Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection

I strongly object to the UNFILTERED STACKS. I quote Gladys Berejiklian (when she was in opposition) "members of parliament should examine their conscience and consider how they would feel if their children or loved ones were exposed to this level of fumes every day - World's best practice is to filter tunnels"

I strongly object to the location of the 7 storey high stack by Balgowlah Boys High School and Seaforth Primary School.

I strongly object to negative impact it will have on local water sources, flora, fauna and wildlife in Manly Dam, Burnt Bridge Creek and Garigal National Park. The loss of water flow also impacts Queenscliff lagoon and eco systems.

I strongly object to the destruction of so much parkland and so many trees

I strongly object to the movement of contaminated sediment in Middle Harbour - it will pollute the harbour and local beaches.

I strongly object to spending $10bn for a 10% decrease in traffic on the Military Road. The price is too high - in terms of the spend and the negative impacts on the local community.

I strongly object to the contractor parking and impact on local streets

I strongly object to the UNFILTERED STACKS. I quote Gladys Berejiklian (when she was in opposition) "members of parliament should examine their conscience and consider how they would feel if their children or loved ones were exposed to this level of fumes every day - World's best practice is to filter tunnels"

I strongly object to the location of the 7 storey high stack by Balgowlah Boys High School and Seaforth Primary School.

I strongly object to negative impact it will have on local water sources, flora, fauna and wildlife in Manly Dam, Burnt Bridge Creek and Garigal National Park. The loss of water flow also impacts Queenscliff lagoon and eco systems.

I strongly object to the destruction of so much parkland and so many trees

I strongly object to the movement of contaminated sediment in Middle Harbour - it will pollute the harbour and local beaches.

I strongly object to spending $10bn for a 10% decrease in traffic on the Military Road. The price is too high - in terms of the spend and the negative impacts on the local community.

I strongly object to the contractor parking and impact on local streets

A road tunnel sounds a good idea. Get cars off the road and underground where they will do little
environmental damage. The problem is that tunnels come to the surface and that’s where the
problems start.
The Beaches Link makes Wakehurst Parkway one of the two main feeder roads into the tunnel. It will
be widened to 4 lanes for about two-thirds of the length of the project and 5-6 lanes for the other
third.
Since it runs along a narrow ridge between two environmentally sensitive regions, Manly Dam
Reserve and Garigal National Park, widening Wakehurst Parkway means it will be built above the
bushland in a number of places.
The road will be visible throughout Manly Dam. Noise from the bigger road with its construction
trucks, lights from cars and street lights, and water runoff from the road will all significantly impact
upon flora and fauna in the region, not to mention turn a quiet area into an unpleasant industrial
highway.
There are many other problems with the tunnel as well, such as the destruction of Burnt Bridge
Creek, ventilation towers near schools, toxic mud in Middle Harbour and more traffic and less
parking. Against this, the project only stands to offer minimal time savings in travel and little
economic benefit for an enormous investment.

As per the WHT/WFU upgrade EIS, the length of time the community has been given to review and question this project is totally inadequate, especially given the facts that this (since 2017) has been widely spoken about and feedback given already about the consequences of these road projects on high sensitive residents including children, flora, fauna, native & non native animals such as dogs & birds, waterways, bushland, dams (Manly & Cammeray Golf Course), noise, pollution, local traffic, parking, ability to sleep, mental health, physical health (taking out our community greenspace) and since the added challenges of COVID you still carry on regardless of these extremely valid issues, kicking the problems down the road (tunnel) now onto the construction contractors and continuing to basically ignore the people of NSW that pay for all these glossy and no doubt expensive project documents that have basic factual errors and treat the community to weeks of reading (this EIS) at peak holiday time after now years of community interaction your tunnel vision & deafness to our valid concerns, basic accurate data and local knowledge is astounding.

I sail at Northbridge Sailing Club and our race course will be severely affected. The proposed works will make racing impossible for over 50% of the season. This coupled with the length of work, will be detrimental for our club.
Sailors will find other clubs where their racing skills will be maintained so they remain competitive on a state and national level. After 4 years it will be unlikely that we would be able to convince them to return as they would be firmly established at the alternate clubs.
Our youth will not progress into our sailing pathways, as the spinnaker boats need water length to be enjoyable sailing boats. They will go elsewhere to find this, resulting in the above issue.
The bottleneck created by the works will increase water traffic substationally near the clubhouse. Although power boats are meant to give way to sail, this will become increasing difficult with a bottleneck on our doorstep.
Consideration of finding a way to reduce the impact so racing, ensure that the fleets can remain competitive and overall water traffic safety, must be considered to ensure this hallmark of the local community is not lost. The effects of these works will be felt long after they are done, and will provide an extremely difficult task to rebuild the membership within the club.

Whilst is might seem from a project point of view to run the WFU, WHT and BL projects both together (in the preparation and some elements) and consecutively, just put your family/community/lifestyle/education facilities/environment/work ability - you need sleep for most of these in our reality for a few minutes. These projects seek to make major impacts on hundreds of thousands of people for upto a decade? How this can be justified without the most commercial element of a business case which is not just a joke on us all but an essential element in the commercial world due to the costs involved, be that monetary, environmental, physical etc. and without care or consideration of who pays for this 'exercise', in this case those who will be most negatively impacted are taxpayers and those who just have their 'money' being spent on something that they will never use (such as the regional & rural people of NSW).

Please see the attached letter in respect of this project and its impacts on the NS14 sailing class and Northbridge Sailing Club.

The EIS for this project is in error in stating that community preference is for the dive site to be located on the Eastern side of Flat Rock Drive. The only community that was consulted about this siting was the sporting association which uses the facilities located on the western side of Flat Rock drive. The thousands of walkers and runners who regularly enjoy using the bush tracks around the Eastern side of flat rock gully each week were never consulted and did not get to have their voices heard. It is inconceivable that 30 year old regrown established unstructured bushland, rich with flora and fauna, located in the midst of an inner city suburb, should be destroyed in preference to sports playing fields which can be temporarily relocated with no impact. Bushland cannot be relocated or re-created. It is imperative that this area of precious bushland be left untouched for the benefit of this and future generations.

To whom it may concern
I have many concerns with the potential construction of the Northern Beaches Link.

Please reassessment of Project Need owing to Traffic Numbers and the Modelling into the future.
In the Environmental Impact Statement the traffic modelling has been done on numbers from 2016. The world has changed since then. Huge numbers are now working from home, including my husband, who now only goes into the CBD by car once or twice a week at the very most, and now chooses to travel at times that are not considered to be the peak. The introduction of the B-Line bus service has also heavily impacted the amount of private car traffic along Military Road during peak hours. The B-Line started in November 2017 and this has not been considered in your 2016 modelling. We should be encouraging people onto public transport, and the B-Line has proven this is how people want to go from its popularity. This, with WFH, means the idea for the whole project should be reconsidered; at the very least it should not be a 6 lane tunnel.

Impact on Manly Dam and its environment
As it says on page 39 The “Council would have significant concerns about any decrease to water quality in Manly Creek”. As I understand it, this means that the water quality in the dam and its surrounds could become so polluted that, on top of the immense environmental impact to local fauna and flora, Manly Dam could become unsafe for wildlife and recreational usage. This Dam is a valuable local resource - beloved by locals and a welcome retreat from the hustle of the outside world, yet the construction of a 6 lane raised freeway behind it will cause terrible damage. Protection of the local natural environment, bushland and waterways, overseen by an independent commission, must be a condition of approval of this project - offsetting by protecting other environments elsewhere far is not enough. We have little bushland in this suburban area and Manly Dam and its environs must be protected, not just for us, for our children but for the future.

Unnecessary Widening of Wakehurst Parkway
Using this road at least 4 times a week in both directions as some of my children are at school in Oxford Falls, I have just spent numerous years in traffic owing to the construction at the junction with Warringah Road. Thankfully. in 2021, this road is now a pleasure to use. The traffic has been alleviated and all the years in jams are over. It does not need to be widened to 6 lanes, even with a tunnel to the city at one end of it. The environmental and community damage this would cause needs to be more carefully considered as a part of the project. It is a 'Parkway' for a reason - not a Freeway. The amount of lanes required needs to be re-examined and modelling of potential traffic numbers needs to be revised as a condition of any planning application.

Impact on Balgowlah Boys' (Northern Beaches Secondary College)
The impact on this high school will be significant. I already have one son at this school, and in a few years my other son will be joining this school.
Not only do the unfiltered emissions from the tunnel's proposed air stacks pose a huge risk to multiple children with conditions such as asthma, but how a sports field, Balgowlah Oval, nearby will manage to provide a healthy environment for activities is impossible without immediate reconsideration of the proposal. The school is already on a cramped site, and the numbers are growing; it requires a sports field for its 900 or so students for the full school experience. As Balgowlah Oval will remain operational through the whole construction phase and EIS does concede that the oval would have diminished appeal of use during this time, more stringent conditions need to be attached to both the air stacks and the construction phase so the school students, including my children, are not impacted negatively.

Thank you for considering these comments.
Regards
Alex Cogley

Dear RMS,

I object to the proposed beaches link tunnel
as the current plan only specifies 25% of the project, there are too many variances that have not been considered that have the potential to blow out the budget, wasting taxpayer dollars, like many recent projects.
Sydney residents can not sustain another toll road.
'Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity' Sir David Attinbourgh, 24th Feb 2021, we should be pursuing more environmentally friendly, more cost efficient options like public transport
the stacks will not be filtered
disturbance of local marine life in and around middle harbour
lack of trust in contractors given their track record on the westconnex project
unnecessary noise and pollution from cofferdams and no compensation being offered to affected residents.
The beach tunnel plan is ludicrous, and should not go ahead, already too much money has been wasted on this antiquated project. All great cities of the world have remarkable public transport, they do not have numerous environment destroying toll roads.

Your sincerely,

Shaun Berger
77 Coolawin Road, Northbridge
0400879003

Hi
I like new projects and I think it’s needed , why I’m objecting is on grounds that the smoke stacks are unfiltered ? Just seems an easy fix to so many problems to put filters in . I’m also very concerned about it’s construction impact to environment , there are beautiful streams waterfalls and animals( some protected) all live in the area which will be destroyed. My location to the project being extremely close to the new road which will be used with heavy trucks etc I think our house and others near by will be one of the most impacted . I’m hoping for some protection from noise ( in the form of double glazing etc) and pollution or alternate accomodation for high noise and pollution times . I have a young family and I don’t want to them to be affected by this project if it is to go ahead .
I’d also like to know what is happening to the distinct species there’s a big colony of water dragons in the middle of the golf course are they being relocated I’m sure they are protected and definitely shouldn’t just be bulldozed .

I object to the massive destruction of the bush, animals, and marine environment including the 3000 + trees that will be lost including 390 at flat rock.
I object to the confirmed contamination to the vulnerable marine and land eco systems.
I object to the extensive contamination risks across the entire project.
I object to the waste discharged into the creeks.
I object to the health risks in and around Flat Rock and Middle Harbour.
I object to the 4 unfiltered emission stacks near schools, playing fields and homes.
I object to 5 years of high impact construction works.
I object to 900 + vehicle movements per day on Flat Rock Drive and Surrounding streets.
I object to the widespread noise above acceptable limits.
I object to the risks to local heritage.
I object to the tolls and increased traffic issues.
I object to this project proceeding without considering viable alternatives, including public transport options that do not have the same environmental impact.
I object to more traffic being funnelled through our local area when there are alternatives to redirect the traffic around other less populated avenues in Sydney.

I strongly object to the UNFILTERED STACKS. I quote Gladys Berejiklian (when she was in opposition) "members of parliament should examine their conscience and consider how they would feel if their children or loved ones were exposed to this level of fumes every day - World's best practice is to filter tunnels"

I strongly object to the location of the 7 storey high stack by Balgowlah Boys High School and Seaforth Primary School.

I strongly object to negative impact it will have on local water sources, flora, fauna and wildlife in Manly Dam, Burnt Bridge Creek and Garigal National Park. The loss of water flow also impacts Queenscliff lagoon and eco systems.

I strongly object to the destruction of so much parkland and so many trees

I strongly object to the movement of contaminated sediment in Middle Harbour - it will pollute the harbour and local beaches.

I strongly object to spending $10bn for a 10% decrease in traffic on the Military Road. The price is too high - in terms of the spend and the negative impacts on the local community.

I strongly object to the contractor parking and impact on local streets

I object to the Tunnel Project for the reasons set out in the attached document

I regularly use the Epping cycle path, especially when I volunteer in the Lane Cove National Park and travel from Mosman by bike. I am horrified that the Beaches Link will take away a completely safe, off-road cycle path for FOUR years and replace it with the option of travelling on heavily congested, completely unsafe roads through Artarmon and beyond. The number of trucks alone using the proposed alternative streets is horrendous. What are you thinking !?! Surely I, and every other user of this path, deserves better? There must be another safer option that can be explored. Please do your best to find it!

I strongly object to the proposal.
We live in Dudley Street Balgowlah and find it inconceivable to leave our home and surround it with construction works for over 6 years. The effect on our health and wellbeing, particularly for our asthmatic daughter, is beyond description. Reconstructing Dudley Street into a cul-de-sac simply makes no sense as it would only service 5 units at a cost which could be applied in the circumstances to the Government acquiring the remaining homes.
Moreover, based on detailed review of the EIS, the project will have a significant and damaging impact on the environment, with no discernable benefit to the communities. The cost of the tunnel both financially and environmentally is not viable, while the impact of the stacks has not been properly addressed particularly the impact on Balgowlah Boys High School. In addition, there is not the traffic volume to support its use.
Public transport options MUST be considered and implemented.

I object to this project as it is not well thought out, there are alternative routes, the disruption to locals schools early minding centers and the environmental damage not covered in the EIS. The disruption to Burnt Creek will cause a loss of tree vegetation and have substantial impact on Manly lagoon. At completion of project there will be less green area and recreation area. The increase in traffic will have a major impact on Balgowlah Boys High. The damage to habitat will see to loss of water dragons, frogs and many species of birds. Also the dam that was built to provide water to sporting areas will be gone!

I object to the Beaches tunnel for the following reasons:
The modeling/forecasting of improvements in travel times is flawed - it currently only takes 30 mins from North Balgowlah to the CIty; Working from Home is not a "temporary" Covid measure, increased WFH will continue beyond the pandemic; building the tunnel will create induced demand and any decrease in travel time (should there actually be any), will be short lived and disappear within a few years.
Little consideration appears to have been given to improving public transport as opposed to building a tunnel for private cars.
Increased traffic flows into the Northern beaches via the Tunnel would just mean increased congestion on local roads.

Environmental considerations - both short term during the construction phase and in the longer term
Destruction of bushland to widen Wakehurst parkway and impact to wildlife
Impact to Burnt Bridge Creek
Pollution to Manly Dam

Ventilation stacks in proximity to local schools - modelling that uses averages does clearly not take account of the actual emissions during peak hours.

This project will be to the detriment of the Northern beaches and I sincerely hope it does not proceed.

In Summary
-----------------
1. The project as described will have significant adverse environmental and health impacts to the local community and wider Sydney community.
2. Alternative public transport options were not considered and would provide benefits to the local and wider Sydney community without harm to the local environment.

Detail
---------
1. a) The destruction of 390 trees will contribute to the Heat Island Effect. As the environment is warming, the value of natural landscapes is increasingly important to mitigate rising local temperatures. Compound this with the loss of habitat in an area where the built environment of north Sydney continues its relentless march to destroy the small remnants of the natural world that is critical for the well being of flora, fauna and consequently humans.

1. b) The construction a Dive Site in bushland at the top of Flat Rock Gully will turn the gully into a toxic and noisy industrial site for 7 years which for many residents and visitors to the Gully will render the site unusable for walking, dog walking, exercising and social activities. As a regular user of the area, I can confirm that this area is an important communal area and contributes greatly to the well being of locals and visitors. Furthermore, the loss of the wildlife corridor that is critical to the possums, lyre bird, wallabies and other animals whose survival is always under threat will push that survival to the brink.


1. c) The plan to dump 500 square metres of toxic spoil, in the open in a populated area is reckless. My recent and current experience living near significantly smaller residential building sites is that of perpetual dust in my home from clay and building materials can only lead to the conclusion that the local community is going to be subjected to toxic material seeping into their homes through closed doors and windows.

1. d). Almost a thousand additional heavy truck movements through Flat Rock Drive and onto Sydney suburban streets will not only degrade air quality and increase noise but importantly will increase traffic congestion adding to travel times for the wider community which come at a real and quantifiable cost. But disturbingly, more heavy vehicles on the roads will add greater danger to motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

1. e) The plan to push an 260 million litres of annually through the tiny waterway of Flat Rock Creek, home to eels, water birds and fish is frankly reckless in the extreme. This is a tranquil forest setting within 10 kilometres of the CBD and to play dice with such a precious jewel that provides for the welfare of local and visitors verges of wanton vandalism.

1. d) The tunnel when completed will put more cars on Sydney roads, adding to congestion, noise and air pollution.

2. Alternatives
---------------------
There is no consideration for the business case and the environmental and welfare benefits of investing in public transport. These should be considered and weighed up against the case for 7 years of diminished quality of life for local residents and in the longer term dimunition of the quality of life for the wider community.

I refer to the project documents for the Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection, which are currently on public exhibition. I object to this project, and submit that environmental planning approval for it should not be granted, on the basis of the significant construction and operating impacts on local residents and the environment, for what appears only a marginal benefit in terms of improvement in traffic flows on the North Shore and Northern Beaches. Noted the project documents do canvass some alternatives, but these are a similar nature, variations on the same theme. I submit that the array of options for addressing the issues that have led to the project being proposed have not been properly worked through - this should now be done, and the options made publicly available for comment and scrutiny, before the project is considered for approval.

The project documents glibly dismiss the impacts of Covid-19 on working arrangements, stating that traffic has essentially returned to pre-pandemic levels. This is at the same time the NSW Government, which has a poor track record in modelling future road network requirements (e.g. Cross City Tunnel), is still campaigning for people to return to work in the CBD. The current uncertainties are reflected even on the front page of today's SMH (Pandemic reshapes Sydney's cityscape). As such, further work is needed to re-assess the traffic modelling which underpins the justification for this project, particularly given predicted project-related reductions in traffic flow on major roads such as Military Road sit well within a modelling margin of error at 11%.

A further key issue with this project is the scale of works and the significant time required for the work to be carried out. The project documents are littered with references to local residents suffering "construction fatigue". This is not a seasonal thing, or a few months, but for many the adverse amenity impacts will be felt day on day for years - particularly around the "construction support areas", which will be operating 24 hours / day for 5-6 years, based on the published construction schedule (or more if the project is delayed).

In assessing this project, a conservative position must be taken. The project documents are voluminous, and the technical issues complex. Studies have been done to support the project applications, sometimes simply concluding there will not be significant impacts (air quality is one example), and in other cases stating further work will be needed, which presumably will only occur once the project is approved. Where impacts are outlined, statements are frequently made in the documentation that the impact-causing activities will only be done "to the extent reasonable" (whatever that might mean). We cannot simply rely on statements that it will be all ok - this project assessment is the point where , if the project is to be approved, clear conditions must be imposed to ensure local residents (as the beneficiaries of all this construction fatigue) and those implementing the project are aware of what can and cannot be done, and if the latter regulatory authorities such as the EPA have a firm set of requirements to enforce. "To the extent reasonable" is simply not sufficient.

In addition, I offer the following more specific comments, in relation to works proposed in the vicinity of the north-western part of Naremburn, in particular the Punch St construction support site and the proposal to site a tunnel ventilation stack at this location.

Location of Punch St construction support site

There are clearly going to be considerable amenity impacts from construction and related activities around Punch Street construction support site, particularly with the potential for cumulative impacts with both Punch St and Flat Rock sites operating at the same time. Operational impacts will also arise, with a tunnel ventilation stack also located here (e.g. air quality). The project documents clearly identify this site as being just metres away from residential receptors in north-west Naremburn and Artarmon. Given that property acquisitions will be required for the project in this locality whether or not the site is located here or further to the west, a far better outcome would be to relocate this site to the west, further into the Artarmon industrial area, away from residential receptors.

Construction support site noise

Reference Table 5-87 in the Renzo Tonin report (Appendix G) which indicates there will be significant activity at this site, right through the night, including deliveries / truck movements, on a daily basis over several years (section 5.6.3 of the Tonin report states that at this site there will be 19 truck movements per hour during the day, as well as some truck movements at night). The report dismisses night time noise impacts as a non-event, which have the potential to be substantial:

"… potential for high noise events from night time truck movements to cause sleep disturbance impacts is unlikely considering the number of truck movements generated by the site, as they are not substantial compared to existing traffic numbers on the Gore Hill Freeway"

This trivialises an issue which - over a number of years of night after night of repeated truck-related noise - is in reality a significant problem. Conditions must be imposed to prohibit truck movements / laydowns / deliveries in the evening and at night, with no site activities occurring during night other than within the acoustic shed. No flexibility should be allowed here, noting the proximity of residential receptors.

Similarly, Table 5-88 states that outside standard hours, noise generating activities associated with laydown and deliveries outside the shed would be limited to quieter activities in order to achieve the NML. It is unclear what "quieter activities" will comprise. For clarity, it is far better to simply prohibit these activities.

Proposed mitigations of noise impacts from this site are vague, and should be tightened up - the issue of construction noise emanating from the Punch Street site is flagged, but then nothing is proposed - see Tonin report section 5.6.1.7:

"Further design development and construction planning refinements to the construction support site layouts, equipment, construction methods or construction hours may require specific mitigation and management measures that are different from those outlined in this section. Final details for noise treatments and management measures will be confirmed during further design development and construction planning to determine what is feasible and reasonable, with consideration of cumulative construction impacts."

A similar statement is also made in section 5.6.2.4 of the Tonin report:

"Further analysis should be carried out once more specific detail regarding construction activity is available, as part of detailed construction planning, to confirm impacts outside standard hours and confirm feasible and reasonable mitigation measures."

Noise has the potential to adversely impact residents on a continuing basis for years. The above response is not sufficient - the project proponent should consider this issue further and then re-submit with actually detail, not a vague statement that they might do something more about this later.

Traffic flows around Punch St site

Noted the project documents provide for project related truck movements to flow to and from this site via the Gore Hill Freeway, however without clear requirements there is still potential for some truck and other project-related traffic to flow through residential areas. As such it is critical to ensure conditions are imposed to prohibit project-related traffic, including parking, in residential Naremburn and Artarmon, including use of the bridge at Lambs Road - Francis Street.

Furthermore, residents require continued access to the Gore Hill Freeway throughout the many years' duration of works at this site. Any project-related blockage of the on-ramp to the freeway at Reserve Road must be minimised.

Operational air quality

Conclusions that there are no project-related air quality impacts should be treated with caution. Chapter 12 of the EIS notes that some sensitive receptor locations have not been considered. I'd suggest that a fully independent peer review of this work - independent of Transport for NSW and the NSW Government be commissioned, to assist assessment of this aspect of the project, and to test the vast array of air quality assumptions adopted by ERM in preparing its expert report - see Table 8-63 in Appendix H (yet another reason why further work is needed to firm up assessment of impacts, and we must take a conservative view on this).

The ventilation approach proposed will ensure that the bulk of the tunnel emissions from the western half of Beaches Link will be concentrated and emitted over Naremburn and Artarmon (pushing particulate concentrations closer and closer to the limit). On the basis that no concentrated tunnel emissions is clearly preferable to local receptors than this, if the project is to proceed there is clearly good sense in:

· moving the ventilation point away from these receptors, further to the west (refer to Appendix H Figure 8-94 - RWR receptors located within 300m of outlet - more than half of these are residential receptors),
· imposing conditions to ensure the high vertical discharge velocities from ventilation outlets that are clearly required to assist dispersion (see Appendix H, section 9.2.2, and
· doing further work to eliminate areas of uncertainty - refer to section 9.2.3 Appendix H which notes a continuing level of doubt in the assessment work done to date: the final suite of operational measures to manage in-tunnel emissions and ambient air quality… would be confirmed during further design development (which I assume means later on, once approval is granted).