MOD 2 - Adjustment to Operational Boundary and Building Height

I have concerns regarding the operational noise that will be increased. Will this be heard in the Casula area? We already have high noise pollution due to the constant helicopters from the Holsworthy Army Barracks. Any additional noise will be highly disruptive to our quality of life. What kind of increase in noise can be expected?

More public consultation and meetings are required to understand the need and the measures taken to prevent inconvenience and improve health and safety of the local population. The modification to store dangerous goods comes as a surprise as this was not included in previous applications or discussions. I reckon the storage of dangerous goods so close to dwellings is unethical and illogical.

Please find my submission attached below.

I object to the application SSD-5066-Mod 2 and SSD-7709 - Mod 1 for the following reasons:

I object to the application for dangerous goods storage.
The proposed area is surrounded by highly populated residential, commercial, educational as well as recreation areas, park lands and natural habitat, including the Georges River.
A dangerous goods facility would create an enormous risk to the community with the potential for mishandling of goods.
There have been two massive factory fires within a few blocks of the location in recent times, one which caused a horrendous and toxic lavender smell that made people in the area physically sick. And a recent fire at a car yard that raged out of control due to fuel on site.
The fact that both of these incidents caused considerable impacts in the local area is concerning, imagine if they had been allowed to house dangerous goods.
The risk of this type of storage is too dangerous in a highly populated area.

I object to the application for height increase.
The intermodal precinct has previously had height restrictions place upon it. These should be upheld. As such I object to this proposal.
I don't understand how the proponent can continue to come back to the Department time and time again to challenge restrictions that have been put in place. It is a waste of time for the Department and for local residents to have to continually object when the proponent is unhappy with the result of the original assessment.
Raising the height of this facility will have a big impact for local residents. The horizon view for all residents in the area will be impacted by a decision to raise the height of the facility.

I object to the application to increase noise levels
The intermodal precinct has previously had noise restrictions place upon it. These should be upheld. As such I object to this proposal.
As previously stated, I don't understand how the proponent can continue to come back to the Department time and time again to challenge restrictions that have been put in place. It is a waste of time for the Department and for local residents to have to continually object when the proponent is unhappy with the result of the original assessment.
Noise level increases will cause sleep disturbance in the local community which has been proven to impact the general health and well being of people.
In a residential area there are noise constraints put on everyone and when these are breached the police arrive to tell you to turn it down.... how does this work when a big business feels that they are entitled to be noisy 24/7?
In recent times I have reported, on a number of occasions, loud banging early in the morning - loud enough to wake me from my sleep. The departments response to me on each occasion was that I should leave my house at this time to try and locate the noise. This is completely unacceptable and proves to me that if this proponent decides to breach restrictions it is unlikely that the Department will do anything to stop them.
As such, all previously imposed restrictions should be upheld and the proponent should by now have reached its limit of trying to continually challenge them.

Too close to residents and homes!
Concerns about Traffic Congestion, Noise, Lighting, 24 Hour Operation, Height and Dangerous Good being
stored within close proximity of residential homes!

The process to register so that one can submit a submission is impossible to do on my mobile phone.
I find this to be unfair.
I am guessing many other people have also tried and failed .
and decided it is all too much trouble and given up.
One can not see the text they are entering into the text box. See attachment photo.
Only allowing 2 weeks for submissions is unrealistic given the amount of reading and understanding one must achieve to get a good understanding of the modification proposals and the background notes
I have now attempted to attach 2 screenshots of this issue on the planning portal's website. It only accepts pdf files not photos due to an unsupported file extension. I find that unacceptable.
Also to press continue on the submission form one has to have small fingers as the continue button is right below the back button. Frustrating!!!

SSD-5066-Mod-2 and SSD-7709-Mod1
I OBJECT to the above application for the following reasons:
I OBJECT to the application for Dangerous Goods Storage.
The proposed modification area is surrounded by highly a populated residential, commercial, educational, cultural and recreational parkland areas, this includes all the residents from Casula, Moorebank and Wattle Grove comprising from low density homes to high rise towers, childcare centres, schools, the Casula Parkland playgrounds, the Casula Powerhouse, the NSW Barefoot Water Ski Club on the Georges River and many more local business.
This creates a huge risk to the wellbeing and safety of residents within the above mentioned vicinities, was there to be a mishandling that could lead to an explosion, a fire with toxic smoke/fumes or a leak into to the Georges ecosystem.
My living area and bedrooms are all easterly facing with large glass windows. I will be directly impacted if any of the above was to occur. I will not have peace of mind and will live in fear of such events.
I OBJECT to the application for Height Increase:
This will block the current horizon view not just for myself but for a large portion of residents. There are a large number of homes that will have their main living area facing large warehouse walls by day and affected by the light pollution by night. This will directly impact the quality of living and the value of property.
The Viewpoints for Casula Road and Canberra Ave. are not a true representation on how we are directly affected. Please see the attached pictures from my living area and bedrooms.
I OBJECT to the application for noise increase.
The increase of noise levels will directly impact quality of life for many residents and myself. The lower vegetation on the Georges river does not provide a buffer zone as the sound travels up to where the majority of dwellings are built along Casula Rd and Canberra avenue.
Already we are impacted by the noise generated by nightworks at the site and an increase of noise levels will cause stress, sleep disturbance and possible psychological problems.
I declare that I have not made any reportable political donations in the previous 2 years.

SSD-5066-Mod-2 and SSD-7709-Mod1
I OBJECT to the above application for the following reasons:
I OBJECT to the application for Dangerous Goods Storage.
The proposed modification area is surrounded by highly a populated residential, commercial, educational, cultural and recreational parkland areas, this includes all the residents from Casula, Moorebank and Wattle Grove comprising from low density homes to high rise towers, childcare centres, schools, the Casula Parkland playgrounds, the Casula Powerhouse, the NSW Barefoot Water Ski Club on the Georges River and many more local business.
This creates a huge risk to the wellbeing and safety of residents within the above mentioned vicinities, was there to be a mishandling that could lead to an explosion, a fire with toxic smoke/fumes or a leak into to the Georges ecosystem.
My living area and bedrooms are all easterly facing with large glass windows. I will be directly impacted if any of the above was to occur. I will not have peace of mind and will live in fear of such events.
I OBJECT to the application for Height Increase:
This will block the current horizon view not just for myself but for a large portion of residents. There are a large number of homes that will have their main living area facing large warehouse walls by day and affected by the light pollution by night. This will directly impact the quality of living and the value of property.
The Viewpoints for Casula Road and Canberra Ave. are not a true representation on how we are directly affected. Please see the attached pictures from my living area and bedrooms.
I OBJECT to the application for noise increase.
The increase of noise levels will directly impact quality of life for many residents and myself. The lower vegetation on the Georges river does not provide a buffer zone as the sound travels up to where the majority of dwellings are built along Casula Rd and Canberra avenue.
Already we are impacted by the noise generated by nightworks at the site and an increase of noise levels will cause stress, sleep disturbance and possible psychological problems.
I declare that I have not made any reportable political donations in the previous 2 years.

I live on the Casula escarpment overlooking the intermodal precinct west. My grounds for the objection are as follows
1 At present I have a view of the city CBD , Hurstville and the Illawarra plateau skyline. This will be destroyed if the proposed increase in height of the warehouses are approved.
2 Already the value of my property has declined following the initial DA approval of the intermodal. This will further erode the value if the proposed modification is approved.
3 No compensation has ever been offered for this transfer in value from myself to the future intermodal operators that will benefit by the development.
4 Right at the beginning the intermodal was viewed as a future white elephant, the applicants to the initial approval chose to ignore this advice and now require the original DA approval to be amended to allow for the equivalent of a 15 storey building as well as the storage of dangerous goods to make the project viable for them. There is no indication what these dangerous goods are going to be. EG Ammonium nitrate ala Beirut explosion, nuclear waste or fuel.
The area is generally affected by southerly winds and any airborne toxins emanating from these goods would blow over residential areas, already during present constructions I get a covering of dust blowing in from the site.
5 The site should be restricted to the initial approval. This was achieved over strong objections from residents and the present request to remedy a previously ill conceived idea to make the intermodal economically viable by increasing dramatically its storage capacity should be denied. The proposed amendments are having a lend of the DA application process by asking for more than what is actually required so as to delude the community into believing that concessions were made to meet their objections, The height of 45 metres equivalent to a 15 storey building is ludicrous.
I am already suffering extra noise and pollution on a daily basis and this will be further exacerbated if the modification applications are approved.

I have opposed the concept of the Moorebank Intermodal since I moved to the area in late 2007. I can see that long term there could be deleterious effects on the health of nearby residents from pollution from particulates that can cause cancer and increase problems for asthma sufferers. The effects of the noise from the 24-hour movement of heavy vehicles and freight trains could cause stress and anxiety for the 9,000 residents in Wattle Grove.

The increased building height will adversely affect residents in surrounding areas. The large height of the site buildings will stand out as an eyesore for the neighbouring homes in an area which was previously predominantly residential buildings, low level buildings and bush land.
The extra building height will also increase the amount of light pollution being emitted from the site which will be detrimental to the surrounding residential areas.
As a local resident I have already noticed a large increase in noise due to the construction that has already been undertaken in the area of these sites. What was previously a quite, peaceful location is already disturbed by construction noise and with a significantly increased building height would come a significantly increased construction noise.
This project has already caused a great amount of stress and disturbance to the residents in the surrounding areas. This is a project which should never have been initiated in our area and would have been far better suited to another area. It is upsetting for residents to be facing further amendments to this project which will cause yet more ongoing disruptions to the local communities. In what has already been a horrific and stressful year with no end to the stress it is disgraceful to think that residents are potentially being subjected to even further stress.
If the original plans have now been found to be insufficient for the needs than this is another example of why this site was never appropriate for this facility.

I just finish building my house after 2 year hard working and all my house window facing eastern side because land around my house higher from my house ,by increasing the project height it will block current view not just for myself but for large portion of residents .
I just got a question for everyone going to approve the Modification of this project , what is your feeling after you spend everythings you got to live in a nice house with nice view then you ending with a big wall blocking the only view you have ?
Thanks

Refer attachment

Please see attached document

I wish to strongly object to the application for the height level increase. My family and I along with many others in the Casula community will be extremely impacted by the height increase. My property is located directly in front of the proposed 45-metre warehouses. A building of this height will not only block current views of the royal national park and the horizon by day but also contribute to light pollution by night. I consider such a modification not only an eyesore but also an extreme over development. I agree with the intermodal per se, but a warehouse which is equivalent in height to a 15 storey building (but wider) is ridiculous. It appears this is cooking the residents of Casula slowly. Get approval for the first intermodal proposal with normal height warehouses and then make a modification for 45m warehouses.
Both my living area windows and backyard face east. A warehouse of this height will have a permanent impact on the quality of life for me and my family and the above will be visible from most angles within the house and yard at all times. Furthermore, such building heights will diminish the striking views of the eastern horizon and ruin
the character of my home, greatly impacting the financial value of not only my property but the rest of the properties built on the elevated grounds of Casula Rd and Canberra Avenue. I dont mind warehouses (21m) that can mostly be covered behind vegetation, but nothing will cover 45m tall warehouses that will cover the horizon and completely destroy the views for all Casula residents on the Ridge overlooking the intermodal. This proposal brings a great deal of stress to the residents of Casula as every resident that has a half decent view, will have their horizon blotted out and will be directly staring at warehouses (which cannot be hidden with foliage).
I’ve reviewed the viewpoints of the application and find viewpoint 6 to be ill considered as it’s taken from a position that does not in any way demonstrate the actual view residents of 3,3a,5,5a,7,9,9a,11,13 Casula Rd will have of the towering 45 metre warehouses. This also does not represent the view for the majority of residents along Canberra avenue who’s living areas face east towards the proposed development site. I found the modification dishonest in trying to minimalise the visual impacts of the proposal. The example points where the visual impacts were sampled like at the bottom of Casula road (next to the railway), obviously were chosen in order to play down the visual impacts.

I object to the increase level of operational noise. 3,3a,5,5a,7,9,9a,11,13 Casula Rd are built on elevated ground, thus increases the amount of noise experienced as it travels up and over the natural vegetation buffer. It is already difficult living with the excessive building noise carried out at night. I believe the sound readings have been recorded from the street level at address of 9 Casula Rd Casula. My house is located about 15 meters above this and can hear noise in all directions very clearly at night.

Finally, I spoken with many residents in Casula about these modifications, and many were disappointed and objected to the proposed changes but many didn't see the point in objecting as "...the developers would get it through anyway no matter what we did so why bother!".

The modifications proposed are ‘significant’ and it is in the public interest that this matter should be referred to the Independent Planning Commission, and a Public Hearing should be held. It would be quite absurd for this not to happen, as this proposal involves the storage of dangerous and hazardous materials, and furthermore, modifications to the warehousing design involves an increase in height of more than 114%, which will have impacts not previously foreshadowed.
Our objections are set out below
With respect to SSD-5066-Mod 2
This is a specific objection to the adjustment of the southern operational boundary and building height from approximately 21m to 45m above ground level. Given that a prior approval has enabled a significant increase in elevation of the Moorebank West Intermodal site above the landscape (of 2-3metres) through the importation of fill across the whole site, this will further increase the visible scar of the bulky and high built form.
The Variation Request (Clause 4.6 and 4.3) notes the non-compliance in terms of increasing the height by 114.29% which is ridiculously excessive.
The Planning Report for this proposal (SSD-5066, authored by Willow Tree Planning Consultants) notes the significance of visual impacts within the context of “Landuse Conflict”. (S.6.2.4, especially pp. 45-6) In describing those, the assessment, on behalf of the proponent, from a number of viewpoints, is of low to moderate for many of those. Given the subjectivity of the concept of ‘significance’, these findings are highly contestable, and arguably biased in favour of the project proponent. We argue that visual impacts have been grossly under-estimated, just as an example, the viewpoints from Casula Rd, and Canberra Ave, will be negatively impacted to a far greater extent to that predicted in the Report, in our opinion. So therefore, the need for mitigation measures are even greater than what would otherwise be anticipated.
This report cites the Roberts and Day recommendations for key mitigating measures that include the retention of dense vegetation and established trees surrounding the site for screening and additional landscaping and screen planting to reduce the visual impact in close proximity.(p. 48) However this mitigation does not look at all feasible unless there is some change to the concept plan, and potentially the warehousing and hardstand footprint to accommodate it. Such changes are essential, should there be an approval of this modification, as this mitigation in essential. Not only is it justified on the grounds of unacceptable visual impacts, but also as a very essential climate related “heat island” mitigation strategy. In this regard it is essential that new information be considered. A recent University of Western Sydney study to benchmark the compounded impacts of climate change and intense urbanization predicts dire future summer maximum daily temperatures for western Sydney. https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:52978
Though based on Campbelltown, its findings imply this could also be a particularly serious outcome for this vast hardstand and hard rooved Intermodal development in Moorebank. This suggests very serious attempts at heat mitigation through compensatory increases in localized and integrated vegetative cover, should be made through strict conditions of consent, for any new approvals. This also requires that the concept plan be modified, because the current areas and configurations of the warehouses do not present any feasible areas large enough for the amount of mitigating landscaping, vegetation retention and new plantings required. Please note, that given the vast coverage areas of mature trees still on this site, vegetation retention rather than replacement is desirable as it will yield immediate mitigating benefit.
We do not accept that the stormwater and soil management as proposed is satisfactory. (S. 6.4) Instead, since there is a large stand of mature native forest (an endangered ecological community) still standing close to the main E-W stormwater channel, it should be retained as a bushland corridor for its visual, ecological and cooling values. Similarly, around any other stormwater infrastructure, any existing native vegetation should be kept. Particularly any hollow bearing trees should be a priority for retention.
Dr Sharyn Cullis
Secretary, Georges RIver Environmental Alliance

Harmeet Kaur
2 Paroo Court
Wattle Grove, NSW, 2173

SSD-5066-Mod-2 and SSD-7709-Mod1

I OBJECT to the above application for the following reasons:
I OBJECT to the application for Dangerous Goods Storage.
The proposed modification area is surrounded by highly a populated residential, commercial, educational, cultural and recreational parkland areas, this includes all the residents from Casula, Moorebank and Wattle Grove comprising from low density homes to high rise towers, childcare centres, schools, the Casula Parkland playgrounds, the Casula Powerhouse, the NSW Barefoot Water Ski Club on the Georges River and many more local businesses.
This creates a huge risk to the wellbeing and safety of residents within the above mentioned vicinities, if there was to be a mishandling that could lead to an explosion, a fire with toxic smoke/fumes or a leak into to the Georges ecosystem.
My living area and bedrooms are all easterly facing with large glass windows. I will be directly impacted if any of the above was to occur. I will not have peace of mind and will live in fear of such events.
I OBJECT to the application for Height Increase:
This will block the current horizon view not just for myself but for a large portion of residents. There are a large number of homes that will have their main living area facing large warehouse walls by day and affected by the light pollution by night. This will directly impact the quality of living and the value of my property.
The Viewpoints for Casula Road and Canberra Ave. are not a true representation on how we are directly affected.
I OBJECT to the application for noise increase.
The increase of noise levels will directly impact quality of life for many residents, myself And my family. The lower vegetation on the Georges river does not provide a buffer zone as the sound travels up to where the majority of dwellings are built along Casula Rd and Canberra avenue.
Already we are impacted by the noise generated by nightworks at the site and an increase of noise levels will cause stress, sleep disturbance and possible psychological problems.
I declare that I have not made any reportable political donations in the previous 2 years.

The proposed modifications show no regard whatsoever for the citizens and residents of the surrounding areas. We are already having to put up with this ghastly intermodal project right on our doorsteps along with all the negatives that come with it. Now they are proposing more modifications that will further decrease our quality of life and negatively impact our daily lives. Please do not allow this to pass.

Regards,
Harmeet Kaur

Please see attached.

Please refer to my attached document for details on my objection.

I do not support this project as it has no resemblance to the original concept plan and therefore the Community has been mislead and the consequences for the future will be a disaster.