Mining company Daracon will lodge a development application with Dungog Shire Council to increase operations at Martins Creek Quarry.
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Council met with company representatives earlier this month to discuss the need for the company to get council’s permission for the change.
This was despite the Environmental Protection Authority giving permission earlier this year.
Dungog council representatives were concerned that the EPA had granted Daracon approval to quadruple its output to two million tonnes per year without council’s approval.
Mayor, Cr Harold Johnston, said Daracon had agreed to lodge a development application but believed the DA had not yet been submitted.
“It regularises [operations] so we know what Daracon can and can’t do,” he said.
“I don’t know whether council will vote on it [the DA]. We don’t know what form it is going to take.”
Cr Johnston said there would be a public consultation period when the DA was lodged, giving the community an opportunity to voice concerns about operations at the site.
A consultative committee would also be formed and a public meeting held to discuss community concerns at
Paterson School of Arts at 7.30pm on Thursday
Cr Johnston said the community would be involved in the decision and approval of the DA could come with conditions.
“It’s not a matter of saying yes or no, there are still a lot of negotiations going on,” he said.
“We have to bear in mind the quarry is there, it’s not going to go away and that’s not our intention.”
Paterson Progress Association member Tom Collins said he would like a condition of approval to be that the majority of material taken from the quarry was transported by rail, not trucks.
“Other people have concerns about the blasting,” he said.
“Maybe the blasting should be not so intense.”
Residents across the region had expressed concern about the effects of increased truck traffic from the quarry on the environment and local infrastructure, especially roads, in recent months.