No new quarry

The residents of NSW and ACT say no to a proposed new quarry in Royalla

August 2026

Monaro Rock has responded to submissions

The applicant has published their response to submissions and updated documents. The NSW planning department is reviewing the responses, and we, the community, are doing the same.

We are preparing for the Independent Planning Commission

The Monaro Rock Quarry

Monaro Rock is a joint venture between Monaro Mix and Pacific Formwork to build and operate a quarry in Royalla, NSW.

Operating up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, this quarry will extract up to 1,000,000 tonnes of rock annually.

Onsite asphalt production and concrete recycling

Monaro Rock plan to crush up to 20,000 tonnes of concrete and produce up to 150,000 tonnes of asphalt on site

Close to residents in NSW and ACT

31,000 ACT and NSW residents live within five kilometres of the site. 92,000 residents live within ten kilometres.

The nearest Royalla residents are only 1.6km away. ACT residents are only 2.6km away.

Silica dust and noise can travel further than this in all directions.

Impacts

The impact on NSW and ACT residents will be significant.

  • There is growing evidence and concern that silica dust is linked to long term respiratory illnesses

  • Up to 200 trucks a day carrying 16 tonnes or more, plus the same returning back. These will be entering the Monaro Highway on a crest or travelling on rural roads

  • Ask residents near existing quarries

  • The quarry will put demands on the electricity supply, likely increasing brownouts and damage to residential equipment like pumps.

  • The quarry will use extensive amounts of groundwater. The local groundwater supply is already jeopardised.

  • The quarry will allow runoff into the Tuggeranong Creek

Objections

Along with the impacts above, here are other reasons we oppose the quarry.

  • The small number of employees will likely have

  • There are three other quarries in the region, and none are operating at full capacity. This quarry is not needed to meet production needs

  • … at the cost of the many. This quarry would exist to increase the profits of two families. This will come at the cost of negative impact to many thousands.