Please use this page as a space for general comments and feedback on local issues.
Note that comments unrelated to topics of local concern, or material that is offensive or defamatory, will be removed.
Brandy Hill & Seaham Action Group
A not-for-profit community organisation
Brandy Hill & Seaham Action Group 
I to am a Giles Rd resident and have concerns about the quarries proposed doubling in size with concrete recycling plant and 24/7 operations. We already put up with rock crushing machinery operating well after 10:00pm and constant dust emitting from the site.
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Reading your report on the committees visit to the quarry, it appears as if it was written by Hanson PR department.
Concerned Giles Rd resident
A valid comment. We visited the quarry on a Saturday morning and have only been able to comment on what we saw that day. An invitation was made for us to visit when the crusher is in operation, and that invitation is open to all residents. Ring the quarry manager directly to organise, or wait until we have enough people to do it as a group. In that case contact us or watch the blog for news.
We extended an invitation to be part of the Action Group committee to all residents including Giles Rd. Although there are no Giles Rd committee members at the moment we continue to represent you and thank you for making us aware of your concerns so we can take them into account.
If you have not yet completed our survey please consider doing so. Please also help us spread the word to your neighbours and encourage them to add their voice, follow this website, or especially send us an email with their contact details so we can communicate more effectively.
What is this group thinking about the expansion of brandy hill quarry?
The residents of giles rd will be feeling the vibration of the crusher 24/7 for 144 hrs a week. That is a significant health impact let alone the dust pollutants the hazards from recycling cement. Nowhere in the documents have I seen the giles rd residents have been consulted. They haven’t consulted with there nearest neighbours.
Bronwyn
Hello Bronwyn. A more complete assessment of the EIS will be posted on our website in the next few days, after we digest the feedback from tonight’s meeting. We are very disappointed in the EIS, especially after us expressing our concerns over 4 years of CCC meetings appear to have been disregarded.
The only task not planned for 24/7 is the primary crusher and haulage from the pit to the crusher, which would stop at midnight. All else they want 24/7. Not good news for Giles Rd or any other nearby residents!
Unfortunately no one from Giles Rd put up their hand to be involved with BHSA or the CCC, but it is not too late to be involved.
Hi
Great work setting up a monitoring/action committee, would be interested in a group site visit and will watch this site for updates.
As I read it interesting figures in the Hanson Brandy Hill Quarry Expansion PEA.
Propose max extraction limit 1,500,000tpa, current operations 620,000tpa, this is potential 140% increase over current ops (ok agree no current limit but using current operational data as a base line for comparison).
Per table 2 “Comparison of currently approved and proposed project” the current truck movements (ave 150/day *5.5 = 825wk) v proposed truck movements (144/day*7 = 1008/wk) is a 22% increase only.
If/when they increase to max production how do they move all the extra product, by air??.
Or maybe I am reading this wrong ? , happy to be corrected if so.
Would think a further investigation of these figures could be worthwhile to better see potential impact on road/transport operations
Hello,
My name is Debbie and I live on Paterson Road at Bolwarra Heights. I have concerns about the increase in truck movements should Hanson have their DA approved to 1.5Mt. I don’t believe that people around my area are aware of the DA being undertaken by Hanson and what it could mean should Hanson be approved and then win a large project again in our direction. Last year there was an incredible increase of truck movements via Woodville, Bolwarra Heights and Bolwarra because of the supply of aggregates to the Hunter Expressway construction. In recent times the movements have decreased. The intersection where I live is quite dangerous and many times I have seen Hanson and other tipper trucks moving over into the shoulder of the road, cross over an unbroken line, to overtake a car turning right.
Last week I was speaking to a woman who also lives on Paterson Road but in the section that also has the Daracon trucks from Martins Creek Quarry driving past and she was not aware of the Hanson proposal. She says that they are woken up at 5am every day because of the trucks, she thinks that they are currently going to Martins Creek. Are Hanson incorporating the cumulative effect on the community of the Martins Creek Quarry as well? If so, are they using current data, not the data from the previous owners of Martins Creek (Railcorp) who were restricted to 500kt/annum by agreement with the Dungog Council? Have they carried out a transport audit of all delivery routes?
I was not aware of the advertising for positions on the CCC and if possible I would be interested in being considered. My computer would not allow me to complete the survey, so can I please have one forwarded to me by email?
I have spoken to a number of locals and we would prefer to not have a street light on the corner of Brandy Hill Drive and Warrigal Close. It would be more appropriate to put signage on both approaches to Warrigal Close, maybe T-intersection signs. No street lights in the area is part of its appeal as a rural residential area.
Hi,
In response to your recent flyer and email, I would suggest the submission to the department of planning request that both quarry expansions be put on hold until an impact statement covering the impact of both applications on the surrounding residential areas has been prepared and reviewed. If the expansions are viewed separately it is not likely that the joint impact of these expansions will be correctly assessed.
Thanks for your comment. You are correct that the cumulative impacts of both quarry expansions must be taken into account. NSW Planning included a number of points on this matter when the DGRs were issued for the Martins Creek expansion. At the same time (11th Nov 2014), revised DGRs were issued for the Brandy Hill expansion to also cover the issues. The consultation requirements were also widened. Hanson’s submission has been delayed while they prepare responses to the additional requirements.
The DGRs and all other documents relating to the two projects are available on the NSW Planning website http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/. Go to “Development proposals”, “Major Projects register” and search for “Brandy Hill” or “Martins Creek”. Select the project to see a list the available documents, which can be viewed.
hello people i think u all need glasses.the quarries were here a long time before u were in these areas . i think that u all are very selfish . now we need these quarries to fix our rail lines also to fix our roads . the truck drivers have to to drive to the conditions put on them i have seen so many cars and utes braking the law forcing the truck to take serious action so they don’t cause accidents the stupid drives in cars make . also what r u going to do about all the jobs that will be lost because a group of people with nothing better too do is winge and moan as to what i will do to them . i think u all should just look past the the end of Ur noses and think what the trucks and the quarries r doing to make this area grow and progress. stop the winging and take down ur signs and start to put up signs to get government to fix our roads wake up people Newcastle is growing and we need these quarries . i need my job .if u small amount of people who have nothing betta to do than this just think of all the people that will lose there jobs there homes there family’s there lives wake up think of other people not ur selfish selves
Hello Paul. I can assure you that your concerns about the Brandy Hill and Seaham Action group are unfounded. Though residents are currently and will be further adversely affected by an expansion of the Brandy Hill quarry, we are pragmatic and realistic to understand that NSW needs quarry products. We are not denying the right for the quarry to expand. Our efforts are focused on preserving or improving the amenity and safety of the effected residential areas.
We are therefore negotiating with the quarry and council to improve the roads and bus stops and provide a path along Brandy Hill Drive. We are not jeopodising any jobs, in fact the construction of those improvements will create jobs.
If your comments are about the Martins Creek quarry, please refer to the MCQAG (Martins Creek Quarry Action Group) website.
We live on Seaham road, Nelsons Plains and just received your flyer this week. I am someone ignorant on this expansion and only just realising its impact. It appears that Nelsons Plains residents on Seaham Road are almost completely overlooked. Our property has been here well before the Quarry began operations.
I have only just begun to look at Hanson’s 200 page TIA from June 2016 and just noting some of their main concerns to traffic is in regards to intersection safety! .. Their report claims that through visual assessments only, they have identified that road alignments within Clarence Town Road, Brandy Hill Drive and Seaham Road are suitable for the speed zoning currently regulated!
On this basis, they have overlooked the impact of the intersection of Seaham Road and Hinton Road. We live very close to this intersection and on many occasions see near misses due to the 90klm speed limit. There is always a lot of traffic turning onto Hinton Road (in both directions). By adding further heavy haulage vehicles on this stretch of 90klm road there is far more impact of risk to vehicles using the intersection. There are portions of Seaham road Nelsons Plains which, have little to no shoulder to the front boundaries of rural and residential properties. We are one of the residents that are impacted by this. We have seen at least 4 very serious accidents in close proximity to our property over the last 10 years ( with many near misses when we are turning into our driveway).
Our children catch a bus opposite Ralston Road on a non-designated bus stop and there is no possibility for children to safely cross this road on any occasion. For this reason, my children only catch the bus at this stop in the morning and get off at Mount Kanwary school in the afternoon where we collect them (instead of opposite our property).
The road topography along parts of Nelsons Plains combined with the 90klm speed limit (commencing before the Hinton Road intersection ) makes vehicle turning (into properties) or pedestrian crossing unsafe. There is limited visibility along this specific stretch of Seaham Road. The buses that collect Children on Seaham Road are turning into Hinton Road daily and therefore the risk to children on makeshift bus stops and travelling on buses (frequently stopping) is of high concern.
On this basis, I cannot see how Hanson could conclude their TIA without including more investigations into Seaham Road and the Hinton Road intersection as part of this report.
Presuming that their main route to Newcastle is via Seaham Road, surely they need to survey all of Seaham Road as there are clearly issues with road topography and speed limits.. I strongly disagree with their report indicating that these speed limits are suitable based on their observations only.
I will definitely be making a submission in relation to my concerns noted above.
Good afternoon I am sending this email to you as we live at Limeburners Creek and currently have a proposed hard rock quarry for Deep Creek the proponent is Woodbury under the Ironstone Development company name.
The EIS is currently out for public submission until 17 th December and we have a meeting planned for tomorrow Thursday at 12 pm at Limeburners Creek Hall with DPIE.
Any help or advice from your group would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Amanda Albury
Hi Amanda, sorry for the lateness of our reply. My sister fell ill early December and didn’t make it to Christmas. However, our shoulders are back to wheel. Please call Margarete on 0416286184.
Neil