Glebe Island Concrete Batching Plant and Aggregate Handling Facility

I have no problem with this going ahead

From the submissions provided it appears as though the proposed concrete
batching plant would provide many jobs to the area.

Additionally concrete is a largely used product which can expire, so a
central location would help our infrastructure projects and help build
Sydney's future.

I believe the concrete batching plant at Glebe Island would be a positive
outcome for the area considering the amount of construction work
happening in the area now and in the future.
The location would assist in reducing the amount of truck movement
from surrounding suburbs into the city. It would also be assisting in
maintaining employment of the personnel's working in the Blackwattle
Bay concrete plant and also others that would eventually work at the
concrete plant.

This proposal will provide the production and delivery of economic
concrete into the inner Sydney precinct by a world class supplier with
many years of operating responsibly in this type of location. It will
also provide a significant number of employment opportunities within
the area.

I wish to raise a strong objection to this proposal on several grounds.
I acknowledge that Sydney Harbour is a working harbour however since
1999 when CSR vacated the site in Pyrmont the area has become high
density residential. Thus the criteria of a working harbour that were
applicable in the 20th century are no longer so. Noise and air
pollution controls need to stringent. Public spaces for community
enjoyment need to be adequate for the population here now and the
increasing density proposed with the Bays Precinct renewal.
It seems a contradiction by the Government to recommend major urban
renewal around Blackwattle Bay and at the same time propose the highly
industrialisation of a Glebe Island which will impact adversely on the
public benefit.
The provisions to date state that the developement will be running
24/7. I ask the planners what integrated residential/ industrial
facility is permitted such unrestricted license.
In addition, there will be a huge increase in heavy traffic on the
ANZAC Bridge at a time when congestion will also increase due to the
Westconnex.
Finally, I am extremely concerned that residents are being drip fed
bad news. Since the original `community consultations' more
information is revealed about the waste piles from the tunneling for
the new metro. This will add to the air and water pollution. Again at
the time of the consultations, we were not told about the conditions
under which Hanson's will be operating. Residents do not know what
they are facing as the conditions keep changing.
The only time the community was consulted, was at meetings in which
the PA staff told us what had already been decided - our opinions were
not sought so that they can be integrated into the final proposal.
We, the residents believe that community needs have not been either
consulted nor considered.

Sydney needs this concrete plant just as badly as Hanson do to support
the infrastructure our city requires. To compete with other world
leading cities, Sydney must continue to grow and evolve. Hanson and
other heavy construction materials suppliers are the backbone to the
cities development.

I am a local resident of the Inner West and am pleased with the amount of
investment in infrastructure around the area including roads and rail
to reduce congestion and improve transport options and mobility.
Further to this I also work in the construction material industry and
understand the need for timely availability of concrete as well as
other building materials to the success of such projects. The proposal
is of significance to the success of the pipeline of infrastructure
projects announced by the NSW State Government as well as to meet the
basic construction needs of the city of Sydney.
The ability to receive aggregates into a central Sydney location via
ship will have a positive environmental impact by reducing delivery
times via truck transport. It will also improve overall efficiencies
in the construction industry through added flexibility and reduced
delivery lead times.
To deliver the construction needs of this growing city as well as the
pipeline of infrastructure works, it is inevitable that concrete and
building materials will be frequently visible on the local road
network. As such it makes sense to have these located close to where
the demand reducing overall travel times and costs to construction.

I am in full support of this Development proposal.
Glebe Island should definitely stay a working port. It would be a
better site for a concrete plant to be developed than the original
position.

This is a critical piece of infrastructure to support the growing need to
efficiently supply concrete into the Sydney CBD. This appears to be
the most environmentally sustainable option of relocating the
Pyrmont/Blackwattle Bay Hanson facility.

I am concerned about the proposed use of Glebe Island for Hanson's
Concrete Batching Plant as well as the Port Authority of NSW's
Multi-User Facility Building.

As you are aware, Pyrmont is the most densely populated suburb of
Australia. Many children live here, including my own.

Pyrmont's residents should not be subjected to 24 hour noise.
Likewise, I am concerned about the increased air pollution due to my
children suffering from asthma.

The increased traffic is also of concern as Pyrmont and the
surrounding areas are already suffering from severe traffic
congestion.

Glebe Island should be used for community purposes, for example, to
provide extra parkland due to the ever increasing density of the
Pyrmont/Glebe/Inner city area.

It would be extremely disappointing to see the state government, once
again, put the interests of business above those of residents.

I hope you take this into consideration.

The concrete batching plant which is proposed at Glebe Island will be
very disruptive to our densely populated community. Any business
running 24 hours per day/ 7 days per week should be located well away
from residential precincts.
The current government is promoting more green space in our
communities and this invasive proposal in a prime space in our city
will not only be an eye sore but a very noisy one. The residents in
our community have already absorbed the White Bay Cruise Terminal.
Surely we should be given some consideration on any future intrusions
into our lives and ways of living.

Lived in the inner city for 15 years and as such I understand the impact
of traffic in the CBD, Eastern suburbs and surrounds. As I I now live
in the Blue Mountains and travel around all of Sydney for work I also
have experience with long commutes and getting around Sydney.
There is a lot of construction work at the moment - and no doubt
construction will always be required in a growing city such as Sydney.
All forecasts predict that the population density in Sydney will
continue to increase. I believe it makes a sense to reduce the number
of trucks on the road. These facilities will not only reduce the
amount of trucks transporting raw materials from their source
(impacting motorways and surrounding suburbs) - but also reduce the
travel time of the concrete trucks to their destination. Concrete will
always be required in a growing city and it needs to come from
somewhere, Having a plant close by will help sustainability as well as
reducing the number of trucks on the road.
Whilst I understand that some may wish not to have such a facility so
close to the city - but the alternative may actually cause longer term
problems. Sydney Harbour has always been a working Harbour and in the
long term I believe this is better overall.

A concrete aggregate plant, the vessels delivering to it and the vehicles
(to and fro from) in this location is totally inappropriate in a place
that is surrounded by residential areas. It will be an issue for
public safety, inappropriate noise, harmful emissions and air quality.

I vehemently object to its approval.

I object to the development due to 24hr 7 days a week operation
Due to noise and dust.we moved to Jacksons Landing as the
NSW Gov was encouraging people to move to more densely
Populated areas as they removed industrial sites now you are
Reversing this policy and this application was not included in the
First application for berth 1 at Glebe Iland witch smells of
Dishonesty.
Yours Sinserely
Christopher Wright.

I object to the development due to 24hr 7 days a week operation
Due to noise and dust.we moved to Jacksons Landing as the
NSW Gov was encouraging people to move to more densely
Populated areas as they removed industrial sites now you are
Reversing this policy and this application was not included in the
First application for berth 1 at Glebe Iland witch smells of
Dishonesty.
Yours Sinserely
Christopher Wright.

I wish to oppose this planning application on the basis that the area
being requested is in an area that is becoming increasingly
residential or recreational and placing this plant there will reduce
the appeal and attractiveness of the environment over a wide area. The
applicant has a poor history of maintaining acceptable standards of
the environment in which they operate at the existing Wentworth Park
facility where high levels of dust and aggregates pollute the road and
footpath. A concrete mixing plant does not belong on prime foreshore
land - an area that the community highly values and takes significant
enjoyment from. If we are to encourage people to get out, exercise
more and become more active members of the community than I struggle
to see how allowing this application to proceed would support those
aims. Of course it is important to have a functioning economy with the
ability to create the materials needed to support that but there are
many locations around Sydney that are earmarked as industrial. Whilst
the use of the waterway to bring in bulky aggregates would appear to
be beneficial to assist that aim and reduce traffic, the cost to the
environment is too great for this location.

I oppose this application. The 24 hour operation will impose noise,
traffic and pollution issues in the area and this is not an
appropriate development for a location so close to the city. The whole
White Bay and Glebe Island areas were meant to be residential and
professional areas, not industrial - that's why the shipping docks
were removed in the first place. Building this facility will have a
negative impact on where I live and does nothing to improve Sydney's
inner city.
Glebe Island should not be an industrial site simply because land is
available. The whole purpose of redeveloping these types of areas in
Sydney is to move away from industrial sites.

I oppose this application. The 24 hour operation will impose noise,
traffic and pollution issues in the area and this is not an
appropriate development for a location so close to the city. The whole
White Bay and Glebe Island areas were meant to be residential and
professional areas, not industrial - that's why the shipping docks
were removed in the first place. Building this facility will have a
negative impact on where I live and does nothing to improve Sydney's
inner city.
Glebe Island should not be an industrial site simply because land is
available. The whole purpose of redeveloping these types of areas in
Sydney is to move away from industrial sites.

I write this email following our shock discovery of a proposal to
intensify the activity on and around Glebe Is.

We have resided in The Elizabeth, 2-4 Mount Street Walk, Pyrmont for
some 10 years now.

Our apartment is on the 10th level in a building directly opposite
White Bay 5 and 6.

Our complex, along with 1000's of multi-million dollar apartments is
built 50 to 100 meters across the channel to the south of Glebe
Island.

After waiting years for the closure of ships docking to off-load
1000's of motor cars, we understood that this was the beginning of the
complete closure of Glebe Island to commercial and industrial
activity.

The access to Glebe Island is restricted and is surrounded by already
heavily congested main roads.

For all these years we have been complaining about sundry and
uncompliant ships berthing at the White Bay docks, running multiple
noisy generators, belching diesel exhaust smoke and fumes into the
prevailing wind with the noise and diesel dust seriously contaminating
the residential apartments that were approved and built along and set
back from the foreshore.

We also have documented many complaints to the Authority regarding
obnoxious odours and fine dust entering our apartment when visiting
laden ships are unloading on the northern side of Glebe Is. to the
west of us.

The noise, pollution and ultra-bright flood lights emitting everything
you don't ever want to deal with in a high density living area is
presently unacceptable, let alone being considered for expansion to
worsen the nightmare and further threat our health.

We noted that our vacuum cleaner contained a very fine grey powder in
the collection container. The material was taken to Hanson Cement at
Pyrmont. It was confirmed that the contents contained pure cement
dust.

We were told that due to NW winds blowing at the time that this
material was from the unloading of cement from ships to the silos on
the north side of Glebe Is. as well as from their own facility under
the Anzac Bridge at Pyrmont.

It was explained that no matter how compliant and with what
precautions were taken to contain the cement dust, that due to it
being like talcum powder, it will always escape into the air when
being transferred.

We have been enduring and complaining about the current ships
generator noise, diesel smoke and the cement and gypsum dust for over
5 years.

The outdoor furniture on our balcony gets covered in a combination of
cement dust, gypsum dust and diesel fume fallout constantly and after
cleaning the filthy glass top tables, cushions and lounges, as we do
weekly, within an hour they are all covered again with contamination.

My wife and I have coughing fits on and off for no reason other than
due to the poor quality of the air around the Glebe Island, Pyrmont
and Balmain area.

Interestingly, when there are no ships berthed anywhere on Glebe
Island or along the White Bay dock, the air is clean, we never cough
and the contamination on the balcony reduces significantly.

The exception to the above appears to be some of the larger P&O cruise
ships that frequent White Bay 5. They appear to be compliant, quiet
and emit no noticeable diesel smoke.

ALL the other not so frequent passenger ships and ALL the cargo ships
are by far the worst offenders and should clearly not be allowed into
the harbour, let alone berthing alongside high density residential
apartments.

The obvious impact on everyone's health is totally unacceptable
presently and to seriously consider increasing the shipping activity
in the harbour is unconceivable, reckless and unacceptable to say the
very least.

All the current and proposed activity should be transferred to either
Botany Bay or Port Kembla where the purpose-built infrastructure at
these locations suit the proposed activities.

Our clear view as residents living in Pyrmont by the water is that in
no way should the current activity be allowed to continue and all
future proposals for a `multi-user facility' should without
hesitation, be relocated to the purpose built facilities in Botany Bay
and/or Port Kembla.

To be perfectly frank, the whole of the now defunct Glebe Island
`slab' needs to be demolished and removed, relieving everyone of the
eyesore and the NSW Govt of the cost to keep the slab secure and
maintained for no justifiable reason at all.

To propose an industrial development such as this so close to 1000's
of residential apartments, surrounded by existing heavily congested
roads and within 2-3000 metres of the CBD is unacceptable and formally
opposed by us.

We will follow the matter with much interest in the name of our
health, well-being and peace that all residents were promised and
entitled to.

Your sincerely,

Garry & Irina Crowhurst.
1001/2-4 Mount Street Walk, Pyrmont, NSW 2009.

The existing concrete plants generate much traffic and at times cause
traffic safety issues because of their location.
There is a need for a new facility close to the centre of the high
demand locations.
The high capacity facility is essential for time sensitive delivery to
the major projects taking place in the CBD and adjactent areas.
The project will significantly reduce truck movements by being located
near the users and by shipping of aggregate by sea.