Any reference to CASACIR or its directors, shareholders, owners or operators relates to pre-14 February 2024 when the company was sold. In no way can anything said relate to the company or its new owners, operators, directors, and shareholders after that sale.
31 August 2011
Nothing appeared to have changed: there was still no sealing on the road between Palmer Road and the quarry entrance (it had remained unsealed for 10 months to that date and was not sealed for a further 4 months in spite of (1) the undertaking to VCAT to seal it in 2010 and (2) the demand in their planning permit that it be done properly prior to opening the site in August 2009!) and there were a number of potholes (i.e. it was not maintained in spite of man X, man Y and CASACIR’s planning permit’s demand that it be maintained by them at their cost); there were still no plantings close to, and to the south of, the entrance; there were still no plants on the northern boundary and the northern bund was not to the length or height it was supposed to be, and was still made of topsoil; there were still no plantings around the immediate north, west and south of the dirty dam; there were still no plantings along most of the distance between 541 Neerim North Road and Pearce Road; none of the plantings that were done, or where there was fencing to allow for plantings, was of the width that was undertaken to have been planted and that was sworn to before VCAT; the road was still not sealed at the intersection with Murphy Road; the remainder of a significant distance of Neerim North Road was not maintained (in spite of man X, man Y and CASACIR’s planning permit’s demand that it be maintained by them at their cost); many posts still couldn’t be seen one from another (in spite of man X, man Y and CASACIR’s work authority’s demand that each and very marked post be seen from the next and in spite of man X falsely swearing that he could see one from the next – and in spite of him having to have x-ray vision to be able to see through hills and around corners); it was still too noisy; dust was still leaving the site (although not quite as much as usual today), and, and, and. A couple of photos taken that day were provided in my previous website showing (1) northern bund and boundary not planted, there was no post that can be seen from the one shown (that was partly marked), there were a lot of weeds, and the fencing was not secure; (2) trucks had to drive on the wrong side of the road because the entrance was not wide enough and the road was still not sealed; (3) there were no plantings between 541 Neerim North Road and Pearce Road, the plantings on Pearce Road were not to the width undertaken to be done; (4) Neerim North Road with just one of the many areas that were not maintained.
26 August 2011
I received a request to further postpone the costs hearing because one of man X, man Y and CASACIR’s barristers was not available. I had said that I was not prepared to delay the hearing because we had submitted a series of dates to the tribunal and to man X, man Y and CASACIR (through Ken Smith & Associates), but they had apparently chosen not to submit any dates. Now they were unhappy that the date selected by VCAT did not suit them (even though they had two other barristers that they also use). Perhaps it would have been a good idea for them to have taken the initiative earlier and supplied alternative dates (as directed to do by VCAT).
It was interesting to see that there were still so many things that that were required to be done that were not done nearly 12 months after man X falsely swore they were done – yet they want costs from us(!) as did council who had chosen not to enforce the conditions and permit, and who had chosen to overlook all the impacts on us and other, in spite of photographic proof! Because of the grossly erroneous misrepresentations and negligent misstatements made to VCAT by Peake, and then to the Supreme Court by Southall (under appeal of the costs), man X, man Y and CASACIR won costs of in excess of $110,000 and man X, man Y and CASACIR’s counsel, Southall, won costs for council in the sun of $10,000 (but, of course, there was no obstruction of justice by telling all their lies, and no collusion between council and Southall’s clients by them fighting for council’s costs!)
25 August 2011
I received an email from Anne Bignell at DPI (after having asked her what she was intending to do about dust for over a month), and this was what she said, presumably because she knew that her name was in on my former website: “A compliance audit was conducted on WA1347 in early August. We ensured that the issues you have raised with us since the last audit were considered. Several compliance issues were identified – most of which will the subject of management over the coming months to rectify as they do not impose an immediate risk or threat to the environment or the amenity of residents. Dust levels on the day were found to be unacceptable. As this directly impacts on you I’m making you aware that this particular issue is currently being dealt with under a Section 110 Notice under the MRSDA. The notice will be enforced if compliance is not forthcoming. We expect to see resolution of the issue shortly and for it to not occur again. Council are aware of our compliance audit outcomes and are considering any actions that they may consider necessary for the regulation of the Planning Permit” (what a joke – and it was only done because her name is up there for failing to act in good faith).
Immediately after receiving Anne’s email, one came from Peter McWhinney (who I had also been asking for a month or so what he was intending to do – which seemed to be nothing, having apparently abdicated his responsibilities) – it presumably came because he also knew his name was on my former website, he said: “I have held off responding as DPI have taken the lead on your complaint and council has merely liaised with them. You will have just received advice from Anne on the matter in response to your concerns.”
Wasn’t it a shame that they apparently had to be exposed on the web before they would take the issues seriously?! They could dispute this fact, but the reality is that I had previously shown pictures of the dust, which were ignored, so the only difference was my former website website!! And, even though I complained about the noise, it was ignored – mustn’t upset man X, man Y and Casacir too much I guess.
Nothing appeared to have changed on site: there was still no sealing on the road between Palmer Road and the quarry entrance (it remained unsealed in spite of man X, man Y and CASACIR’s planning permit’s demand that it be properly widened, stabilised, sealed, and drained prior to the operations of the quarry commencing) and there were a number of potholes (i.e. it was still not maintained); there were still no plantings close to, and to the south of, the entrance; there were still no plants on the northern boundary and the northern bund was not to the length or height it was supposed to be, and was still made of topsoil in breach of the conditions; there were still no plantings around the immediate north, west and south of the dirty dam; there were still no plantings along most of the distance between 541 Neerim North Road and Pearce Road; none of the plantings that had been done, or where there was fencing to allow for plantings, was of the width that was undertaken to have been planted and which had been sworn to at VCAT; the road was still not sealed at the intersection with Murphy Road; the remainder of a significant distance of Neerim North Road was not maintained – with a number of large sections being tessellated or potholed (due to (1) the poor work of man Y’s company Quality Roads, and (2) the failure to maintain the roads by man X, man Y and CASACIR); many marked posts still couldn’t be seen one from another; it was still too noisy (I could hear the machinery from McKenzie Road – ~2km away!); minor dust was still leaving the site (although not quite as much as usual), and, and, and.
24 August 2011
I received a letter from KSA, dated 19 August 2011. There were a significant number of issues, not the least being that the envelope was post-marked 22 August 2011 and they gave me a time and date for compliance that had already passed by the time I received the letter! Note, the letter as printed here was the same in punctuation, spelling, plurality, terminology etc as provided by KSA, and includes any errors or perceived errors.
“We act for [man X, man Y, and man Y’s son, Heath]. As you are aware our clients are directors of Casacir Pty Ltd (“Casacir”).
We are instructed that you publish a website called quarryfight.com. We are further instructed that the website contains information relating to a series of cases between you or interests associated with you and Casacir. Our clients are concerned that a number of allegations published on the website contain imputations that go beyond fair comment and/or qualified privilege and consequently are defamatory of our client. Under the heading Casacir you state that:
(a) [Man X has admitted selling crushed rock through Casacir at a price that is not justified having regard to the quality of the rock itself;
(b) each of [man X, man Y, and Heath] has and continues to engage in unlawful activities through Casacir, have ignored orders and directions of the tribunal;
(c) [Man X] has told you that the name Casacir stands for “crush any shit and call it rock” and that this was “verbally” confirmed by a planner engaged by our Casacir, Jack Kraan, at a VCAT hearing in 2008;
(d) Our clients as directors of Casacir have distorted facts and actively mislead the tribunal.
In a previous version of this webpage posted on the internet in August 2011 you raised allegations tending to support the suggestion that [man X] has committed perjury in one or more of the VCAT proceedings.
Each of these assertions is denied by our clients. The assertion are capable of supporting imputations that our clients engage in illegal activities, sell inferior products through inflated prices, are guilty of contempt of court and/or guilty of the crime of perjury.
The above publication has and continues to have a harmful effect on our clients’ reputation.
In the circumstances, we are instructed to seek from you by no later then 5pm, 22 August 2011, an undertaking that you will forthwith remove all defamatory material from the web page. In addition we are instructed that our clients require an undertaking that you will not defame our clients in the future and will post a written notice on the web site retracting each of the assertions referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) above such undertaking to be provided to this office for approval before it is posted on the internet.
Our clients reserve the right to make amendment to the written retraction so that the defamatory material can be properly redressed.
In the event that you fail and/or refuse to comply with our clients’ demands within the time stipulated we are instructed to institute proceedings for, inter alia, damages and injunctive relief preventing any future publication of defamatory material.
In the interim, if you have any queries regarding the above please contact Ken Smith of this office.”
My response:
I provided a detailed response which is included in this website under the tab “Additional matters” and the sub-tab “The Letter of 19 August 2011” – this response proved their outright lies and the reasons for their lies.
16 August 2011
Out to the site again and nothing had changed – no plantings, the road between the quarry entrance and Palmer Road still had not been sealed, the remainder of Neerim North Road was still falling apart (the repair done by man Y’s company, Quality Roads (a gross misnomer when it comes to their work in the Neerim North area at the very minimum – i.e. showing that the name was certainly not appropriate for the work done on that road), the intersection near Murphy Road was still not sealed, still couldn’t see one marked post from the next in many locations, dust was still billowing off the site, noise was still over the limit and was “unacceptable”, and, and, and.
No-one did anything and no-one cared.
4 August 2011
Out to the site again and nothing had changed – no plantings in many locations and insufficient plantings in other locations, the road between the quarry entrance and Palmer Road was still not sealed, the remainder of Neerim North Road was still falling apart (the repair done by man Y’s Quality Road showed that the name was not appropriate for the work done on that road), the intersection near Murphy Road was still not sealed, you still couldn’t see one post from the next in many locations, dust was still billowing off the site, noise was still over the limit and was “unacceptable”, and, and, and. No-one does anything and no-one cared.I sent a text message to the quarry manager, Paul Kemp, asking what they intend to do to reduce the noise and dust and no answer – again. I sent an email to Peter McWhinney of council, and he got back to me and said that he had a response from Kraan, on behalf of manX, man Y and CASACIR. Peter’s response read: “Casacir through Jack K responded to your complaint about noise and dust saying there was nothing out of the ordinary at the time”. My response to Peter was: “Good to have the confirmation that“there was nothing out of the ordinary at the time” – this is exactly what I have been saying. So, from this I assume that you are not intending to take the matter further in spite of photos showing considerable dust exiting the site.” And, again, nothing was done about it – no surprised there.