*** NBN3 News coverage of this meeting 03 Feb 2012 HERE. Newcastle Herald Article HERE ***
PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERNS – MACKAS SAND MODIFIED ACCESS ROAD PROPOSAL
BRIEF REPORT ON PUBLIC MEETING AT SALT ASH – THURSDAY 31ST JANUARY 2013
“From my personal perspective ONE Mackas Sand truck using Pauls Corner roundabout as a U turn is ONE TRUCK TOO MANY – let alone what is being proposed – this is a huge public risk!” Comment from TRRA Secretary, Margaret Wilkinson
Around 60 local people gathered at Salt Ash Community Hall to hear more about the Modification to Licence Request from Mackas Sand – Links to previous articles HERE. The meeting had been organized by Kate Washington from Medowie in response to many calls she was receiving from concerned local residents.
It was emphasized from the very beginning and throughout the meeting that this was NOT a political meeting – This was about public safety. At one stage Cr Tucker attempted to indicate otherwise. The response was immediate from those attending – this wasn’t about politics – IT’S ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY!
A similar reaction from the audience erupted when a member of the MacKenzie family was found to be recording the proceedings on his mobile phone! (….Quite a contradiction with the recent vote by Mayor Bruce MacKenzie and 6 other Councillors to discontinue web-casting of Council meetings! HERE)
The agenda with speakers is HERE.
Kate opened the meeting with the good news from the Department of Planning and Infrastructure that, following the submissions sent in by the public in November, this application will now being determined by the Planning Assessment Commission, which is independent of government authorities. This was also included in the Newcastle Herald on 31.1.13 “Residents Fight Sand Mine Road” HERE. Kate also advised that there has also been a reduction in the hours of operation from the original application for 24 hour operation to now be from 6 am to 10 pm. That is not all good news – this is still proposed as a night time operation!
Cr Geoff Dingle opened with a presentation on the background prior to the current application. This has a long history with Port Stephens Council relating to the safer Lavis Lane access which passes through private property and which is the subject of a legal dispute between the families involved and the Land and Environment court. Some background on older entries HERE.
Kate read the statement from Lenny Anderson which gave details of meetings with the MacKenzie family aimed at raising their awareness of the presence of significant aboriginal heritage where the new access was being proposed.
Heath Buman and his wife live adjacent to the proposed acceleration lane spoke next. They told of the potential noise, truck pollution, danger to their children walking to the bus stop and generally getting out of their own home onto Nelson Bay Road. Their comment was that it is hard enough now, without trucks, to access Nelson Bay Road and this was echoed around the room. Heath is a shift worker and the hours of operation even until 10 pm is a real issue for him.
Margaret Wilkinson, Hon Secretary of TRRA Inc read a summary of the TRRA Inc submission HERE which had been prepared by a TRRA member with a civil engineering and mining background. She spoke of the inadequacy of the response received from the Roads & Maritime Services (RMS) HERE relating to public safety issues raised, particularly as it ignores completely any reference to Pauls Corner roundabout where we will see, if this receives approval, empty sand trucks coming from Newcastle doing U turns in order to get back to the left in, left out access road in the vicinity of No 2368 Nelson Bay Road.
Appendix 5 of the EA HERE is not a satisfactory response from the RMS to safety concerns as there is no mention of the effect on roundabouts, particularly Pauls Corner (Richardson Road intersection) and contains outdated traffic information. Anyone who sent objections to the proposal were referred to this document to answer their concerns. They still had to find out that a response had been made to them as no advice was sent that a response for them was on the Planning and Infrastructure website.
TRRA Inc also highlighted of the potential misuse of the current (Nov 2012) total upper EPA licence of 2M tonnes (extraction rate total for 2 sites held by Mackas Sands). This application only dealt with 500,000 tonnes pa. There is no requirement on the licence to limit specify maximum hourly extraction rates which in turn controls truck movements per hour. TRRA Inc has concerns that the various government authorities involved in the approval process should be ensuring there are no loopholes as verbal reassurances are not enough. There is too much ambiguity in the whole process.
The impact on Nelson Bay Road would be untenable if, for example, both sites owned by Mackas Sand were to be operated in the future to meet a short term contract. The reality is that there is always the option for lease of additional loading equipment and trucks by the company if there is profit to be made. It was made clear from the meeting that it’s OK to make a profit but it’s not OK to risk public safety.
Main Highlights from our TRRA Submission and WHAT WE CAN DO…. HERE. For a start, contact our Local Member, Craig Baumann MP portstephens@parliamenthouse.nsw.gov.au as this relates completely to the NSW Government.
Kate then read a statement from Patricia Anne Towers, the family in current dispute with the MacKenzie family. It concluded with a statement that they were willing to negotiate with the MacKenzie family and their attempts to recommence talks had been unsuccessful.
Questions from the floor included concerns about environment, particularly the potential effect on the water table and local bores; the use of B doubles on Nelson Bay Road generally; fragility of sand dunes; countless concerns about public safety and the emergency access issues especially for people from Lemon Tree Passage Road and from Nelson Bay; existing truck movements and fuel refills at Pauls Corner; the camber on the Pauls Corner roundabout; potential for tourists who are unaware of truck movements to have accidents; all lanes taken over on the roundabout when a truck needs to do a U turn (truck driver advice noted)
Kate summarized the concerns expressed and eluded to the real concern about this whole proposal.
How did this access road receive “in principle” approval in the first place??
Were the Police and Emergency Services represented when this was first proposed by Mackas Sand?
……After all, they will be the ones most affected when accidents happen.
The meeting closed with a request for everyone to sign the petition which encapsulated the main points raised by the public HERE. You can copy this and paste it into a word document and send it to the adresses HERE Or email it to secretary@trra.com.au
TRRA Inc. thanks Margaret Wilkinson who attended the meeting for this comprehesive report and also the other TRRA members who took the time and cared enough to attend.
My original submission to the State Government was my major concerns of the fragility of the Stockton Bight……I also reported that I had Googled the sand dunes and witnessed many private property boundaries well into the forested dunes on this beach…..Visitors to the beach and beach operators haven’t had access to sections of the beach for months……I also specifically criticised the lack of road safety with the proposed 2km track to Nelson Bay Road, at cowshit corner……On a site inspection, when on Council, I witnessed massive amounts of rutile, zircon and ilmenite being mined from Stockton Bight, we now see the sands migrating much easier without the binding sand minerals having been extracted over many years, thus creating fragility of the beach…..Agree with all who have been critical of the massive losses and sand mining at Kurnell…..I used to live in the Sutherland Shire…..However, I do agree with Robert Quirk, of National Parks and Wildlife Service, that sand mining of the migrating sand, smothering the forests, can and should be removed for industrial and domestic uses……Note: All sand taken from Stockton Beach needs to be washed to remove salt, and also needs to be washed to remove tree roots and soil……
John Kelly, what is wrong with using Lavis Lane, a win/win solution; stops any more sand trucks on Nelson Bay Road and provides employment. Even better approval has already been granted and employment can start now!
Just a thought ..
All this mess started with an argument re. the “Stockton Track” and it is supposed to be an “Un-opened” Crown Road along the base of the sand hills from the Towers’ extraction point in the north to Macka’s sand then down to the Worrimi / Mackas site … and then joins onto Lavis Lane.
The extraction “industry” should be required to “open” this road in an environmentally appropriate manner, at their cost , then keep all extraction movements to this road and enter the public roads network via a four lane sealed road out past the McDonalds and into Cabbage Tree Rd.
That would be a “positive” move and like anyone else they should pay the full costs of expanding their businesses, simple. It would as I understand it, be a good use of S94 (or whatever it is) funds extracted from all new actions by the extraction industry.
All this supposes that it is State Govt policy to eventually do away with the sand hills as we know them now …. just as happened at Kurnell over many years. If they want this sand on to the market …. come up here and fix this problem or it will come to blockades on NB Road to disrupt sand carriage traffic … so there.
This is all coming about because of State Govt approvals … the faceless ones should be drawn into the public glare, they control the resource being exploited.
To my knowledge using a roundabout in NSW to make a so called UTurn is 100% legal.
Are you sure TRRA supporters that you know which side your bread is buttered on?
Should we not be thinking more positive thoughts toward supporting a furthering of Macka’s Sand Business interests?
Why I hear you ask….because Macka’s Sand employ local people, support disadvantage folk and without a doubt and with plenty of evidence, raise peoples self-esteem within the community.
Try and think positive thoughts and assist where you can to see Macka’s grow and we shall all benefit.
Remember: Effort in = Result out. Go forth and put some positive thoughts to assisting with seeing some more business growth in our beloved area. All this of course whilst staying within the road rules et al.
I attended this public meeting as I am a regular user of this road and were concerned with the safety issues. I then came to this website to find out more information only to read in your first paragraph that 200 people attended the meeting. This is a gross misrepresentation as I counted only approx 55 people in attendance. I wonder now what other information you might be misrepresenting, please keep to the facts if you wish to have public support and not look like you are biased.
Brendan – I apologise – you are quite correct about the approximate number attending and I will ask the TRRA webmaster to correct this in the text for me. The concern of TRRA Inc is that the travelling public (like you) need to know about this proposal and, because the issues are so complex with a long history, even the media are not getting out to the public what this latest proposal from Mackas Sand alternate access road really means to public safety. A U turn at Pauls Corner roundabout for B double sand trucks – How can this possibly be safe?