Modification 1 - Extension of Construction Hours

I am objecting the proposal for the extension of construction hours on the University of Sydney construction on behalf of all residents residing at 56 Ivy Street Darlington. Due to other construction occurring within close proximity of our house (for example construction close to Redfern station) there is already considerable noise due to construction.

Residents living in the household have differing work schedules that include late night rosters. If construction begins at 6 am and can be heard from the premises it makes sleeping increasingly difficult especially after a night shift. Residents on night rosters also attend the University of Sydney and have extremely busy schedules, so optimal sleep is needed and a quiet atmosphere to complete study especially when completing uni from home.

All residents residing at 56 Ivy Street strongly object the extension of construction hours.

I am concerned that amending the construction hours will lead to unreasonable additional noise affecting my sleep. I am particularly concerned as the USYD Electrical Engineering Building ETP Stage 1 Out of Hours (OOH) construction noise assessment – COVID-19 (Social Distancing) states that "The façade installation works exceed the OOH NML’s for daytime and evening at the Shepherd Street residences in NCA 4". This is a particular issue during COVID-19 as me and my housemates are spending a very large amount of time at home to avoid exposing ourselves to the virus.

21 Boundary Street
Darlington NSW 2008

13 July, 2020

SSD-8636-mod-1. University of Sydney, Engineering and Technology Precinct (ETP) - Objection to Extension of Construction Hours

I wish to object to the application to modify the conditions of consent for the above ETP development .

We are in a global health pandemic where many people in Darlington are at home, are anxious and living in higher densities than usual. This has worsened in the past few weeks. If the hours of building operations at the University are increased by 45% in week days as proposed by the University and the Project Manager, there will be substantial impacts on the wellbeing of the residents of Darlington.

The suburb of Darlington is an amphitheatre rising from Sheppard Street to Abercrombie Street. Noise from the ETP bounces around the amphitheatre. Construction noise from the site can be heard in the rear yards and rear bedrooms of properties that face the ETP site. The noise measurement points are only placed in the first row of properties facing the site. The noise impact on residents in the Darlington amphitheatre is therefore disregarded in this application.

The ETP project can’t be seen in isolation. The residents in the Darlington amphitheatre are also receiving construction noise from a major residential project at Hudson and Everleigh streets, plus 2 other local building sites.

The commutative effect of this adversely affects residents staying at home during a major world wide health pandemic.

The application by the University of Sydney is to increase the approved construction hours for a development immediately adjacent to a residential area by 45% on week days to start work, in the dark at 6am and continue through for 16 hours per day.

The modified condition of consent sought is huge. The condition sought is not “substantially the same” as the current condition of consent in “fact and degree” and therefore not approvable under Section 4.55(1A) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (EP&AA) 1979.

The current building hours allow for a whopping 11 hours of construction. These currently approved hours are adequate.

Currently:
when it gets to 6 pm what I want is quiet time to recover. I do not want 4 more hours of deliveries and construction noise on the ETP site, with power tools operating anywhere on site.
when I get awoken by construction activity at 7 am I am grateful that construction on the ETP site has not started earlier.

The application is described as allowing “quiet trade activities”and “quiet construction activities”. This is false. In fact it allows for use of power tools, starting in the dark from 6 am,.

The application (section 3.0 of the application) infers there has been consultation with the community. This is false. Residents have not been consulted about this proposal as required by The Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs). This is a breach of the Department’s consent. The University and the Project Management have not consulted with residents (the “Notification Letter” forming the modification application is wrong; being for an earlier proposal. Note that letter dated 20 May 2020 was delivered to those the University and Project Manager describe in the current medication application as “surrounding sensitive receivers”).

Therefore the proposal to start work on the ETP project with power tools, at 6am and to increase the approved construction hours by 45%, is a secret proposal hidden from the community affected. Note also that the applicant asks (section5.3 of the application) that the modification application NOT be publicly advertised, further seeking to curtail engagement and consultation with the Darlington community.

The application infers the proposal is comparable to another construction site (Susan Wakil Health Development - SWHD) in the centre of the University. This is false. The residents of Darlington amphitheatre are much closer to the Engineering and Technology Precinct (ETP) - within 100m of part of project site area, and therefore much more badly affected. The SWHD site is at least 500m from a public road. Noise from the EPT travels across the residential amphitheatre of Darlington. The noise from the SWHD travels across the University’s open space.

The areas where noisy construction work is yet to be undertaken include those immediately adjacent Sheppard Street, Darlington.

The application seems to suggest just some lesser works will be done in the new additional hours sought. This is false. Section 4.2 of the application sets out the revised condition C4 sought by the University and the Project Manager.

The application makes clear the request for a 45% increase in building hours is in effect for the majority of the original scope of work of the approved project. 45% more building hours are sought for any facade works and internal works for any refurbishment or new construction areas.

Very little of the following scope of works would be excluded:
Site excavation and earthworks
Upgrade and retain the southern tower
Construction of the 9 level northern wing and integration works with the southern tower
External gas storage areas
Landscaping works:
Replacement of existing carpark with the new southern plaza open space areas
Embellishment and upgrading of existing open space areas adjoining the building
Tree removal and replacement planting
Utilities and infrastructure connection works

The inclusion of a schedule (titled Scope of Works)- sec 4.1,of the “possible” works 6:00-7:am and 6:00pm-10pm is meaningless. The application is to start work with power tools, in the dark at 6am and finish at 10pm, on many of the areas in the project. The out of hours (OOH) work for which approval sought is NOT “quiet construction works”.

The application undertakes - sec 4.1, that there will be no deliveries during the extended building hours. This is false. The proponent’s proposed new consent C4 condition described in sec 4.2 is for “construction, including the delivery of materials…Between 6am and 7am …Between 6pm and 10pm…”

The claim in the application-Sec 4.3 that i..”it is in the public interest …” cannot be taken seriously if the proposal has been secret to the public.The claim-Sec 4.3 that social distancing cannot be maintained on site with the existing hours is not true.

The noise and vibration projections in 5.1.2:
show target noise levels at Sheppard street will be exceeded
do not have measuring points throughout the Darlington “amphitheatre”
do not take into account the noise from other major and minor projects
The projections are based on the scope of works in 4.1. The noise projections are meaningless as the scope of works in 4.1 is not what is being applied for. If approved, OOH work can be undertaken anywhere in the refurbishment and new construction project area and therefore the noise impacts on the residents of the Darlington “amphitheatre” have not been assessed.Secondly the noise levels targets are exceeded for Sheppard Street residents and so the OOH construction proposal should be declined.

I declare that I have not made any reportable donations in the past 2 years or at any time.

City of Sydney Council (the City) staff have reviewed the proposed modification for the extension of construction hours and the submitted accompanying documentation and generally support the application however raise issue with the installation of the façade outside existing approved construction hours. In the modification report document prepared by SJB Planning, it was advised that the noise predictions from facade installation works will exceed up to 6dB(A), which could potentially cause “offensive noise” (the City considers offensive noise to be 5dB above the background noise).

As such, the City supports the extension of construction hours as proposed for internal services installation and fitout works only. Façade installation is recommended to occur during existing approved construction hours between 7am and 6pm to reduce acoustic impacts on surrounding developments.

Kind regards,

Marie Burge
Planner

Please see attached