Reinforced Concrete Pipes Australia: Somersby expansion approved by local planning panel

Neighbours of a concrete pipe manufacturing facility in Somersby can’t sleep and have ongoing mental health issues due to the noise levels, as a decision is handed down on expansion plans which will see the site run 24/7.

Plans to expand a concrete pipe manufacturing facility in Somersby have been approved despite neighbours saying the facility had ruined their lives.

The Central Coast Local Planning Panel has handed down its decision to approve the expansion of Reinforced Concrete Pipes Australia Pty Ltd (RCPA) at 149 Somersby Falls Road with a swag of conditions.

The plans will see the plant run 24/7 and increase its production capacity from 22,000 tonnes per year to 30,000 tonnes per year.

Despite approval from Central Coast Council, the expansion met with strong objections from neighbours of the facility who spoke at the recent panel meeting.

Aerial image of the site in Somersby.

Ralf Dahmen said it was difficult to comprehend that an “intrusive” operation like RCPA was ever allowed at the site which is adjacent to a residential community.

Mr Dahmen said the lives of neighbouring homeowners had been dramatically impacted by the business.

“Any expansion of RCPA operations will only serve to exacerbate the intrusion to this neighbourhood,” he said.

He said even when compliant, RCPA noise is “highly intrusive” and often spooked their horses.

“All noise emitted from this site reverberates through the otherwise quiet semi rural neighbourhood,” he said. “The noise I refer to is mostly intrusive at night and in the early hours.”

Image of the proposed acoustic walls.

Mr Dahmen gave examples such as late night earthworks involving a bulldozer pulling it’s bucket across the asphalt, late night dumping of metal into skip bins and the clanging of metal on metal.

“After moving into this quiet neighbourhood over 20 years ago, we now suffer headaches, a lack of sleep and cannot entertain outdoors,” he said.

Peter Bowen, who lives 100m from the site, said “our lives and amenity have been ruined by RCPA” with the proposed expansion “catastrophic”.

“We are currently woken by forklifts before 5.30am on 83 per cent of working days,” he said.

“We are exposed to industrial noise up to seven hours a day. This noise and sleep deprivation has severely impacted our mental health.”

He was scathing of council’s assessment and recommendation that the expansion be approved, saying the council are glossing over their concerns and not holding RCPA accountable for ongoing non compliance.

Reinforced Concrete Pipes Australia Pty Ltd is expanding its existing site to increase production capacity from 22,000 tonnes per year to 30,000 tonnes per year.

“The acoustic walls are welcome and long overdue but we know from experience that the noise mitigation measures like the walls will fail because they depend so heavily on RCPA’s management plans and self-regulation,” he said.

“If you let RCPA work all day and night at five times the output and the noise mitigation measures fail, there’s no going back. It will be impossible for us to live in our home.”

Neighbour Kate Heaney said they currently had one day of peace which would be taken away if the expansion was approved. She said council had “stonewalled “ pleas to save their lifestyle.

“This has been a shameful process, an erosion by council and RCPA of our basic rights over nearly nine years,” she said. “It has ruined my family’s life.”

Natasha Mooring, on behalf of RCPA, responded by saying claims by neighbours were not “well founded”.

She said the planning process for the expansion had been carried out over the last 18 months with reports prepared to a high standard.

Neighbours say the plant has caused lack of sleep, anxiety and other mental health issues.

“The application proposes an abundance of noise mitigation measures which have been used in projects Australia wide,” she said.

She said the new plans, including sound barrier walls, would help reduce noise issues with RCPA “100 per cent” committed to protecting the amenity of their neighbours.

The panel stated that the proposal was “consistent with the zoning of the land and can operate in a satisfactory manner subject to the imposition of conditions”.

“The Panel acknowledges the concerns raised by the public submissions concerning operational noise impacts of the proposal, hence the ongoing environmental performance of the proposal should be monitored and a time limited consent of two years should be imposed,” the decision stated.

Some of the many conditions imposed include the northern storage area and half of the western storage area not to be used between 10pm and 7am.

The panel has also prohibited loading cement from trucks into cement silos and sand gravel and cement deliveries between 10pm and 7am. Additional conditions have also been placed on where acoustic barriers will be positioned.

Reinforced Concrete Pipes Australia Pty Ltd is planning to expand its existing site to increase production capacity from 22,000 tonnes per year to 30,000 tonnes per year.

The approved works will include construction of acoustic walls to 8.5m, a second entry site for heavy vehicles on Somersby Falls Rd and extending the hours of operation to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The plans also include extending the workshop and providing extra storage areas.

“RCPA proposes a phased increase in production capacity over several years up to a maximum of 100,000t/year,” the council report stated.

“However, during busier times and in response to market demand, this throughput may be slightly exceeded periodically. Minor fluctuations are considered acceptable and a realistic response to an ever evolving and changing market.”

Works would also see an extra 20 jobs created at the facility.

The plans were submitted to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) who have also placed conditions on any approval to alleviate issues such as impacts on air quality, noise, surface water controls and chemical storage.