Council Safety Committee Meeting

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2013 threw up some interesting problems for our local communities and we hope that 2014 will be the year that some of the issues can be resolved in our favour. Not only do we have to contend with the Hanson and Martin’s Creek  Quarry expansions and subdivision plans by developers,  but also with our Council which seems to close all doors when help is requested.
Quite a few residents have mentioned issues with safety on Brandy Hill Drive and with encouragement from our council representative, Peter Kafer, I presented the community concerns at a Council safety committee meeting on 4th March. I would like to thank Peter and Geoff Dingle for their unending support on getting these issues before Council.
The issues presented were:

  1. Warrigal Close intersection….. badly positioned street sign, poor line marking ( actually no line marking) to indicate the turn from Brandy Hill Dr, and the need for a light to make the road more visible at night. In addition, the inadequarte bus bay was mentioned.
  2. The post and wire safety fences which have rotted and the wire is hanging over the “footpath” area over the 2 culverts along BHDr.

    Warrigal: Poor Fences, line-marking, lighting, bus stop and signage

    Warrigal: Poor Fences, line-marking, lighting, bus stop and signage

  3. The danger for children to access the bus stops at several places along BHDr and also at the top of Sophia Jane Drive. Several parents have complained to the bus company about the primary school pick up point on the western side of Seaham road / Sophia Jane Drive intersection and the School has also put a submission to Council about the danger posed as children have to cross Seaham Road at the busiest times of the day to access the buses.

    Sophia Jane north bound stop

    Sophia Jane north bound stop

  4. The danger of walking/cycling was once again highlighted. The Council, in its planning for the heavy vehicle passing lane along Seaham Road from BHDr to Sophia Jane Drive, removed the walking track that locals had created along the fence line on the eastern side of the road. Walkers are now forced to walk along the road itself with only centimetres left between the white line and the drain/ditch. Not only that, but the original guide posts were removed around the end of BHDr BUT the holes remain and no new posts were put in place. A great tripping point for unsuspecting walkers. This is just shoddy, poor planning with the assumption that all children catching the busses at the Sophia Jane bus-stop are driven there by their parents and no-one has the right to walk safely in this area.

    Poor access to all bus stops

    Poor access to all bus stops

  5. Signs indicating wildlife corridors should be reinstated after they were removed several years ago during road works.

There were other issues discussed and if you have any pressing concerns please send them to one of our Councillors or respond to this post.

It will be interesting to see whether Council will act on any of these issues. If they don’t I suggest we bombard them with complaints.

Coincidently, the road works currently being undertaken at the western end of Brandy Hill Dr seems to be addressing concerns of some residents about poor drainage causing water sheeting danger during heavy rain and deteriorating road surface. It remains to be seen whether the bus-stop in that area has been adequately addressed.

Other recent meetings of the Community Consultative Committee and VOWW will be reported on as soon as possible.

Margarete

Formation of the Community Consultative Committee (CCC) and other matters

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In today’s newsletter: news about the Quarry Consultative Committee, an update on our resident survey, and some notes about council representation.

Brandy Hill Quarry Community Consultative Committee (BHQCCC)

The BHQCCC has been chosen.

Community representatives are Neil Ritchie, Margarete Ritchie, Robert Adams, Les Fisher and James Hart.

Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd representatives are Tracey Marks, Kathy Lloyd,  Michael Benic and Scott Tipping.

A council representative and independent chairperson are yet to be appointed.

The first meeting for the committee was held on the 18th December, attended by the above plus the consultant Hanson has engaged to prepare the EIS for the quarry expansion. The agenda outlined the purpose, membership and operating guidelines for mining project consultative committees, current quarry operations, environmental monitoring and the status of additional monitoring required for the expansion EIS. The recent installation of a PM10 dust monitor will be of special interest to some readers. The minutes will be posted on our website when they become available in the New Year.

The BHQCCC is intended to continue functioning for the life of the quarry. In other words, we will not have to wait for Council to pass on information to the community; it will come straight to the community via the committee. The EIS for the expansion will not be ready for exhibit until near the end of 2014 with resolution of any concerns not expected until mid-2015. This will be a long process, and is very different from how prior expansions and operations were approved and monitored. Regular meetings are expected only quarterly, but others can be arranged on a needs basis.  At the next CCC meeting the EIS consultant will explain to us the input that he is seeking from the community. We expect that our survey will be a part of that process.

Survey

It is crucial that we have a solid community response to this survey so that we can honestly represent this community. So far we have had over 68 responses. We are aiming for about 150 or more. We have had most responses from the Brandy Hill area with a smattering from Seaham, Eskdale and Nelsons Plains. This was expected as residents of Brandy Hill bear the brunt of most truck movements but Giles Road residents are impacted upon by blasting and dust. So, if you haven’t completed your survey yet, it is not too late. You can either complete it online via the link at the top of this page, or you can fill out a form and drop it off. The forms and collection box are still on the counter of the Seaham Shop and your survey can be left there. If you know of anyone who has not received the survey, there will be some copies left at the shop for completion.

So far 100% of respondents have indicated that the 7 day, 24 hour/day operation is the key objection and the road conditions and extra truck movements along our roads (Brandy Hill Drive in particular) are the next big issues. None of this comes as a surprise but we have to have this documented. Please talk to other locals about these issues and encourage friends and neighbours to do the survey.

Thank you to those residents who helped with the latest ‘letterbox drop’ and to the person who left a donation of $5 towards our ongoing costs. So far all expenses – for the printing, paper, and our website hosting – have come from the donations made by residents at our initial community meeting. That is one of the reasons I have been urging you to get others to sign up to the website so that our printing costs can be reduced.

Council matters

I will leave you with this comment made by a senior staff member of Port Stephens Council. I was having a discussion about the lack of suitable walking/cycle paths to link the Brandy Hill / Nelsons Plains / Eskdale communities with Seaham School, Seaham Park, Brandon Park, Seaham Church and the Shop as well as with other residents. I was told I was highly disillusioned if I thought that would ever happen. According to this council manager, “Brandy Hill is way down the list of importance [regarding infrastructure] due to the small number of residents” – and that we didn’t have a “destination” to warrant a path anyway.

If the Council worked on the basis of population only, then other villages such as Williamtown, Bobs Farm, Salt Ash, Wallalong and Woodville would be even further down the list than Brandy Hill and Seaham. Our population is bigger than all the others mentioned. Maybe ask our elected representatives about their thoughts on this when you next talk to them. And why aren’t they speaking up for our needs?

I would also like to inform our community of the outcomes of the Council meeting I attended on the 10th December where the Wallalong/Woodville development proposal was voted on, but I think I will leave a full account to the representatives of the VOWW group who spoke on the night. I will ask for a comment from them as I believe it will be more comprehensive. So look for that early in the New Year.

Final note

I would like to thank you all for your support over the past six months.

On behalf of the entire committee of the BH/Seaham Action Group I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a new year full of good cheer.

Best Wishes,

Margarete

Quarry Inspection

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Water truck suppressing dust

The committee, standing proudly in front of something very very intersting that happened to be going on in the background, or so we thought.

The committee, standing in front of a recently blasted rock face

The quarry face with a dump truck on the next level.

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View of the quarry floor from the highest point, showing rows of graded large rocks

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View from above the primary crusher

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Panorama view showing the rehabilitation, quarry and stockpiles

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The final settling pond, from where runoff is pumped to the main dam

The Brandy Hill and Seaham Action Group committee accepted an invitation to inspect the Brandy Hill quarry on the 20th October. We were quite impressed by a very well organised business which prided itself on its environmental practices.

As residents we may not always agree with management that all our concerns are addressed. Dust management and blasting vibration have been mentioned by Brandy Hill and Seaham residents, so the committee members were interested to find out how these concerns were actually addressed. A watering truck operates each day continuously throughout the site from 5am. If the wind is excessive the plant shuts down but watering continues to minimise dust naturally occurring on site. The water is sourced from dams on-site. In 30 years the dams have not run dry although they did come close about 2 years ago during a particularly dry spell.

Blasting is carried out about once a week between 11am and 1pm to minimise the effect on the community. The quarry no longer undertakes large blasts. Smaller blasting is considered less intrusive for local residents. Blasting results in rock drops of about 30,000 tonnes.

If the quarry expansion is approved it would have to comply with current regulations which are certainly more rigorous than those of 1983. The quarry manager, Michael Benich, has promised that all environmental complaints are taken seriously and investigated by both his company and the EPA.

Other Interesting Facts.

Older parts of the quarry site are already being rehabilitated with animal habitat being restored and plantings undertaken.

The existing operating licence for the quarry does not allow for any water run-off to flow directly into the creek. All water is diverted into the dam system for settling of sediment and for reuse for dust suppression. If water does find its way into the creek it must be reported to the EPA.

An invitation has been extended to the community to visit the quarry site. If you would like to take up this offer, leave a message with me and I will co-ordinate a time suitable for the majority of those interested.

Welcome to our new website

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Welcome to the website of the Brandy Hill and Seaham community action group.

We are a non-profit group that exists to represent community concerns to our representatives in local, state and federal government.

We formed after learning of the possible expansion of Brandy Hill Quarry, news that was not communicated to residents by our council. We aim to represent local views on this expansion, and work together with the quarry management to reach a solution acceptable to both parties.

We are also affiliated with the Voice of Wallalong and Woodville action group, and we support them in their endeavours to oppose a proposed intense urban development at Wallalong.

This website is a place for you to add your voice to the debate. Please leave your comments on our general feedback page, and if you are a resident, please complete our new survey on community concerns regarding the proposed quarry expansion.

If you would like to receive email updates, please click the ‘follow’ button on the right hand side of the page and add your email address.