Martins Creek Quarry Project

As a resident of the area this quarry and it’s traffic movement will directly impact, we find it absurd that this is allowed to proceed.
This is a rural area with valuable flora and fauna at direct risk due to the incredible increase in trucks - 40 per hour.
The current traffic incurred by the quarry is ridiculous along with the driving manner of the truckies who are speeding through at school bus times, through the small residential village of Paterson and soon through the residential area of bolwarra and maitland.
This pristine rural area along with the adjoining residential areas do not deserve to be polluted with the hideous levels of truck traffic, let alone the environmental damage that will be caused by this quarry expansion.
This environmental degradation must stop

I do not support the Martins Creek Quarry expansion, keep Paterson and surrounds roads safe!

I am concerned with three aspects of this project.

The first aspect is the inevitable increase in dust in the quarry region, and also along the corridor of truck movement from the quarry throughout Maitland area. While mitigation strategies may manage some level of dust, there will be an unavoidable increase that impacts the amenity of the region. This directly detracts from the air quality and health that residents in the area value. The increase in truck traffic will additionally directly impact air quality in terms of engine fumes.

The second aspect is road safety in the corridor of truck movement through Bolwarra Heights. This is a narrow stretch of suburban road in proximity to a well regarded public school. The traffic in the area is already exceptionally busy with buses, commuters and cyclists and added vehicles will increase congestion - which increases the likelihood of vehicle accidents. It is unclear to me why a suburban corridor has been chosen to transport such a large number of trucks to the detriment of a suburb that is already subject to significant traffic congestion.

The third aspect relates to truck noise. The transport corridor between Bolwarra Heights BP service station and Bolwarra Flat Road roundabout is proximate to where my family and I live. I value the absence of industrial noise, and heavy traffic movement. I made a specific decision to move to the area because of its distance from arterial roads with excess traffic, truck compression braking, etc. I realise there has always been trucking in the area, but the proposed project will bring the level of noise that is excessive.

To whom it may concern,
I am writing to let you know that I formerly oppose the proposed Martins Creek quarry expansion due to the following impacts:
- Increased traffic on local roads including Paterson Road which already has significant traffic particularly during peak times associated with school and work hours (as outlined in the traffic assessment). As a local businesses owner and Paterson Road resident, the increase in traffic would be extremely hazardous to myself and my family trying to enter and exit our property, particularly as it is not uncommon for people to regularly speed in the area (again, as shown in the traffic assessment). With the current volume of traffic particularly between 6am-9.30am and 2-7.30pm it is dangerous to enter and exit our property with our vehicles that we require for our trade services business. Any increase in vehicles will make these periods more dangerous and make entry and exit to property dangerous at other times during the day. Increase in traffic will likely cause accidents and fatalities.
- The truck movements will also increase noise, dust, exhaust fumes and damage to the road.
If the project goes ahead, it is recommended that the company installs speed sensors in all vehicles to ensure vehicles are not speeding, have a dedicated hotline for locals to report incidents, limit the number of trucks leaving and returning during the peak hours listed above, complete an assessment on private resident access if requested and mitigation works as required, reconsider use of alternative routes to spread the traffic volume through the area or increase train movements if possible.

Rodney Hines
Director
R.M.H Built

I object to the Martins Creek Quarry Expansion. The proposed expansion will considerably increase the traffic on Paterson Road. This will impact myself & my family as we live in the Hunterglen Estate at Bolwarra Heights. The intersection of Hunterglen Drive & Paterson Road is already a very congested & dangerous intersection to get out of which will be made worse with more trucks on Paterson Road if this expansion goes ahead. The safety of school children who attend Bolwarra Public School also needs to be considered as there will be children who have to cross Paterson Road on the way to & from school. More trucks on the road will make Paterson Road a very dangerous and almost impossible road to cross for children and other pedestrians. There is currently no designated safe pedestrian crossing areas on Paterson Road. Another reason why this expansion should not go ahead is the proposed destruction of 21 hectares of Koala habitat. We need to protect all of the current Koala habitats considering the recent bushfires that destroyed so much of the areas that the Koalas lived in and killing countless Koalas and other native wildlife. The impact of not keeping these important wildlife areas will be the eventual extinction of Koalas so it is important that the expansion is not approved. If the expansion is approved the negative impacts on the environment and the local communities is huge so I strongly believe the expansion should be denied. Thank you.

I object to the project due to my concern about the number of trucks that will increase. The country roads surrounding the project are not capable of increase and would cause major safety concerns.

I own the property at the corner of Martins Creek Road and Paterson Road Paterson. I purchased this property following a stage IV cancer diagnosis in 2019 moving in 2020. With the intent that the property is my tranquil solitude, a place to mediate, relax and overcome my diagnosis. I have managed to overcome it and continue to have treatment (immunotherapy) every two weeks, with repeat scans every 12 weeks.

I am against Martins Creek Quarry. In recent months the trucks on Martins Creek Road going past the front of my property have increase dramatically, they start as early as 5;45 am and can be up to four or five trucks in a row, with a constant flow of trucks throughout the day. I find this to be noisy, disruptive, disturbing and unsafe and at times unbearable.

My daughter rides and keeps horses on the property and it is very dangerous to have the trucks bellowing past, using their air brakes and ripping to a stop at the front of our property. It is very dangerous to us stopping to turn into our driveway, with both oncoming trucks and trucks behind us flying around the corner with us stopped on the roadway. There is a school bus stop directly in front of the left hand side of our property and young children catch the bus their, they often have to leave the side of the roadway onto neighbouring properties to avoid the trucks, making it vey dangerous to their safety. No only this but the road as a weight restriction of 12 tonne, the trucks are continually destroying the road way on Martins Creek and Paterson Road, along with the coverage of the Paterson Bridge, this can be viewed on any day of the week. Their damage to our roads, causing damage to our motor vehicles. The current roadway is not sufficient for such heavy vehicles.

Further more I have significant concerns around the quarry and the SILICA DUST and proven cause of cancer, in particular lung cancer. Having been admitted to hospital in October 2020 for respiratory respiratory failure I find the prospect of the quarry quite concerning. I refer you directly to an article published by the Cancer Council Australia "Silica Dust - Cancer Council" Silica dust and cancer

Silica dust is harmful when inhaled into your lungs. As it is 100 times smaller than a grain of sand, you can be breathing it in without knowing.

Exposure to silica dust can lead to the development of lung cancer, silicosis (an irreversible scarring and stiffening of the lungs), kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is estimated that 230 people develop lung cancer each year as a result of past exposure to silica dust at work. Not all exposed workers will develop cancer; cancer risk increases with long-term or repeated high-level exposure.

Direct Link
https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/workplace-cancer/silica-dust

Approximately 587,000 Australian workers were exposed to silica dust in the workplace in 2011. It has been estimated that 5758 of these will develop a lung cancer over the course of their life as a result of that exposure.

The occupations with the greatest exposure include:

miners
construction workers
farmers
engineers.
You may be exposed to silica dust if your work involves:

breaking, crushing, grinding or milling material containing silica dust
sand blasting or casting
paving, surfacing or cement finishing
bricklaying
demolition work
road construction
stonemasonery
mineral ore-treating processes
manufacture of glass, ceramics, brick, concrete, tile, metals or machinery.

I personally have fought so hard to get to remission, I have been admitted to hospital on many occasions with Liver Failure, Respiratory Failure and other aliments, the opening upgrade to the Martins Creek Quarry will put all of that in jeopardy.

In addition, there is the impact on our local township and community. If you have ever been to the historic township of Paterson, you would know that is it difficult to negotiate and get a car park at any time of the day, let alone with hundreds of trucks per day passing through the town,

I thank you for your time and hope to take our safety and quality of life into account and deny the submission for extension of the Martins Creek Quarry.

I object to the proposal, based on my points in the attached letter

I oppose the Martins Creek Quarry Expansion

I strongly object to the expansion of Martins Creek Quarry on the grounds Daracon can not prove they will not harm the residents, community or environment.

The risks can not be ignored.

I wish to register my opposition to the proposed expansion by Daracon to their Martins Creek quarry. The massive five-fold expansion of this quarry's output would have a massive impact on the amenity of the region in increased air pollution from diesel exhaust, quarry dust, noise from blasting and truck, machinery and rail movements and hugely increased truck traffic on local roads.
The 20ha of land earmarked for the expansion is also recognised by Daracon's own BAR as being likely core koala habitat and a feeding area for the endangered Swift Parrot.
This original rail-ballast quarry owned by the people of NSW has become a profit generating machine for Daracon with no thought given to the overall impact of the quarry's expansion on local residents and wildlife (as usual).
Thank you for the chance to comment on this development application.

That a project of this scope in such a densely populated area has made it this far affirms that greed is trumping the needs of the community paying the price. Even if the submissions are few, as soon as this many trucks are on these roads you can bet that people will be driven to act. It's downright dangerous, literally risking the health and safety of our people, especially children. It's a class action waiting to happen, and as we have seen in the courts with mining individual government figures involved in approving them can and will be held personally accountable.

I strongly object to the Amended Development Application. (ADA). SSD-6612

I am a resident of Paterson and live on the No 1 Haul Route to Martins Creek Quarry. I live on Gresford Road in the 80km zone between the village of Paterson and the Dungog road turn off. Therefore, I am greatly impacted by the proposed maximum 280 truck movements per day.
I have experienced the total disregard Daracon has for the welfare and safety of the residents of Paterson and neighboring towns.
I have lived the nightmare of their unlawful operations, when truck movements were at their peak.

Social Impacts: I have not been contacted by any representative from Daracon. I have never been contacted by, or met Louise Neville, Daracon's public reprentative.

People come to Paterson to enjoy it's Historic surrounds, Buildings and to experience a somewhat untouched special village. The do not come to witness the operations of a gravel quarry. We live here because we love the small community feel, of knowing your local retailers by first name, wanting to help out in the community with sporting groups and working hard together to keep our village this way. Paterson is a gateway to Eaglereach stays , the Barrington Tops, the Upper Allyn, Gresford, Lostock and Gloucester, all offering camping and holiday accommodation. We rely on this passing traffic for a last minute stop for meat and groceries , fuel or a meal at one of our Hotels or Cafe's. The majority passing through on Thursdays or Friday, will not have an opportunity the park with caravans and campers attached when they are trying to navigate the proposed truck movements. I believe they will chose to continue through and stop somewhere safer. Our beautiful Tucker Park which is on Haul Route No 1 is often used for midweek Weddings, Birthday parties and family picnics. It will be an unpleasant and unsafe experience if this expansion is allowed to go ahead. The Tocal Agricultural College, also on Haul Route No 1, houses young students that frequent our roads and the historic Tocal Homestead, again on Haul Route No 1, entertains students from or local schools midweek. All of the attractions that bring people to Paterson will be compromised if up to 280 trucks per day travel the same roads.

My many concerns about the proposed expansion come from lived experiences.

Safety. I have witnessed a truck and dog leave the road out the front of my home, it managed to correct itself narrowly missing our boundary fence and a telegraph pole. The reality is, that where it left the road, only 15 minutes later, my son would have been waiting for the school bus. I rang the quarry extremely distressed and all I was asked was "are you sure the truck was coming to our quarry?". I said it was just like the other 40 that had been past that morning.
I witnessed a truck and dog stopped by a highway patrol outside my property. I asked the Policeman how fast the truck driver was going and he said that the driver was doing the speed limit, but was on his mobile phone. A truck and dog travelling at 80 km per hour on his mobile phone! On another occasion I was following my husband home, between us was truck tailgating him. When he indicated to enter our driveway the truck was travelling to close to see his indicator and had to break suddenly causing the dog to swing out onto the other side of the road. Just recently I followed an Ambulance into Paterson. It had lights and sirens on. Upon entering the village the ambulance came up behind a truck and dog. The truck had nowhere go get of the road until leaving the other side of the village. It had to pull over quite unsafely in front of our Museum. My concerns were for the person waiting on that Ambulance. How can this protect our community with an Emergency vehicle struggling to get through our village?
Our children learn to drive on our already compromised roads. It will be only a matter of time before there is a fatality if this amount of trucks are allowed to travel our country roads. In the past few years the traffic has increased significantly on the No 1 Haul route, due to subdivisions in the Vacy, Gresford and Dungog area. Also being the main route to Vacy, Gresford, Hilldale, Dungog, this road is already busy. On top of what truck movements Daracon propose to haul along this route, we also have Milk haulage trucks, fuel trucks, cattle trucks, chicken trucks, grocery trucks, just to name a few. These trucks are essential for our community and do not have an opportunity to transport via rail. Daracon have the opportunity to move their product by rail .



Safety in the village of Paterson is of great concern. I use our amenities daily. It's disturbing to watch our elderly trying to negotiate the road without the addition of a potential 280 truck movements per day. Also, parents often stop in the village after picking their children from our local School and Pre-school, calling into the Grocery store.
In a space of 500 meters we have an Independent Grocer, Butcher, Post Office, Church, Cafe, Service Station, School of Arts, Museum, Medical Center including a Pathology, Chemist, Hairdresser and a Bed and Breakfast/Restaurant. We also have two Hotel's in this vicinity. Therefore locals usually park and move around on foot. It will be impossible to move within our little village with potential extra 280 truck movements per day. This will not go without incident. We have school buses stopping all of the way through the Haul route.
I have witnessed product falling from trucks, some small and some quite large.
Property values will decrease significantly. Ask yourself, would you buy a property on a main haul route to a gravel quarry.

Noise. My children's bedrooms are 12 meters from the edge of Gresford Road, the proposed No 1 Haul route to Martins Creek Quarry. My bedroom is around 15 meters from the edge of the road. On any given day I can here an empty truck and dog approaching from about 1 km away. As our roads surfaces are already compromised, I can only describe it as a massive thunderstorm approaching, then as they pass it's like a car is driving past engaging its horn. During Daracon's illegal operations my family was woken to this noise around 5.30am every day. The trucks would move in convoys. I counted up to 30 trucks in around 5 minutes one morning. The trucks would gather outside our Historic Tocal Homestead. I rang the quarry and asked what time they were allowed to move through the village. The response I received was "as a courtesy, Daracon wait until 6am to come through the village" but "its a public road so other gravel carters can use it any time they want". I appreciate that East Maitland, Pitnacree, Bolwarra, Bolwarra Heights, Lorn, Mindaribba, Tocal and the residents of Paterson had to tolerate this noise earlier.

Air Quality: The diesel fumes are offensive. The dust that is created from the crushing of the rock is said to have a high Silica content. Even if the gravel is washed before leaving the quarry, what happens as it drys along the Haul Route. The product moves around in the back of the trucks and creates dust. We live in the country for the beautiful air quality not to inhale fumes and dust from the movements of up to 280 trucks past our front doors everyday.

Environmental impact: During the period when Daracon was found to be operating illegally, they extracted 5 hectares of material more than they should have. The have left a massive footprint. I don't understand how a rock pit can ever be rehabilitated. Any Koala population or native species must be protected. I have a large family of Kangaroos frequent my property, many often cross the road. Also Kookaburras and King Parrots frequent this area. Nothing will stand a chance with a truck and dog laden will rock travelling at 80kms per hour.

Health and Wellbeing: Unless you live on the main Haul Route to a gravel quarry it is hard to understand the impacts of so many truck movements can have on your health. Both physically and mentally. It consumes you. You become so focused and aware of every truck movement. Interrupted sleep, the stress of hoping my children leave and enter our driveway safely. My elderly parents and inlaws visit our property but we have to help them get safely out onto the road. My husband usually crosses to the other side of the road and waves them out when it is safe. I don't expect them to visit during the week if this amount of trucks are approved to travel this road. When we expressed our concerns at a Public Meeting we were told by David Mingay "if you don't like it then move". Sadly some of my friends have chosen to move, but we love where we live and don't want to move. Daracon do not care about the lives they will impact.

In conclusion, I ask that we do not loose another rural village in the Hunter Valley, with so much history and beauty to offer, to Mining.

This project with negatively impact my work immensely.

I oppose the project.
The amount of truck movements proposed would totally destroy the amenity of the villages and residential areas they pass through. The road network was never engineered for this amount of traffic. The current roads are being destroyed by normal traffic at present If you add more heavy vehicle the roads will fall apart.
The community village of Paterson will be vastly affected by the proposed roadworks in the middle of the village. The reason so many people live in this area is for the rural amenity which it provides. With the amount of trucks that are proposed this amenity will be destroyed along with the locally owned businesses and historic setting of the village.
The noise and vibration caused by the amount of trucks proposed will destroy the buildings in the Paterson village including my home. The last time the trucks were running at a rate anywhere near that proposed my house shook regularly my sleep was affect with the noise and the dust covered everything. I have enjoyed the peace and quiet since the quarry ceased due to its illegal activity.
The only reason the quarry is proposing the increase in truck movements is because the proponents claim it is unviable for them to sent their product out by rail. In other words they want the ratepayers of the affected LGAs to pay for their profit. I believe this is outrageous. The quarry was originally opened to supply the railway. they have rail access let them use it.
The quarry was in the right spot many years ago when it was opened but not now.

I would like to object to the proposal for the following reasons
1. Noise pollution through Paterson which is where we shop, go to the GP, chemist and meet friends for coffee.
2. Road congestion- truck movements are difficult to manoeuvrearound, enormous and intimidating especially as I am teaching my children to drive on these roads
3. Road quality - heavy vehicles on country roads will lead to potholes and crumbling road edges
4. Air quality- dust pollution
5. Drinking water pollution- we are on tank water at Duns Creek which is the suburb which backs onto the mountains of Martin's Creek
6. Community degradation- the township of Paterson is a small rural community. The roads are not designed to handle large truck movements and the noise makes talking and listening difficult at the roadside, churches and shops. A peaceful coffee is interrupted constantly by gear changes, accelerating and compression braking. It was miserable when trying to eat at the CBC when the trucks were 8n action previously. The change in the village since the cessation of activities at the quarry has been lovely with a notable increase in tourist visits. An increase in truck traffic will reduce the ability of the town to attract tourists.
7. Wildlife impact - habitat reduction, violent blasting with vibrations, noise pollution and increase in road kills from trucks.
The township is vehemently opposed to the Martin's Creek Quarry Project.

I strongly object to the Martins Creek Quarry Project
I cannot believe Government is even considering this project as it has been knocked back so many times before. This Project will create a phenomenal disruption to our daily lives because of the amount of trucks that would be using Paterson Road - creating noise, dust, broken up roads and traffic congestion. It is already a risk backing out onto Patterson Road now to join traffic. The Bolwarra Heights Park is getting updated putting in BBQ for family gatherings with children running around at different times of the day.
The round about to Flat Road will be broken up in no time not to mention the bottleneck that will obviously be bedlam at Melbourne Street Lights at East Maitland which is already a problem at certain times of the day. I think they should be forced to use the Rail for their transport they can surely afford it!!!

I object to the application to expand the Martins Creek Quarry Project. The growth in operations at the quarry has been excessive and improperly managed. In the Land and Environment Court Martins Creek Quarry was found to have ‘transformed’ from a railway ballast quarry into an unlawful general quarry and asphalt manufacturing business. The findings included ‘the company accepted the commercial risk “at their peril, in the expectation that they might not be stopped by a small rural council, despite ongoing breaches of the planning law, on the basis that they would be seen as contributing to the local employment and so the economy”. Daracon argued naivety and lack of knowledge, which is disgraceful, and not at all credible considering the size and scope of their regional operations.
Their reports and analysis do not take into consideration the increase of vehicle movements due to the approved expansion of Brandy Hill Quarry or recent growth around Bolwarra/East Maitland and surrounding areas. Dungog, Maitland and Port Stephens roads are all negatively impacted in terms of increased traffic, often on winding narrow roads, with sparodic shoulders, ill-equipped to handle large trucks passing one another or other road users. The condition and maintenance of roads is also impacted, with no concern for contributing towards the damage their trucks do until recent court action from Dungog Council highlighted the issue.
Unladen trucks are particularly noisy as they clunk and clatter down local roads, and laden trucks can be felt and heard as they move down local streets, my parents live on an acreage and feel their movement inside their house from 120m away. It is totally inappropriate to expose the small, historic hamlet of Paterson to the level of movements proposed by Daracon. The main street is compact and has a sharp turn, hundreds of truck movements around that corner poses a large risk. A number of the routes taken by trucks will impact on small local heritage listed bridges, these bridges are an important link for a growing community. These bridges were not made to have fully laden trucks regularly passing over them, it poses a risk to other road users and to the bridges themselves.
They propose to clear nearly 100 acres of native vegetation, in an area that is ecologically diverse and provides green corridors to endangered and vulnerable species such as Koala’s, Phascogales and Eastern Pygmy Possums. Previous submissions objecting to the project have clearly pointed out inconsistencies and inadequacy of the biodiversity reports provided. Should there not be an independent assessment to determine accuracy?
Their previous application in 2016 and responses from NSW Government showed how inadequate their planning and preparation was, and their total disregard for both environment and community. In the past Daracon have appeared to be dismissive of residents concerns in regards to noise, dust, environment and traffic. Many long term residents of the area have expressed their angst that they have been negatively impacted by the increase to date (which was not approved). People who move to this area are often seeking the solitude and natural beauty the bush can bring, increased production will further impinge on the community and impact on their amenity. Daracon have shown themselves to not be good community citizens, they have demonstrated they will do whatever they can to push the boundaries and make a profit. There needs to be a balance, and they need to be held to account.

I live on Paterson Road, two doors down from the lookout which is a high visitor frequency area utilised by the local community as the area has a children playground, public toilet block and covered bench areas for lunch activities. The council also intends to expand the playground area and update the barbecue facilities. The introduction of more traffic onto the local road past this park will create an even greater noise burden and traffic control issue for young families using the amenities of the park.
As I live on Paterson Road the issue of the extra heavy vehicles cycling past our premises on a regular basis of approximately 180 truck movements a day in addition to all the local road users is frankly unacceptable. The additional noise generated from the trucks destroys the rural amenity and the issue of gaining access and egress from our drive into the traffic flow becomes an even greater drama, especially with the increased frequency of fully loaded trucks racing around from Tocal Road into the intersection of Paterson Road. This intersection is a drama because the traffic coming from Paterson Road east of the garage corner toward Maitland have to merge with the traffic on Tocal Road which has restricted line of sight and this merging takes place in front of the Lookout access driveway, which is not ideal.
Additionally, the trucks continue via Flat Road to East Maitland, turn right at Melbourne Street traffic lights and continue approximately 300 to 400 metres to the New England Highway traffic lights. This area is a highly active traffic area and currently even without the additional 180 truck movements, can mean a wait of up to three light changes before advancing, I can't imagine the angst and delays caused should we have the pleasure of additional double boogie trucks taking up more space and time. If these trucks decide to use Lorn and Belmore Bridge instead the chaos would be even greater.
I work in the Coal Mining Industry and my company prides itself on the relationship it has with the local community and the retention of our social licence to operate in regard to the community, environment and adherence to the legislation. Martins Creek Quarry don't seem to give a tinker's cuss about the local community or adherence to governing legislation, we have seen that for ourselves. The quarry wants to run for many years to come and increase their output to the detriment of many local community areas. They, the Quarry has a rail spur into their mining area, why can't they as the Coal Industry has and so have quarries in the Sydney area, utilise the rail to move their product as was the intent of the rail spur in the first place. As a resident of the area, directly impacted by these trucks, I am afraid that granting of any increase in output that allows greater truck movements and a lack of mandated rail utilisation will only result in continued, frequent applications from the Quarry to modify its approval and achieve changes by stealth over time and lead to the destruction of our local rural amenity and our roads and our relative peace and quiet.
Please do not approve this application for expansion. They have proved they can't be trusted.

I am totally opposed to the proposed Martins Creek Quarry Project.
In particular the
• Hours of operation at quarry 7am-6pm Monday to Saturday - So Sunday will be our only day of the week when there will be no quarry noise.
• 280 truck movements per day – 1 truck every 2 minutes for 10 weeks of the year – that is for 2 ½ months
• Evening and night time rail loading - so I will have noise all night as well. They should load rail through the day to minimise noise impact to locals at night.

Issues that impact me
1. Noise and vibrations at home from quarry operation
I live 2 kms in a straight line from Martins Creeks Quarry (4.8kms by road). Since moving to our home in 1995 the noise level at our home from quarry operations as increased dramatically, particularly since 2013 when Daracon took over the quarry. Prior to Daracon, the noise from the quarry could rarely be heard. Since 2013 the noise of quarry operations has increased to the point where it can be a constant noise all day. At times there are sudden loud booming noises and strong vibrations that shake the whole house, I assume that is when they are blasting and using explosives. This can be felt even out in the yard or paddock.
2. Truck movements
Since 2013 the number of truck movements has increased dramatically and highlighted the impacts the quarry is having on the local community and village towns, particularly Paterson which is my main local village.
Impacts include
Noise - high volume of fast, loud trucks which are deafening when in the village. If you are on the footpath talking to someone in either King Street, Duke Street and Maitland Road you have to wait for quarry trucks to go past for you to be able to hear someone speak. Outside of the village you have the constant roar of the quarry trucks, particularly when they are slowing down and speeding up at corners, and at Gostwyck bridge. The trucks often come in conveys of 4 or 5, which amplifies the noise even more.
Road Safety – a higher number of trucks driving through the Paterson village is very dangerous for pedestrians, and those shopping and using the village businesses and amenities. As a driver getting into and out of your car is quite dangerous when there is a constant flow of large trucks going past. Most of the quarry trucks travelling past the shops travel at speeds which would not allow them to stop in an emergency. In the years I have lived here I have had a number of near misses where quarry trucks have failed to slow down enough, driven onto the wrong side of the road to get around tight corners and almost running me off the road when driving. The roads through the Paterson village and country roads are not designed to take a high volume of heavy haulage vehicles.
Dust and rocks – When driving I have had dust and rocks fly out from quarry trucks chipping windscreens, when either following or passing in the other direction.
Damage to roads and local infrastructure – With the increased volume of heavy trucks our road surfaces are damaged far more quickly, decreasing safety for others using the roads, increasing costs to Dungog Council for road repairs. It was quite evident that the road from the quarry into Paterson deteriorated far more quickly than other roads, particularly during wet weather. I have had to have tyres repaired following damage to wheels due to pot holes. My understanding Daracon has not contributed appropriate funds for the maintenance and repair of the road infrastructure they are damaging.
Destroys Village Environment and tourist appeal – Paterson is a quiet historic country village when there are no quarry trucks running through it. The village is a lovely place for locals and tourists, however a high volume of loud quarry trucks destroys this for locals and tourists, apart from the damage they are causing to historic buildings and residences along the haulage route.
The quarry trucks driving through the town provide no financial gain to the village as they are only passing through the village, they do not stop and shop at the local businesses.

The owners of this quarry have demonstrated a complete lack of regard for the rule of law and the conditions under which they were required to operate in the past. I am terrified that this will continue if they are granted permission for their current proposal. My objections to this project include:
1. The high number of trucks using the poorly maintained roads in the Dungog Shire which will lead to further deterioration making the roads even more dangerous to drive on.
2. The complete disregard the truckdrivers have for road rules. I have been involved in many incidents where trucks have terrified me as a driver. The intersection of Dungog Rd and Gresford Rd is a particular danger. The trucks disregard the give way sign, turn into the merge lane and just pull out in front of cars coming from Gresford. I was forced into the path of oncoming traffic on one occasion. The quick thinking of the oncoming driver was all that saved me.
3. The scar left on the local environment from previous operations is already huge - how can we allow this to get even worse, ruining koala habitat and further enlarging the visual blemish that is the quarry.
4. The standard of living for Paterson and other residential areas that these trucks drive through will plummet. The noise of these trucks all day long is deafening and the juddering and shaking felt by all who live and work nearby is soul destroying.
5. Why, when there is a close, purpose built rail connection, are there any trucks allowed to transport quarry output. Surely the rail line should be used.

The relief and elation I felt when the quarry operations ceased was enormous, please do not plunge our beautiful area back onto the nightmare of Martin's Creek Quarry operating with increased capacity.