More than 500 submissions have been lodged with the NSW Government over the proposed quarry. Photo: Gunlake Quarry.
The planning process for a new quarry in southeast NSW has heard from residents, politicians and community groups.
Monaro Quarry wants to open a quarry at a site near Royalla (about five kilometres north of the Monaro Highway-Old Cooma Road intersection) to mine up to a million tonnes of hard rock per year.
During community consultation, supporters described the project as an opportunity to create new jobs (as well as support existing companies), increase the region’s self-sufficiency and mine rocks that could be used in developments in southeast NSW and the ACT.
“What’s even more important is ensuring that such operations remain locally owned and run, rather than being taken over by national or multinational conglomerates with broader, and often conflicting, interests,” one supporter wrote.
As the proposal has been designed as a State Significant Project, it is being assessed by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (rather than the local council).
In its preliminary submission, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) called for more information around the timeline for site establishment works.
It also proposes strategies that could be used to reduce traffic impacts on nearby residents, which is raised as a major concern.
“Whilst the proposed heavy vehicle connection to Monaro Highway is constructed, impacts to residents on Monaro Station Road and Mates Drive during the initial works are considered likely due to the movement of heavy [vehicles] on these roads,” the document states.
QPRC also called on the quarry to change its start of operational hours to 7 am (instead of the planned 5 am) to limit disturbances to residents.
The council also recently unanimously voted to oppose the planned quarry. A supplementary submission is expected in early October.
The Jerrabomberra Residents Association urged authorities to wait on a decision until the ACT Government decided on a proposed connection with the Monaro Highway.
“Should the ACT Government reject the intersection, the project must not proceed,” their submission states.
“Without this access point, an estimated 200 quarry truck movements each day would be forced onto local roads, severely impacting the surrounding residential communities and the quality of life residents currently enjoy.”
In her submission, Member for Brindabella Laura Nuttall wrote that this proposed connection represented a chance for further community consultation.
“[If] so, I encourage the proponent to undertake further direct engagement with Tuggeranong residents to understand how impacts will be perceived and identify possible management options.”
She wrote that residents had written to her and raised the potential impacts to air quality, impacts to Aboriginal cultural sites and habitat clearing in their objections to the quarry.
Meanwhile, in a submission written on behalf of the ACT Government, Executive Group Manager in Statutory Planning with the City and Environment Directorate George Cilliers wrote that the project stood to increase bushfire risks for the Territory.
“Construction and ongoing maintenance of the access road and its verge from the Monaro Highway to the [quarry] site will increase the risk of ignition and potentially spread fire to the ACT,” the submission states.
“The modification of the existing vegetation and arrangement of fuels on the development site has the potential to increase the fire risk to both environmental and built assets on the ACT side of the [border].”
In his letter, Mr Cilliers warned of dust affecting nearby native vegetation, and called for appropriate erosion and sediment control measures to stop sediment from flowing towards Canberra.
This submission also called on Monaro Quarry to release further data about the predicted traffic impact of the project.
In its submission, the Royalla Community Association said community members were “overwhelmingly opposed” to the proposal.
They raised issues with zoning, traffic, dust and other environmental impacts and noise generation.
“There are five known quarries within a 50 km radius of Royalla, NSW, with three of them located within 10 km. … We reject as evidently false Monaro Rock’s claim that there is any shortfall in production capacity for years to come.”
An environmental statement prepared for the project states that silica dust generated during quarry operations would come in below legal limits.
The Conservation Council ACT Region chief executive Simon Copland also flagged “serious, irreversible direct and indirect impacts” to box gum woodland.
“The proponent’s proposal should be refused and another less damaging option considered,” he wrote.
Further information about the proposal is available on the NSW Planning Portal’s website.
