Carlingford West Public School Upgrades

increased travel times, traffic and park issues in the surrounding areas, difficulties for emergency vehicles to access the area during drop-off and pick up school times.

There is already too much traffic congestion on the Felton Rd & Arcadian Cct intersection especially during school drop off and pick up times. Every school afternoon from 3.15 cars are queued up on Arcadian Circuit and Felton Rd (at stop sign) waiting to collect their children from the Felton Rd entrance even though the school is not dismissed till 3.25pm. My children do not attend the school but I do need to pass the intersection to get to my residence at that time and often need to do drive a loop around Arcadian Cct (past the shops to get to my street). I’ve also witnessed several close collisions as frustrated drivers try to pass “stationary queuing” cars! More students will only mean more cars!

Please refer to the comments in the attached response in regards to traffic management.

I understand that schools need to grow and add buildings to cater for new tools eg computers tablets and numbers of children.
However, there seems to be some issues with this new development where the Parking is being built right next to current residential properties, hence there would be daylight and possible mould issues to come about for the resident as well as water flows from the adjustment to the school grounds could adversely affect the property drainage.
Also I have concerns with the comments made regarding the Felton Road East drop-off and pick-up activity and the narrow roadway, and that it currently has various No Parking and No Stopping restrictions in place during the morning and afternoon peaks. These restrictions may need to be extended to account for the increased vehicle activity. This would be assessed during the development application. Why should the current residents be now affected when local building residential zones have allowed the building of properties with multiple living spaces in this street. It is possible to see that not all properties in this street have sufficient parking for the property and hence depend on this street parking. It may not be possible to have the cars park anywhere is other than affecting street parking elsewhere.
Having another cul-de-sac at Felton Street West may assist traffic flow in other streets that are currently overwhelmed during the morning and afternoon school peak hours . Specifically Baker Street, it is a total write off when trying to exit or enter your own property during these times. Drivers get Agro and horns blare.

This is not an objection to the proposed development. Children should have the best possible facilities for their education, but the issues of school size, resulting in traffic, safety of children and local community are not being addressed or ignored.

We have been neighbours of Carlingford West Primary School for 23 years. The school has transformed from a local primary school to what now seems to be a North Western Sydney regional primary school, students not limited to its official catchment. The size of the school should be addressed before spending tax payer money on building permanent facilities. If there are students who are not from within the catchment, then a school resize is required to meet the true demand. It is common knowledge in the area that short term rental of granny flats or using a friend address or a post office box address in the catchment to get children into the school.

What is driving the out of catchment demand for this school? There should there be no difference between one government school and the next, so that all children get an equivalent primary education or have I missed something. If parents want to pick and choose the school for their child then private schools are more open to out of area placements. Obviously, the exception to this would be selective secondary schools. I have had a conversation with a parent from outside the catchment trying to workout how they could get their child in CWPS.

There needs to be proper analysis of traffic patterns in the area. The week when traffic analysis was done, there was a major reduction in the traffic in the streets on the western side. Previously at dropoff and pickup times were manic but during this week the traffic problem miraculously seemed to have almost disappeared. Speaking to residents with pupils at CWPS, the parents were warned of the traffic survey which resulted in reduced traffic and drivers being on their best behavior. Felton Rd West is consistently blocked by cars double parked up to and past the stop sign on Arcadian Cct waiting to pickup children. This queuing problem needs fixing urgently there will be an accident or fatality due to someone driving on the wrong side of the road. Parents frequently leave the queue of cars and drive on the wrong side of the road to turn into Sandringham Dr or Barons Ave. Double parking, parking across driveways, illegally parking on corners requires further attention.

The changes to CWPS need to address the safety issue of the children and residents at drop off and pickup times. There many elderly people on the western side of the school, their safety needs to be considered when planning any changes. Stopping speeding parents and teachers running late is imperative before there is a fatality or an injury.

As a resident we should not have to plan our day, leaving or arriving home to avoid school drop off and pickup times. COVID has changed our work environments with more and more residents work from home. The logistics around traffic flow in the area should not be a major factor in our day. We care for elderly family members living in the area, when help is required the primary concern should not be whether we can get around the traffic clogging our narrow streets.

CWPS needs to take responsibility of what happens outside the gate. This has not been the case. Phones calls in the past have been met with "call the police or the council" The submission seems to be concerned about staff and visitor parking but does not address the other traffic issues. Maybe its time to think outside the box and look a localised public transport solution for the school. If the apartments in Carlingford are the contributing factor then the majority of vehicles should be coming from that area. Then a simple option to reduce the traffic would be to run a shuttle bus(es) service between Carlingford Station (or a specified location in that area) to the schools at dropoff and pickup times. Parents can walk to the station to pickup their children rather than drive a few kilometres to the school, this will reduce the traffic in the area and on Pennant Hills Rd, and carbon monoxide emitted around the school from car motors running while waiting to have the AC on. To further expand on this option, if other shuttle buses ran to other parts of the catchment (depending where there are clusters of pupils) this would further reduce traffic in the area. We may then NOT have any traffic issues.

I hope my comments and suggestions will be considered. If we are spending money for the good of the children, we should be doing it wisely.

Thank you.

I am concerned about the increasingly dangerous and congested traffic conditions during pickup and drop-off times at Carlingford West. Many parents are parking where they are not meant to be parking and congesting the streets. Parents also have moved down side streets into the community and parking has become scarce. There have been times where I have been parked in to my own driveway. I believe that the school should be focussing on alleviating the traffic pressure forced upon the local community. Many staff are also parking in the streets and blocking up the roadways. The school should at least have enough parking to accommodate staff. The upgrades to learning centres are of course very beneficial but the question is whether the school will increase student enrolments due to these new learning spaces. If enrolment does increase, will this not mean even greater traffic burden in already narrow streets, further hindering the community?

- it is unsafe for me, a student who must walk through CWPS every day to get to school
- there is too much congestion around CWPS, CHS, and JRAHS, and the presence of this construction project will only increase traffic
- if CWPS attempts to facilitate more students than it is capable of, students will have no green space to play in, which will be detrimental to their wellbeing
- a reduction in congestion may be better achieved by the reduction of the catchment area size
- allowing increased enrolments will result in a net increase of traffic in the area
- the heavy congestion is inconvenient to those living in the area, and is unfair
- the large construction project will damage the environment and disrupt the peace of the neighbourhood
- the large construction project is not only inconvenient, it is unsafe, especially as there are always lots of young children in the area

The upgrade project will signicantly increase traffic congestion on Felton Rd,serious safety concerns for students,parents and locals.

We are residents of Carlingford, very close to Carlingford West Public School for over 50 years. Over the past decade we have seen a dramatic increase in traffic in and around the area due to the school. The level of traffic is already a major concern and hassle for us. We have to plan our day around school start and finish times as we cannot get out of our street because of parents and students attending Carlingford West Public School. Not only do we have trouble getting in and out but we have always been concerned about emergency vehicles accessing our area during drop off and pick up. We are also always worried about the safety of children as there is such a large volume of cars moving and parking all at the same time. This new development worries us greatly as traffic to our local area will be even worse with more traffic. It is a small, residential area that was never built to withstand such heavy traffic.

Please find attached a PDF document detailing my objection to the proposal.

1. Not enough classrooms planned. Current enrolments are already higher than planned classrooms with projections that this school will grow in size in the future.
2. Staff parking inadequate resulting in staff parking on the street which is already massively congested during school pick-up/drop-off times. Multi-level onsite parking required.

1. Traffic lights to be installed at the junction Baker Street/Pennant Hills Road, this would ease the traffic on Baker Street and hence Felton Road
2. "Do not cross intersection" markings at all intersections with Baker Street, namely Dunmore Ave, Blenheim Rd + Pleasant Ct
3. Educate and/or fines to drivers staying in the school turning circle for more than 2 mins (?) , maybe some sort of boom gates that record the plates.

The proposal will lead to more traffic congestion around Carlingford West Public School as there will be many more parents driving to the school as the school expands.
The roads around the school are narrow and 2 way. The school also competes with traffic from the Cumberland and James Ruse Agricultural High Schools. It is bad at this point in time with teachers and parents parking on both sides of the narrow streets and those lining up in the mornings and afternoons.
There are insuffficient parking bays for teachers and visitors in the proposal and the there is nothing mentioned about traffic flow surrounding the school. I would suggest a one-way traffic flow through the school and a set of traffic lights at the Baker Street and Pennant Hills Road intersection. A larger drop-off and pick-up area within the school would help tremendously. Thank you.

Something needs to be done about the traffic between the times of 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM and 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM on school days around Felton road, as a resident close to Carlingford West Public School (living in Karingal avenue) I have witnessed the traffic get progressively worse over the years, with little to no plans or improvements done by the Council, School or Government is very disappointing. The only change that I have seen which has only recently been implemented this year is a "Lollipop Man" assigned to the crossing in front of James Ruse Agricultural High School, yes this is an improvement to previous students and parents who were crossing with no assistance, but why has it taken this long to implement something like that, this should've been done years ago. The implementations of this "Lollipop Man" I would say has little to no improvement to the traffic conditions within the school area during pick up and drop off times, something more extensive needs to be done, as the traffic is not getting any better it is only getting worse each year.

Attached to my submission you will see a picture that was taken only this year, the street you see in this picture is Karingal avenue going up to Felton road. The traffic shouldn't be this bad! I know my fellow neighbours around me are definitely frustrated with this situation as well, I will provide you with an example of how bad the traffic really is at school drop off and pick up time. Say I have a Doctor's appointment to get to in Carlingford Court at 3:40, it takes about 6 minutes by car to get there, you would think logically a good time to leave for that appointment would be 3:20, that would give you enough time to get up there and find a spot, incorrect. If I was to leave my house at 3:20 to get up to Carlingford Court for my appointment at 3:40 I would've missed my appointment, why you may ask, well because in this picture attached the traffic you see it takes roughly 30- 50 minutes to get through and that is just to get onto Pennant Hills Road, taking 30 - 50 minutes just to get out of your own street is absolutely ridiculous. The traffic shouldn't be this bad, residents around Carlingford West Public School shouldn't have to put aside 30-50 minutes each time they want to leave their house when it is school traffic, that is completely absurd. Yes it should be put into consideration the time you're leaving your house and if the traffic is going to be busy, but adding 30 - 50 minutes to travel time just to get out of your own street is beyond a joke and NOTHING has been done to improve this traffic, it has only gotten progressively worse over the years, back in 2019 when the school cap on students was 555 there was a significant difference in the school traffic, now the school has around 1,700 students, triple of what it had back in 2019. If the student numbers have tripled well then of course the traffic is going to be three times as worse and with that little to no changes have been made to improve traffic flow or make it easier to get out of the street during school drop off and pick up time.

To make matters worse the parents are not abiding by the street signs around the school area as well, on Felton road from 36 Felton road to 62 Felton road there are clear signs indicating "No stopping" for most of the signs and also signs advising "No parking", if you're to come to Felton road around 2:50 PM - 4:00 PM, you would see that those street signs are completely ignored by the parents picking up their kids, the council has put them there for a reason and they should be followed. Parking rangers need to come to this area frequently and fine drivers who are not abiding by the street signs, maybe then they will follow the street signs then.
I'm all for the school to develop and grow but not at the cost of the community who live around the area, as we are the ones who are being affected by the above-stated problems throughout the weekdays, it seems quite apparent that at this point the schools capacity of roughly 1,700 is likely to grow, but the plans don't show how it is going to deal with the increased traffic around Felton road. Something needs to be done by the School, Council or Government to deal with the increased traffic within the area around school drop off and pick up times, as what is currently being done by the school, council or government, which is nothing at the moment needs to change!

There should be some consideration in regards to the traffic condtions of before/after school as it takes very long to enter and exit the area.

I support the upgrade, however I wish to lodge comments on the provision of parking for staff and pick-up and drop-off traffic congestion.
Currently - vehicles are parked all day in surrounding suburban residential streets, these streets are narrow and a vehicle parked on both sides only allows for one vehicular lane. This is not only inconvenient to residents but dangerous to pedestrians, especially children. Current plans allow insufficient parking for estimated staff numbers which will still leave staff needing to park in residential streets all day. I suggest an underground car parking facility to accommodate all staff and regular visitors to the school.
Currently - Drop-off and pick-up is a disaster, with queues of vehicles morning and afternoon lining up in Felton Road (East and West) and obstructing residents from accessing their own street and properties. Serious planning amendments are required to deal with the massive number of vehicles eg; flow through from both East and West Felton Road, large turning circle within the school grounds, large improved road signage, restricted hours of parking in surrounding streets (exception for residents).
Thankyou for the opportunity to comment on the planned school upgrade.
Kind regards
Ian Bubb OAM

We live on Felton Road near Carlingford West School which is 800 meters away from our house. Its been like hell and very frustrating for whole family for last 4-5 years due increase number school strengths. The street in the morning and in the afternoon creating traffic night mare and mental torture with honking horns & noise pollution. To get out from our house on Felton Rd to Pennant Hills Road taking 20 to 25 minutes during the school time. I have two school going children drop ing them in the morning to their school is painful exercise, due to traffic chaos on Felton Road every day we are late to School and to Work. We are stuck at cross road of Arcadian Circuit and Felton Road and again West Minister Ave intersection traffic lights. To escape we started using Bettington Rd and Pennant Hills road, we stuck here as well on traffic lights due Carlingford West School and Kings School traffic. So before you do any major development at school first you should invest tax payers money on addressing basic infrastructure issue. I don't have words to express my grief on the issue unless you feel and experience during the school time not able to get out on time to work or going on urgent work.

There should be a reduction in the school catchment area.

Overall a good move to replace existing demountables with proper buildings.
However, I have the following concerns:
1. The proposed staff car park abuts the rear boundary of the houses along Adrian Court, Carlingford.
The site is higher than the back gardens of my house (and the other houses), and during a heavy rainstorm,
i) water from the school run down to the gully at the boundary and during the recent storm, it gushed over into my rear garden and the middle garden.
ii) I am concerned that engine and fuel oils from cars parked on the proposed site will run flow down and the chemicals will contaminate my garden beds
iii) There will be loss of privacy as the car park is higher than the rear fence

2. The increase traffic flow generated by the students attending school by car often causes a traffic jam during morning and afternoon hours.
This is understandable normally, but it is has been compounded after a traffic light was installed at the intersection of Westminster Ave and Pennant Hills Road.
The problem is the timing/switching of the lights are poorly programmed, causing a long wait to exit from Westminster Ave to Pennant Hills Rd.
The recent traffic survey during school start and end hours should provide an idea on the long line of cars banked up several hundred metres during these periods.

3. The same traffic light is also erratically slow to change to green for cars waiting along Westminster Ave to join Pennant Hills Road when there are few cars travelling along Pennant Hills Road during the offpeak hours and in the evening.

I would like:
1. A proper flood water mitigation scheme be installed at the car park site bordering the rear boundary of my house.
2. A hazardous waste drainage system to capture any chemical discharges from the car park.
3. A 2 metre high fence to replace my existing chain link fence to maintain my privacy.
Thank you

To whom it may concern

I’am writing this submission to share my concerns regarding the Carlingford West Public school upgrade.
The need for improved traffic conditions in local streets around Carlingford West Public school.
At present :
1. People are not complying with the road rules and signage installed by council.
2. Police and council are not adequately and consistently enforcing the road rules.
3. Carlingford West Primary school is growing exponentially and the local streets and footpaths are not coping.
4. Department of Education is not investing in new additional schools to address the growing population.
5. Population of Carlingford is growing with more high-density housing, resulting in more cars parking on the streets.
6. With the student population growing there are also more teachers who park in the local streets as the schools do not have sufficient parking.

There is a significant need to ease morning and afternoon traffic congestion and address the associated serious traffic/safety concerns for students,parents,teachers and local residents.
There is no possible way emergency services can make it through this traffic chaos when needed.

Open up Felton road to make an east west drive through, with a larger staff car park or even a underground carpark. The current plans will do nothing to ease the existing gridlock traffic conditions and safety needs.

The planned carpark WILL ONLY accommodate 50% of staff numbers!

The school will accommodate (by informal estimates) 2400 students by 2024,even allowing for a reduction in catchment area size, will require more permanent classrooms. Current plans only allow for just over 1600 students, the existing enrolments are at 1760 students already!
Without more permanent classrooms future generations of will be left with a school life in demountables.

If Department of Education and School Infrastructure are serious about this upgrade, instead of trying to rush through or fast track this upgrade, some more in-depth investigation and planning encompassing all areas of concerns of local residents now and into the future.

Do the job once and do it right.

James and Leonie Jenkins