In a recent media release from Gosford Council dated December 10, the mayor indicated that locally-based recycling facilities played an important role in our economy and that the wider community has to be considered.
That is understood, however, at whose expense? What is silica dust, what causes silica dust and carcinogenic dust? Concrete, concrete blocks, cement, mortar, masonry, tiles, brick, refractory brick, granite, sand, fill dirt, top soil, asphalt-containing rock or stone and abrasive used for blasting are all the things that Kincumber Quarry want to continue crushing and recycling.
Their support base comes from everyone outside of the affected area. Some of the affected areas of residential homes and families exist because the Norman family subdivided the previous buffer zone.
Some houses are less than 40 meters from this obnoxious, dangerous industrial site. Recent purchasers of land and houses in the area have been misled and uninformed by Gosford Council and real estate agents as to the current status of the Kincumber Quarry or the current application for a resource recovery facility.
Why does Work Cover stress the safety issues of staff on these sites if it is not dangerous to health? The residents do not have the benefits of any come back under Work Cover or the council if they, or their children, get sick. That does not include the environment.
This facility surrounds and continues to contribute to the contamination of the Avoca Lagoon catchment. The residents are hopeful that the reports requested by council indicate that this is not a facility that is consistent with current planning and zonings laws and that they indicate that it is an incompatible land use in a residential and environmentally sensitive area.
Email, 9 Jan 2015
Ruth Ross, Kincumber