Martins Creek Quarry expansion: appeal lodged in NSW Land and Environment Court

The Independent Planning Commission (IPC) refused the state significant development in February this year due to "significant impacts from the road haulage of quarry products".

Daracon Quarries subsidiary Buttai Gravel had applied to expand the quarry to extract 1.1 million tonnes of material every year for up to 25 years.

A spokeswoman for Daracon confirmed it will ask the court to redetermine the development application which "was recommended for approval by the Department of Planning and Environment".

"Although the time that it will take for the appeal to be determined will be dictated by the timetable set by the court, Daracon is hoping to conclude the appeal within the next six to eight months," she said.

It has come as a blow to Martins Creek Quarry Action Group (MCQAG) secretary James Ashton, who fought vehemently against the proposal arguing the impacts had been "watered down" and the lived experiences of locals ignored.

Speaking with the Newcastle Herald on Friday, Mr Ashton said the MCQAG is ready for another fight.

"We knew that the refusal by the IPC was a win in terms of the battle, but not the end of the war," he said.

"We knew this could occur and we know this is the last roll of the dice - so we've been preparing for this to unfold."

Mr Ashton said the group is still deciding whether to make an application to the court to be joined with proceedings as a party, or whether to seek to be heard.

He said the group was disappointed an appeal had been lodged, "as would be the case with many thousands of objectors who objected to the planning process and proposal so far".

"The proponent has already lost in court in relation to their unlawful operations from 2012 to 2019, the courts are familiar with the issues already," he said.

"We hope the court will keep an open mind about the issues, impacts and lived experiences of people."

The group's members are made up of residents who live around the site and those who live along the proposed haulage route.

Mr Ashton said they have already seen the impacts of industrial operations and have lived experience with hundreds of truck movements from Martins Creek to Maitland along rural and residential roads.

"We knew this was likely to happen and we're ready for another fight," he said.

In its decision, the IPC found that the transport of 450,000 tonnes a year over 25 years would have "unreasonable and unacceptable" impacts on communities along the proposed haulage route.

It found increased traffic of up to 160 truck movements per day through the main street of Paterson and the surrounding suburbs of Bolwarra and Bolwarra Heights would have impacts on tourism, business, residential amenity and road and pedestrian safety.

The commission acknowledged on-site issues associated with the proposal, including water, air quality and biodiversity impacts could have been managed and agreed the project had "economic benefits".

When the application was first lodged, the Land and Environment Court found Daracon had unlawfully operated its site and quarry operations were significantly scaled back.

The initial proposal was to transport up to 1.5 million tonnes of material by road each year for 30 years.

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