australian families and are deeply concerned by the current and future impacts of depreciation of value on our home. Our home is our nest egg, of which its value will allow us to retire without the need for government support.
4. Degradation of roads - we have lived in Royalla since September 2018 and have watched the expansion of the Googong township. The damage to the roads particularly between Fernleigh Drive, Googong, and Wellsvale Drive, Googong, is particularly of concern. This road is thin, disintegrating and is exposed to heavy traffic including B double trucks servicing the new Googong expansion opposite Fernleigh Drive. Sometimes driving along this very narrow and pot-holed road while passing a large truck in the rain with my two children in the backseat and also keeping an eye out for kangaroos is very stressful. I fear that the same level of degradation of the Monaro Highway will occur. The Monaro Highway is exposed to local commuters from Royalla, Michelago and Cooma driving to Canberra, and snow traffic for four months of the year., of which Old Cooma Road is not exposed. An additional daily load of 500 trucks will only increase degradation of the highway.
5. Noise - my understanding is that the extraction of rock will be done without blasting. While I understand and accept this, I would like to point out that the logistical equipment needed to transport the material including large B double trucks do make noise. From my front, side and rear veranda I can hear the cars driving on the Monaro Highway. The addition of 500 trucks turning into and out of the quarry onto the Monaro Highway will undoubtedly result in additional noise to my property, particularly when this involves the acceleration and deceleration of B Double trucks, which weigh in excess of 60 tonnes.

I am strongly opposed to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry at Royalla due to the above mentioned reasons.

This is a ridiculous proposal. To create something that is so potentially dangerous and disruptive, so close to homes and farms, and which has the potential to endanger the health of thousands for decades to come is preposterous. There must be dozens of other sites further away from peoples lives which could be utilized. This is greed gone mad. It absolutely should not go ahead in this location!

The noise, dust and debris, traffic and manufacturing processes associated with this project will greatly impact the safety, health and well-being and quality of life of the Royalla, Tuggeranong and Googong communities. The proposed hours of operation are excessive, as are the quantities of explosive materials to be used, rocks to be extracted and other soil and materials to be disturbed. Fauna and flora will be also be severely compromised, not just on site but in surrounding areas.
Notwithstanding the horrendous potential of airborne particles of who knows what that will be created and dispersed during and possibly beyond the hours of operation, the issue that will in my view most impact our safety and routine of our day to day lives is traffic - I cannot imagine that the horrendous impact and incidence of accidents and near misses on the Monaro Highway, and the number of animal collisions on the Old Cooma Road and the Monaro Highway, is not known to planning and other government authorities.
As the wife of a (now deceased) politician representing this part of regional NSW I have travelled hundreds of trips on the Monaro Highway - all seasons, all times, all conditions, all destinations. This highway has its perilous reputation with good reason, and the current roadworks at Hume aren’t going to make an iota of difference to the behaviour of temperamental drivers during the snow season, commuters on slippery surfaces in the winter, mad overtakers coming from the coast in summer, and increasing numbers of Googong residents just trying to turn right at the Old Cooma Road in broad daylight or a murky dawn to get to work.
I fear I, and many families, shall have to limit younger drivers’ road use should this quarry be approved - one has to exercise pretty stringent judgement before letting a teen driver run into Calwell or Queanbeyan for groceries on any heavy traffic days at present….the presence of monstrous quarry trucks would rule this option out completely. The road taxes to be imposed on the vehicles are ludicrously small, and that revenue will go nowhere near repairing the damage to the roads that they will cause.
As I’ve driven all over this region for many years I’ve seen lots of places that would be worth investigating as potential quarry sites, with far, far fewer vulnerabilities than the current location. Selfishly, I believe that the services I shall eventually need to stay in my home will not be provided at Royalla if the quarry is here - employers will exercise their OHS responsibilities to staff and forbid placements in this region.
It remains my belief that the developers of this project should be obliged to nominate an alternative location further from residential housing, and served by safer roads.
Thank you for the opportunity to register this opposition. Anne Molan

I object to any more of our ebvironment being destroyed for financial gain. Please protect our environment, we cannot get it back k and we are leading to collapse with our greed and not working with our environment and its animals and plant species. Please please no new mining or quarries for corporate gain and environmental loss, we are still suffering and will for many years, from our current ones. Noone wants live in a dead barren earth with no nature that has been blasted for a mine that we dont even benefit from financially, we just have to live near and suffer from it.
Canberra resident, who lives here for the nature it contains.

I am writing to express my concern and opposition to the proposed Monaro Rock Quarry.
We have lived at 1466 old Cooma Road Googong since 2002. We moved to the area when this part of Old Cooma Road was a stretch of dirt road to the Monaro Highway. We considered it to be, and still do, our little valley in the quiet countryside. Things have certainly changed over the years which have benefited the area and population as a whole. But this latest proposal will certainly not be a benefit.

Impact on our working life
• The quarry is located just over Beatty Hill which boarders our property. As an artist, (www.michaelalaurie.gallery) the noise from intermittent blasting, numerous large trucks travelling long Old Cooma Road and machinery operating in the quarry will be very invasive and disturbing.
The inevitable dust carried by the very strong winds which sweep across the hill and this valley throughout the year, will impact my studio in ways I hate to think about. My art materials, quality fine art papers, printers, art scanner, and computer will be adversely affected. I don’t wish to wear noise cancelling headphones during my daily workday. Why should I have to. And I do not want to have to spend thousands of dollars on building a dust proof workplace. And I should not have to replace my expensive equipment on a regular basis due to damage from dust and possible electricity problems caused by the quarry and its other operations.
• My husband’s Yuzu orchard will be very adversely affected by dust and pollution settling on the leaves and the annual fruit production which will be going to market.

Impact of our home and way of life
• Dust from the quarry will impact the efficiency of our solar panels and we will therefore incur extra costs for cleaning the panels to keep up the efficiency.
• Dust from the quarry will impact our drinking water. We are not on town water, so all our drinking water is collected from rain falling on the roof of our house and shed. Dust will be washed off the rooves during rain and when frost in winter melts and contaminate our drinking water. Are they prepared to put filtration systems on every water tank in the region?
Dust from the quarry will impact the air we breath each and every day. Our health will be compromized.

Impact on the area
• Old Cooma Road is noted by the NRMA as one of the most wildlife accident prone roads in NSW. There is a natural wildlife corridor along Jerrabomberra Creek which crosses under Old Cooma Road. Heavy vehicles will plough through wombats and kangaroos as they cross the road causing great danger.
• Trucks and vehicles entering and exciting both Monaro Highway in ACT and Old Cooma Road in NSW, will pose danger, extreme damage to roads and added air and noise pollution. The possible 500 daily trucks driving at 100Km an hour on our stretch of Old Cooma Road will cause disruption and be dangerous on the road, at intersections and at our drive which is just over the crest of a hill. The traffic congestion at the two intersections will be huge especially as the Dunn’s Creek project is years off even getting started.

Impact on the environment
• Disruption to the water table and risk of environmental damage to Jerrabomberra Creek, its wildlife and flowing downstream to Lake Burley Griffin.


• Past behaviour is an indication of behaviour moving forward. Sheep owned by the owners of Beatty Hill and the land proposed for the quarry show disrespect to both their animals and neighbours. Their animals are neglected – unshorn and diseased. Completely abandoned. Over many years we have repeatedly asked them to help maintain fences to prevent these same sheep looking for pasture on our land and that of many neighbouring properties. The response is yes, yes, yes but nothing happens. We are currently asking for the assistance of the council rangers to help resolve this issue. I can only be led to believe that this same lack of concern for other people and their land will be carried forward with their latest venture. This land is now marked as NSW biodiversity protected land area to offset the pollution caused by the quarry. A sign mysteriously appeared on our boarder fence informing us of this development. Will the current owners be responsible for maintenance of bordering fences to stop their sheep along with feral pigs and deer? Will they be concerned for this bushland when the vegetation becomes covered in dust?
• Building a quarry so close to a major solar farm in ACT is an act of selfish disregard.

The proposed Monaro Rock Quarry Project raises the following concerns for me;

- The site is too close to exisiting and potential future residential areas.

- The additional heavy vehicle traffic on the Monaro Highway will cause an increase in travel time when I travel to Canberra Central areas and Cooma. I expect additional intersections will be required for the high volume of traffic generated by the proposed rock quarry will see a reduction in speed limits. Furthermore, I have safety concerns with additional trucks regularly using the Monaro Highway given the high volume of vehicle crashes around the Hume area. I recall in recent years a fatality that involved a truck running into a car at the traffic lights. The additional truck traffic will likely increase noise levels and be an annoyance to me at my residence.

- The release of particulate matter, including silica dust is concerning. While the EIS states the levels are expected to be below acceptable levels, research on this matter is ongoing and being updated regularly. I fear that the increase in particulate matter associated with the proposed rock quarry will have a negative impact on my heath.

- The clearing of over 22 hectares of Box-Gum Woodland will further reduce the volume of this nationally endangered ecosystem, having a negative impact on many flora and fauna species.

Given my concerns I recommend that the proposed rock quarry be rejected.

My name is Mark Parton, and I am a Liberal Member for Brindabella in the ACT Legislative Assembly. My electorate covers the most southern part of the Territory, including the suburbs of Theodore, Conder, Richardson, and Isabella Plains.

Over the last month, my office has heard the concerns of numerous constituents around the proposed development of the Monaro Rock Quarry project in Royalla. Although the site is in NSW, many of my constituents have provided their feedback to my office, as their homes fall into the area identified by the EIS. Their concerns are attached.

I strongly object to the Monaro Rock Quarry Project for the following reasons:
- Current road infrastructure will not meet the increased demands of heavy trucks and machinery
- The traffic impacts of the increased traffic activity
- The increased levels of dust and implications on health this will have, I am particularly concerned regarding the high levels of silica
- The negative impact on property prices due to the above reasons