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Daracon seeks approval for project five years in the making

 

Daracon has revised its expansion proposal for Martins Creek quarry in New South Wales, and the State Significant Planning Department will accept community submissions on the matter until the beginning of July.

Based 28km north of Maitland, Daracon first proposed an expansion to the hard rock quarry in 2016.

In the past five years, Daracon has accepted the community and the Department’s suggestions as it revised its proposal from 1.5 million tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes.

Among the other key revisions to the proposal were reduced road transport volumes, refined operational hours, a reduced disturbance footprint, and a shorter approval term.

A Daracon spokesperson said the company was keen to properly inform the community about the proposed changes to its operations.

“Daracon encourages members of the public to take advantage of the opportunity to submit feedback to the Department for consideration and we look forward to responding to that,” the spokesperson said.

“In recent weeks we have seen some confusing messaging regarding the contents of the application. The accurate information regarding what Daracon is actually applying for is in the documents on the Department’s website.”

Truck movements was one matter raised by a concerned local community. However, Daracon’s revised proposal indicates that little change will take place before and after the expansion.

“The proposed road transportation limit of 500,000 tpa (tonnes per annum) returns road haulage volumes to a level that is not inconsistent with road haulage volumes occurring prior to Daracon securing its licence in 2012,” the proposal stated.

Daracon
Daracon’s road transport volumes will be similar to those seen before Daracon became part of the community. Image: Daracon Group.

The revised proposal would see 22 full-time jobs for the community, while contributing about $58 million to the state’s economy.

The quarry is one of Daracon’s four operations that supplies NSW with high quality rail ballast, sand and various aggregates for asphalt, sealing, concrete and drainage.

The most up to date revision of the expansion proposal can be accessed on Daracon’s website.

Community submissions about Daracon’s applications close on Friday 2 June, 2021.

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