Court rules against Martins Creek hard rock quarry expansion

THE Land and Environment Court (LEC) has dismissed an appeal to expand the Martins Creek Quarry.

The seven-month-long case ended on 24 July, when the court ruled that the negative effects the expansion would have on the area’s community, outweigh the benefits for local infrastructure and the area’s construction industry.

“The negative consequences are particularly in relation to adverse traffic and pedestrian safety implications, and social and amenity-related impacts in the local area,” Commissioner Peter Walsh and Acting Commissioner Michael Young said.

“In all of the circumstances, the balancing of public interests… indicates to us that the proposal should be refused.”

The decision is the latest in a series of appeals and rejections that have been ongoing for the past 10 years.

Resources company Daracon has been wanting to expand its operations so it can extract 1.1 million tonnes of rock resources a year.

This is a 600,000-tonne increase from the current extraction limit.

Daracon’s reasoning for the expansion is that it would provide more jobs for the area and provide more materials for local infrastructure projects.

Locals argued that the increases in truck movements and expansion efforts would be damaging to both the community and the environment.

Resident groups and Dungog Shire Council have fought Daracon’s previous appeals and expansion applications.

Luke Barker from the Martins Creek Quarry Action Group said that the community reaction to the decision was “lots of relief”.

“[We are] elated that the commissioner had stayed consistent with the previous commissioner’s decisions,” he said.

It is not yet known how Daracon will respond.

By Joseph RICHARDS