Martins Creek Quarry appeal process begins

Initially the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) refused the state significant development in February 2023 due to the impacts from the road haulage of quarry products.

Daracon, owner of the quarry, filed an appeal to the Land and Environment Court in August 2023.

The court conciliation meeting is the first step of this appeals process. It will take place at Tocal College Hall, 815 Tocal Road, Paterson, on Thursday, March 21 from 10.15am.

The venue had to be changed from the Glendarra Room because of the number of people wanting to attend. There will be a sign on the road to guide people to the hall.

A spokesperson from Daracon said that they hope to come to an agreement at this meeting.

"If common ground can be found then consent can be granted with these issues taken into account," " the spokesperson said.

"This would be the ideal outcome as it would avoid an appeal hearing which will incur time and costs for all parties."

Martins Creek Quarry Action Group (MCQAG) is calling for affected members of the community to attend the meeting and show solidarity against the expansion.

"The conciliation conference is step one in the appeals process and we presume it will progress to a main hearing if they can't resolve all the issues, which I'd be flabbergasted if they can resolve all the issues," MCQAG's secretary James Ashton said.

"[I hope people will come] to give support to the people that are speaking and at a secondary level so that they can be confident and hear the residents speaking about the issues and impacts of their lived experiences.

"Also to let the court and the parties know the scale of the issue and how many people have been affected by the impacts historically."

Mr Ashton thinks the best possible outcome for the conciliation conference is the case progressing to a hearing.

"The action group's preferred outcome is it proceeds to a main hearing with a judge and the main hearing essentially re-performs the assessment that the IPC commissioners did last year," he said.

Mr Ashton said they have already seen the impacts of industrial operations and have lived experience with hundreds of truck movements from Martins Creek to Maitland along rural and residential roads.

When the application was first lodged, the Land and Environment Court found Daracon had unlawfully operated its site and quarry operations were significantly scaled back.