Martins Creek Quarry Project

Dear Sir/Madam
I oppose the Martins Creek Quarry Expansion for the following reasons- truck noise, traffic congestion, safety and deterioration of local roads, quality of life, devaluation of property and destruction of native vegetation causing loss of wildlife.

I have not made a reportable political donation.
Yours sincerely, Anne Kleinschafer

see attachment up loaded

I disapprove of the Martins Ck Quarry expansion as it will affect my quality of life in this peaceful township of Paterson.I have lived here all my life of 60 years an never have I came face to face with an insane proposal like this that is being put forward by Daracon.

see attached file

I object to the proposed Martins Creek Quarry expansion.
I have lived in the Paterson area for 30 years. The last 7 years living in Sloane Street, paterson, 2 houses back from the main road through Paterson.
I experience daily disruption to my lifestyle by loads, rattling trucks driving through the village from 5.30 am. The noise is deafening,the house shakes, my house gets covered in diesel grime when the trucks are running on contract, with convoys of trucks ruining daily life.
The noise has to be experienced to totally understand the impact,it is brain deadening loud with load rumbling coupled with the dogs on the trucks bouncing and jarring side to side.
The trucks exceed the speed limit. It is dangerous trying to walk across the road on the corner at the post office or in front of the shops. When two or more trucks pass in these village streets it is dangerous and pedestrians take their lives into their hands trying to navigate the road.
I have experienced trucks driving erratically and far too fast along Gresford Road and Tocal Road, the bridge over the Paterson River is dangerous when 2 trucks are passing, 40 trucks per hour travelling each way is going to make living and travelling in the small Paterson village a daily danger.
I am the local real estate agent, specialising in selling rural properties.
Buyers are not interested in buying properties along the truck routes,or will only buy at reduced pricing.
Owners of these properties are forced to either under sell or hold on to their properties because they can't afford to sell. Most love where they live, and want to live in their chosen lifestyle location, without quarry trucks ruining their lifestyle.
A lot of property owners have lived in these properties for all their lives, or many years, and we'll before any escalation of quarry use.
When I moved into the area 30 years ago, quarry trucks were rare, with most rock going out on the train with out any impact on local lifestyles.
I ask that serious consideration be given to rail transport.
The current use and proposed escalation of quarry use also impacts on the View Street Vacy area and Merchants Road areas as well as the Martins creek residents.
Property marketability has been impacted anywhere along any of the 9 roads that the trucks use.
The proposed escalation of quarry use and road transport is too extreme for the close communities surrounding the quarry and the roads and bridges that the trucks pass over will continue to be damaged and congested by the trucks.
The fact that the Dungog Shire has continued legal action against the quarry to try to enforce the legal use of the quarry, costing rate payers over $120,000, is to be both applauded in support of our Council, and deplored that the quarry can continue illegal current use of the quarry and at the same time submit a new Dafoe expanded use and transport.
The fact that rate payers money is paying for action against Daracon, and also paying for road repairs caused by quarry trucks is totally frustrating.
What other company can continue to function illegally and not be penalised, or restricted in its operations. I have to function legally as an agent or I lose my real estate agents licence, there are rules and regulations for different types of professions and business operation, yet Daracon can continue on running their quarry business outside the legal guidelines and at the same time ruin local peoples lives and health.
The proposed escalation of quarry hours, blasting, crushing with noise and dust and vibrations causing property damage and roads being further congested by trucks and associated road and bridge damage, is too extreme for the surrounding confined communit.
I ask that the current DA and EIS be rejected.

The noise and visual impact of trucks running past these homes is a definite restriction on obtaining true market value.

The last 6 months the mornings are unbearable unable to sit outside due to the truck noise......
Mufflers and gearing truck noise,from 5am on.
Windows rattle, some travel at 80k.
The high volume of trucks increase daily
But again council will only look at the money not this as they said I live on a road.
But what about the safety of children catching buses on a road.?
Priceless

I oppose the Martins Creek Quarry expansion for the following reasons.
I object to the increased hours of operation and extra trucks on the roads. There are already too many trucks using Tocal/Paterson Road.
I am extremely concerned for the deterioration of the existing roads and the safety of residents who rely on them with the increased truck usage.
This area has many young families and children use Paterson road to ride to school .Their lives will be put at risk with increased number of trucks using the road.
I am concerned with the devaluation of my property value.
There should be no expansion of the quarry , indeed the existing rail link should be used to cart the material NOT trucks destroying existing road surfaces.

I have not made a reportable political donation.

Letter in support of the application.

See uploaded Submission below

This project will create long-term jobs and increase the economy of the local area. This is important in maintaining social and economic sustainability.

Please see attached letter

I have been an employee of Daracon for approximately 7 years now and know the importance the Martins Creek facility is to the overall business structure. Daracon directly employs a large number of people and contractors within the local community.
The Martins Creek quarry is a vital and necessary source of quality hardrock materials to the local and extended construction industry.
The construction industry relies on the Quarry as one of only a couple of hard rock suppliers in the region and if the Hunter Valley is to prosper and grow, Martins Creek Quarry will be required to provide the necessary materials for major infrastructure projects.
The Quarry provides materials to many projects crucial to the growth and prosperity of the region: road construction, housing, railway construction and other public infrastructure.

* As a long term employee of Daracon I have been lucky enough to have been employed continuously through hard times, through the down turn in the mining industry and the GFC
* I also know of many projects outside of Daracon that also rely on the materials available from Martins Creek Quarry. I believe it is one of only 3 hard rock quarries of this kind in the region.

Being an employee of Daracon I rely on this family company to provide me a weekly wage & the expansion would certinally cement my future employment with a great company.

I have been employed by Daracon for just over 1 year but have worked as a subcontractor throughout the company for just over 5 years including work at Martins Creek Quarry. I am based out of the Mt Thorley workshop which maintain contract crushing equipment and mobile plant used within the Daracon Quarries. Martins Creek Quarry is a big part of the organisation and supports many of the infrastructure jobs Daracon undertakes which helps keep myself in a job.

I oppose the Martins Creek Quarry Expansion.
My reasons for opposing the expansion areas follows.
1. The increase in road truck movements on suburban roads through Paterson and Bolwarra Hghts. These truck movements are not to a consistent pattern and will vary from low to high depending on demand for the product. No coal operation in the Hunter Valley would be given approval to haul the planned amount of product through suburban streets
2.Daracon has access to rail transport and could construct an up to date train loading facility and an unloading hub and railway siding in an industrial area closer to markets but is unwilling to commit the capital for this even though the quarry will have at
least a 20 year life.
The neighbouring properties to the quarry will be affected by dust and noise by the extension of operating hours as will all residents in the suburban areas that they intend to haul the product through.

I have been Employed with Daracon for the past 15 months.

Martins Creek Quarry is a major part of Daracon and without the availability of materials from this quarry, many projects of Daracon's, other private companies and also government bodies would struggle to source hard rock materials from the region and beyond.

I have seen the positive work safe and environmental attitudes of staff on site at Martins Creek and Managements support of HSEQ systems in place for Martins Creek Quarry, and i believe that the expansion of the quarry would be done with the safety of workers, and the community, whilst doing so in the most environmentally responsible way possible.

I have been employed by Daracon for the last seven years. With the expansion of the quarry the future for my employment and local jobs looks good for myself and the community and our children's future.

* As a long term employee of Daracon I have been lucky enough to have been employed continuously through hard times, through the down turn in the mining industry and the GFC
* I also know of many projects outside of Daracon that also rely on the materials available from Martins Creek Quarry. I believe it is one of only 3 hard rock quarries of this kind in the region.
* I believe the Quarry plays an important part within not just the Daracon group but also in the supply to many projects within the Hunter Valley area and to numerous local businesses.
* 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.
* For the region to grow at the rate we would like, and at a rate reported in the Hunter Regional Plan 2036, not only do we need to support local jobs but we also need to be able to service the demand of a growing population with the necessary construction materials.

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I have been employed by Daracon in the Environmental space for two years. I personally am passionate about the environment and the need to protect it. If I think about the big picture: NSW is about to hit a construction boom which will require hard rock materials. Those materials need to come from somewhere or we can't move forward as a state with adequate facilities to support our growing population. The net detriment to the environment will be less if you extract those materials from an existing quarry (including expansions) than if you open up a new quarry to source the material. Transporting the materials locally would also produce less greenhouse gas emissions than if they were to come from further away.
I know that there are a lot of quarries in the Hunter Valley but there are only a couple existing in the region of Martins Creek that produce hard rock. Inevitably if the economy needs more hard rock, I think Martins Creek Quarry is as good to expand as any. It would mean that the infrastructure projects I am employed on can be priced competitively for quarry materials and ultimately keep the jobs coming. Daracon are fundamentally a good bunch of people, supporting local communities and initiatives. Hopefully we can be rewarded with the opportunity to extend our operations at Martins Creek and prove that we can safely deliver quality materials to NSW projects whilst limiting the overall environmental impact of extracting materials for essential NSW developments.