A revised bid to mine sand at Bobs Farm has been lodged with the state government, more than a decade after a larger version of the project was scrapped after fierce community opposition.
Newcastle Sand has applied to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for a State Significant Development (SSD) at 3631 Nelson Bay Road, seeking approval to extract up to 530,000 tonnes of sand a year over a decade from the 40.9-hectare site.
The proposal is designed as a replacement for the company's quarry at Cabbage Tree Road, Williamtown, which is expected to wind down over the life of the new project.
Newcastle Sand says the Bobs Farm operation will create 15 full-time jobs, alongside 70 to 100 construction jobs, and generate an estimated $39 million a year for the local economy.
A previous SSD application for a sand quarry on the same site at Bobs Farn, lodged by another developer under a different company, Ammos Resource Management, was withdrawn amid sustained community and agency opposition.
More than 3500 people signed a petition against that proposal, which sought to extract 750,000 tonnes of sand a year for 15 years and relied on access via Marsh Road and extraction below the water table.
Port Stephens MP Kate Washington urged Bobs Farm residents to have their say on the new proposal.
"I'm hearing significant concerns from our community about the latest proposal for a sand quarry at Bobs Farm," she said.
"I urge everyone with concerns to share them formally via the NSW Planning Portal during the exhibition period, which ends on 12 August.
"Once the exhibition period closes, submissions will be collated and the proponent will need to respond to submissions.
"A full merit assessment will then be undertaken assessing all the potential impacts before a determination is made."
The South Tomaree Community Association is urging residents to submit their objections.
"The proposed Bobs Farm Sand Quarry is now on public exhibition and we need at least 50 unique letters of objection lodged before 12 August 2026," the association posted on social media.
"If 50 or more unique objections are received, the proposal will be determined by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) rather than through delegated approval."
The group has raised concerns about biodiversity loss, effect on the sensitive coastal groundwater system, increased truck traffic and road safety risks, impacts on residents and potential health risks from dust and silicates.
Social media commentary shows there are mixed feelings towards the project.
"This is ecologically fragile land. It should be quarantined for rehabilitation," a commenter said.
Conservation ecologist Grant Webster said the biggest impact ecologically was probably to the endangered Mahony's toadlet.
"The sand dune forest along the Tomaree Peninsula is a critical dispersal corridor for the species from the population occurring on the east of the peninsula to the highly threatened population occurring on the west of the Stockton Sand Dunes," he said.
"The Stockton Sand Dunes population is genetically distinct from all other populations of the species.
"Any disruption of this dispersal corridor will result in negative impacts to the species, including further declines to an already fragile population."
One Bobs Farm resident commented online that they didn't want that to happen.
"The semis that come out of the track near the Pearl service Street make enough mess. Sand and dust going everywhere. So a definite no from us."
Others highlighted the need for projects such as these to provide the materials for construction.
"Why is everyone going NIMBY? We need sand for construction. This resource must be extracted. Just needs to be done properly," one man wrote.
"I'd much rather mining occur in Australia, where we have sensible (and sometimes laws that might be a bit on the harsh side) laws to protect the environment, and people. Rather than other parts of the world where anything goes," another commented.
Newcastle Sand has distanced the new proposal from its predecessor.
The company says it will not dredge below the groundwater table and will not use Marsh Road for site access or haulage, the two issues it identifies as the key concerns that sank the earlier bid.
Under the new plan, extraction would stop 0.7 metres above the predicted groundwater table, and all heavy vehicle access would run via a new left-in, left-out intersection directly onto Nelson Bay Road. Trucks would travel east to a U-turn at the Port Stephens Drive roundabout before dispersing onto the wider road network.
The EIS anticipates an average of 46 laden trucks a day, with a peak capacity of up to 120 laden trucks on the busiest days, well down on the roughly 180 to 200 truck movements a day flagged in the earlier, larger proposal.
A traffic impact assessment commissioned for the project concluded the site and surrounding road network could accommodate the extra trucks without adverse impacts on road safety, and found cumulative impacts would be negligible because the Cabbage Tree Road quarry's haulage task was expected to cease as the new site ramped up.
A noise assessment found predicted levels would meet day and night criteria for most nearby properties, but not for a small number of the closest neighbours.
On air quality, the assessment found that dust and fine particle levels from the project itself would not push readings above relevant criteria.
The site is next to Worimi National Park, and includes northern paperbark-swamp and mahogany saw-sedge forest, listed as threatened ecological communities, that fall outside the proposed extraction area.
The EIS says the project would clear 23.99 hectares of native vegetation.
Four threatened species: the masked owl, powerful owl, squirrel glider and koala were identified in the area.
The company says it will retain vegetation buffers of at least 15 metres around the site boundary and preserve wildlife corridors at least 40 metres wide to the north and south.
On Aboriginal heritage, the EIS says five registered AHIMS sites within the project footprint would be directly and totally impacted by quarrying, but describes all five as being of low scientific significance following a renewed excavation program carried out with input from registered Aboriginal parties.
The application is on public exhibition until August 13, giving residents and stakeholders the opportunity to lodge submissions with the department.
