MARULAN and district residents have sent a loud and clear message to a quarry operator to work with the community.
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They want a rail spur or a dedicated haul route to avoid hundreds of trucks thundering along Brayton Rd daily.
“I don’t care if you say you’re here for the long term,” one woman told Gunlake Quarry managing director Ed O’Neil.
“Some of us have been here 30 and 40 years. We’re here for the long term too but what have you done? You’ve made this place a cave.
“You have to acknowledge people on the haul route and if not, you’re out.”
Gunlake Quarry hosted an information night about their expansion plans at Marulan on Thursday night.
The company’s managing director Ed O’Neil, his brothers and co-directors Julian and Simon O’Neil and managers attended the session, as did some 40 community members.
Residents demanded and secured an open Q&A session after Mr O’Neil initially told them the meeting was one on one questions with staff.
“I don’t care if you say you’re here for the long term. Some of us have been here 30 and 40 years. We’re here for the long term too but what have you done? You’ve made this place a cave."
- Marulan resident
The Brayton Rd operation has applied to the state government to increase production from 750,000 to two million tonnes annually.
It will mean 440 trucks, each carrying 35 tonnes, using the road daily, an increase of 276 vehicles.
“With trucks from the Johnniefelds quarry (Holcim) and yours, there is a huge safety issue here. You will kill us,” Brayton Rd resident Michelle Costello told Ed O’Neil. “...We cannot have 400 trucks on this road.” But Mr O’Neil has rejected any suggestion of a rail spur to haul product.
He told the meeting the quarry did not have rail access, a spur’s cost was prohibitive and would involve purchase of private land. “Well, buy it!” people yelled.
Local rail expert Leon Oberg argues the infrastructure is possible and necessary given the proliferation of quarries around Marulan.
“What is stopping the two companies (Holcim and Gunlake) getting together and facilitating a separate area - or negotiating with the ARTC for a separate spur south of Marulan where Gunlake’s hard rock can also enjoy more economical rail transport?” he wrote in a letter to the editor last Wednesday.
Council general manager Warwick Bennett said on Friday the rail option would be raised with the company during a meeting in the next few weeks.
Mr O’Neil said Gunlake had earlier tried to negotiate access through Holcim land for this purpose but the company wouldn’t allow it.
He told the Post that rail was also impractical given the distribution of Sydney markets.
One man said Gunlake’s huge increase in production offered a “God given opportunity to look at transport.”
“If there was a road out there or a rail spur and you did a deal with Holcim, you’d be 100 per cent welcome in the community,” he said.
Safety first
ROAD safety was a key issue in discussion. Mr O’Neil said his company had built a $1.5 million bypass road, joining up with Red Hills Rd and the Hume Highway so trucks wouldn’t have to travel through Marulan.
This is now a public road, maintained by Council through section 94 levies.
He told the meeting Gunlake would do everything it could to alleviate concerns.
This included a 60km/h speed limit for trucks during school bus pick up and drop off times along the haul route and flashing lights.
He fended off complaints about future deterioration of Brayton Rd, saying his company would be contributing $18m in section 94 fees over 30 years.
The company pays 28c/tonne in these levies. Based on council estimates, the road would cost $11.7m to upgrade, leaving $7m to be spent elsewhere, he said.
In addition, once Holcim wound down its Johnniefelds quarry, there would be 100 less trucks using the thoroughfare.
“We’re confident that we’re giving over and above what it costs to build the road,” Mr O’Neil said.
He stressed he was available to anyone to discuss concerns because the company wanted to be “good corporate citizens.”
But for most at the meeting, this was the first time Gunlake had personally consulted with them. A community consultation committee, required under a previous consent, has faltered.
They took the opportunity to hammer home the need for precise noise, air and water quality monitoring rather than general modeling.
One woman said she could not open her doors and windows during the day or night for all the dust trucks were throwing up. “We are snookered by your industry,” she said.
The 24-hour crushing operation was also on people’s mind. “If I was to come up with a box and a machine and go crunch, crunch, crunch at your place, wouldn’t you be pissed off?” Towrang resident Alan Burman asked.
“...If you take adequate mitigation measures on all of these things, the community will be on your side.”
After the meeting, Mr O’Neil said while there was initially a lot of emotion, it settled into a “mature discussion.”
Gunlake is finalising environmental reports for an EIS which will go on public exhibition. He is hoping for a determination by mid to late 2016.