Gerroa Environmental Protection Society and local residents are leading the charge around concerns over an increase in Gerroa Quarry production and the impact it will have on roads within the surrounding area.

GEPS president Warren Holder has lived in the Kiama Local Government Area for around 40 years and told The Bugle that the principal concern is the pressure more trucks will have on the Gerringong and Gerroa areas.

“When Cleary Bros owned it, they averaged 56,000 tonnes a year [product transport limit] and rarely hit the capacity,” Holder said.

“Since Maas Group has taken over, they’ve hit 80,000 tonnes and now they want more [120,000 tonnes per annum].”

The route the trucks would follow through Gerringong is heading north along Crooked River Road, onto Fern Street, through residential areas and left onto Belinda Street before heading onto the highway.

“We’re getting 70% coming up this way [trucks through Gerringong],” Stephen Brazier from Gerroa said.

“We need to keep in mind the effect on the residents of Gerringong and Gerroa, and of course all the patrons who use the caravan park during the holiday periods.”

Mr Brazier warned The Bugle that the winding roads in the Gerringong and Gerroa areas, combined with an increase in the number of trucks, could lead to accidents.

“Across the bridge [from Seven Mile Beach to Gerroa], up the hill and around past Gerringong Golf Course, there are those very sharp bends in the hill and one of the problems there is that you get lots of tourists towing caravans down there,” Mr Brazier said.

“And while they’re distracted by the view, they might not see a truck coming around the bend that is taking up half the road.”

The Bugle asked whether Mr Brazier would be open to a schedule for trucks to move through the town at a certain time and while he said he could not speak for the residents of Gerringong and Gerroa, “I would think that some improvements could be made if they’re going to insist on these trucks.”

Mr Brazier and a group of residents exercised their democratic right and asked for the exhibition period to be extended.

“We wrote to Carl Dumpleton who is the project manager for the Department of Planning [Housing and Infrastructure] on this project and we also asked Kiama MP Katelin McInerney to shoot off a letter to Paul Scully [NSW Minister for Planning],” he said.

“As a result, we received a week extension – it would have been nice to get the two, but we only got one.

“What we did prior to [making those submissions] and after receiving the week extension, is to send out information to as many people as we can to let them know what is happening, so that they can choose whether they want to object or support it.”

The Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure is collating submissions from a State Significant Development modification of the Gerroa Quarry – Gerroa Sand Production Increase project application.

The Gerroa Sand Quarry, recently acquired by the Maas Group but still operating under Cleary Bros, is seeking to increase the annual product transport limit at the quarry to 120,000 tonnes per annum – a 50% increase from 80,000 tonnes.

A truck waiting to leave the Gerroa Quarry. Photo: The Bugle

A report from the Kiama Council’s director of strategies and communities Ed Paterson recommends that Council endorse the increase from 80,000 to 120,000 tonnes per annum at next Tuesday’s monthly meeting.

Kiama Council did not wish to make any comment when contacted by The Bugle. Maas Group did not respond to requests for comment.  

The Environmental Protection Authority earlier this week announced SOILCO would be fined $30,000 after taking in more than 12,000 tonnes of mulch and garden waste above its approved annual waste limit at its Longreach composting facility west of Nowra.