Over the past 10 years, great convoys of trucks have been arriving on the Mountain for weeks with loads to dump.
At the present, we have another truck plague. The trucks start at 4:00am and go all day up every side road, queue up and dump. We believe it is clean rock and soil from some tunnel the state government is making near Penrith (no proof). Further, that locals are paid to receive the waste and Gosford Council gets dollars to allow it to come to Gosford LGA.
It is handy to level undulations, make tracks, pads and fill creeks. Why cart it to the mountain, a place famous for torrential storms (had one today) which pick up all that is movable, carry it to creeks, lakes, dams and estuaries, even Central Coast water storage sites?
We all know what siltation does to creeks, rivers, lakes, the Brisbane Water and associated natural habitats. I’ve heard that economically it is a good project, employment and Gosford Council revenue.
This story reminds me of another well-known Gosford Council-State Government venture that goes like this: Some genius wanted a flatter golf course, State Government wanted to get rid of waste and contaminated soil, Gosford Council had some extra waste and was keen to accept dollars to accept waste in the Gosford LGA.
What a perfect economic partnership. No issue that the overfl ow seepage ends up in the Central Coast water supply. OK, we are assured that the revenue is good planning and the wisdom and environmental fallout not an issue or consideration. Why the devil would you cart all that waste up to the Mountain for nature to take it back down to God only knows where?
The result, a huge cost to flood mitigate, dredge and clear channels. The environmental impact is just impossible to measure or repair. Don’t forget the cost of maintaining roads not designed to have such heavy loads, including hundreds of big rigs.
All this invented by non-descripts hell bent on economic considerations for a quick fix for waste management, with nothing else considered in the plans. It is a fact that the waste carted up goes down to fill creeks and that the filled creeks and undulations will be reclaimed by nature eventually.
There are better ways to manage waste rather than cart it up our hill and dump it there. Finally, who would accept waste for money and then later pay 10 times more to attempt to patch up the damage? A proud thinker, not an expert
Letter, Aug 24, 2015
Margaret Pontifex,
Mangrove Mountain