"In an ideal world you would pull it (rock) out of the ground far away from where anyone was living and put it on rail. But the cost of all that gets passed down the line," Hunter Quarries' Hilton Grugeon said.

It is a perfect solution, to simply separate the two land uses. But there is pressure from both sides of the matter, with enough appetite for residential growth in the Port Stephens areas in question that residents have in recent years launched campaigns to keep the suburbs rural.

Like the clashes between horse studs and coal interests further up the valley in recent years, the question boils down to a perception of fundamental incompatibility of land uses both seeking to occupy a similar space.

Construction material prices have continued to soar, as have waiting times. This newspaper has reported on the long wait for trusses and other products in the face of a rapacious appetite. We are lucky to have stone available on these shores, and within this region, that can keep major projects across the state rolling.

The problem is that more stone means more trucks on a road network in an area where some roads beyond major thoroughfares remain unpaved. Roads, both state and local, bear the scars of heavy vehicle movements. Neighbours deal with the noise and dust produced, while native fauna clings to dwindling habitat as operations expand.

Mr Grugeon notes that approval processes are now "incredibly prescriptive". "We wholly support it because the issues are real and they need to be well managed otherwise everyone loses," he said.

The question is one of commensurate support. As coal has helped drive the momentum on major projects in the upper Hunter, so too does Port Stephens deserve infrastructure that can cope with the rigours imposed by providing resources to Sydney.

Opponents of Brandy Hill quarry's expansion claimed its approval put rocks before koalas. Assuaging such perceptions demands a plan that keeps the environmental and human cost in check.

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