The state government has sent criteria to Daracon for the company to make an application to increase activity at Martins Creek Quarry.
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Daracon has received a list of Secretary’s Requirements from the NSW Department of Planning, which is the criteria against which the department will assess the company’s application to increase operations at the quarry.
The requirements will ensure the department has all the information it needs to make a decision on whether to grant the application.
Daracon had agreed to lodge a development application with Dungog Shire Council for plans to quadruple its output.
But a Daracon spokeswoman told the Mercury that both parties had since agreed to let the Department of Planning adjudicate the matter.
She said the company had received the Secretary’s Requirements last week.
“The SRs provide us with a rigorous benchmark against which we can develop our documentation for the submission,” the spokeswoman said.
“We anticipate that the completion of the submission requirements will take approximately four months.”
The Department of Planning is expected to review Daracon’s submission over a number of months before it makes a ruling.
It will consult with stakeholders, including Dungog council, as part of its decision-making process.
Council had expressed concern earlier this year that the Environmental Protection Authority had given Daracon approval to increase its output to two million tonnes a year without Dungog Shire’s approval.
Plans for the quarry’s expansion have concerned residents in the Paterson, Martins Creek and Bolwarra Heights areas, because the towns have served as freight routes for trucks going to and from the site.
Paterson Progress Association recorded video footage that showed 100 trucks pass through Paterson between 5.48am and 7am one morning in March this year. Some residents have called for Daracon to use rail, not roads, to transport material from the quarry.