Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection

I strongly object to the Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade. The health and wellbeing of the Northern Beaches residents I don't believe has been appropriately considered. How can unfiltered exhaust stacks be placed not only so close to so many family homes but also near schools/ childcare centres and shared spaces? Not to mention the damaging impacts it will have on the local environment including beaches, water ways and Manly Dam.
As a family we heavily use Manly Dam mountain bike trails as a way to get out together, get exercise and explore the outdoors. As it is one of the most populate mountain bike trails in the souther hemisphere, the impact on this will be devastating.
How are you proposing to replace this unbelievably amazing trail?
Instead public transport options SHOULD be considered and implemented.
What are the alternate public transport options you have considered as a viable alternative?

Objection.
This correspondence is AGAIST the Northern Beaches Tunnel.
I object to the Northern Beaches Tunnel and I will actively work against its planning approval and construction due to the following reasons:
1. The enormous cost of the proposal makes it financially unfeasible.
2. The EIS has demonstrated there are numerous environmental degradation issues as a direct and indirect result of the Tunnel.
3. The Tunnel will need to be funded and this will undoubtedly result in an increase in the cost of commuting from the Northern Beaches to the city and other areas of Sydney.
4. Due to Covid and the resulting work-from-home directions, traditional working arrangements have changed and this change in work location may continue for some time. This will result in a reduced level of road usage.
5. There are far superior options that would improve travel to the city, such as, expanding bus services like the B1 and fully utilising the existing three lanes of roadway rather than have the road taken up for parking.
6. The Tunnel proposal will force high density living onto suburbs that do not have sufficient local road networks to support higher usage.
Please do not build the tunnel!

my objection to the proposed northern beaches tunnel is as follows:-
*the use of the Balgowlah golf course area and adjoining residential land for use as a construction site and as an access rd to/from Sydney rd
*the increased traffic on nearby residential streets as a result of the construction activity, including Ethel st, upper beach st, and wanganella st
*exhaust stacks proposed within the golf club land its height and emissions
*noise associated with heavy truck movements and machinery
*the impact on the amenity and health of residents
*the tunnel access at its proposed location onto the burnt bridge creek by pass
*the reverse curve alignment of the main tunnel as it traverses the area from Cammeray
to Northbridge
*lack of serious study of multi/smaller tunnel accesses for Manly ,Balgowlah and Fairlight destinations
*the timing of the EIS over the holiday period and lack of extension to comment on proposal
*the impact on traffic from the spit construction site ,will increased vehicle moment causing further disruption to through traffic
*lack of consideration to accessing the tunnels a lower level off the burnt bridge creek rdat a point just east of the Myrtle st overbridge

Surely COVID has shown us the value of places like Manly Dam. We MUST protect these unique places. The dominance of the car has passed. We can work from home, reduce pollution, live a life where we can breathe and enjoy our natural environment. I totally reject this proposal.

This construction threatens numerous endangered plant and animal species and aboriginal rock art sites, with close to 2000 established trees removed in Garigal National Park / Bantry Bay and Manly Dam Reserve.

This area covers a section of the Duffys Forest Ecological Community, a site with many highly endangered plant species, and a type of native bushland that is near extinct due to land clearing, development and weed infestation(1).
The EIS reveals that 1979 mature trees will be removed in Garigal National Park / Bantry Bay and Manly Dam Reserve(5) with replacement planting for only 339(6), replacing mature trees with only young saplings.

Fauna assessed in the area include numerous threatened species – including the Eastern Pygmy-possum, Powerful Owl, Rosenberg’s Goanna, Large-eared Pied Bat, Grey-headed Flying-fox, Red-crowned Toadlet, and the rare Galaxias brevipinnis, a climbing fish that is unchanged by evolution since the Gondwana era 60 million years ago.
The EIS states “Fauna can be sensitive to elevated noise, changing their behaviour and impacting their physiology… Fauna may initially desert the immediate area at the start of excavation activities due to increased noise and vibration levels… However, due to the extent of adjoining habitat, the initial displacement from the immediate area could become permanent. For less mobile species or breeding individuals, the effects of the high noise levels may be more acute.”(4).

The reason these areas have not been developed in the past is because we used to value our natural and indigenous heritage, and protect endangered flora and fauna – do we still value these things?

We live in Seaforth, with 2 young children attending Seaforth Public School. As a family we are immensely concerned with the impact the Beaches link tunnel will have on our health, the environment, safety of our our children and the overall affect it will have on the community especially as the construction phase will last a number of years.
The specific areas of particular concern are as follows:
1. Health
A. Chapter 10 of the EIS states that up to 532 residential receivers could be exposed to ground-borne noise levels above 45 dB(A) for a number of weeks on multiple occasions. The potentially affected residential receivers are mainly within Seaforth and in particular where we live. This is unacceptable especially considering NCA 53.3 is not considered for at-property noise treatment. As tunneling will be taking place 24/7 this will impact sleep and cause increased stress levels, especially as I work from home for the majority for the time and we have 2 school aged children who need to do their school work at home.
B. Seaforth Public School, in particular the increased noise levels through-out the construction, so both of my kids will be exposed to an increase of noise for years. The school needs to be upgraded with double glazed windows to allow for better learning and concentration. An independent dust and noise monitor station need to be installed during construction which will alert parents when the air quality measures exceed what is considered safe and healthy.
2. Poor air quality once the tunnel is completed due to unfiltered ventilation stacks. My son is currently attending Seaforth Public School and then will potentially go to Balgowlah Boys. It is unacceptable to the health of young children to have the stacks so close to so many schools. It is essential the stacks need to be filtered. While the argument that air quality will only worsen marginally, there is no guarantee this will be the case. On tunnel- completion, independent and regular monitoring of the air quality around Seaforth Public and Balgowlah Boys High School and Balgowlah North Public is imperative for at least 5 years to ensure the air quality is safe for children. Independent air quality monitoring also needs to be done throughout Seaforth and surrounds to ensure measures are not exceeding what’s been proposed in the EIS.
3. Extremely concerned about the Increased noise and danger due to a massive increase heavy vehicle movements. The EIS states that it is up to the contractor later to organize what route the heave vehicle trucks will take to move the spoil away. So there’s a risk trucks leaving the Balgowlah golf course construction site will move through Seaforth. There are so many children around at school pick up and drop off times that the truck could cause a fatal accident due to sheer size and volume moving through Seaforth. This route should be avoided as the Frenchs Forest route and the roundabout at Seaforth Village would not cope with that. Adding 40-50 heavy vehicles an hour to this scenario will cause accidents and chaos during this time. NSW Transport needs to provide regulations on what way and at what times these tracks can move during these times.
Environmental Impact:
1. The tunnel will cause a permanent loss of up to 96% of the base water flow of the Burnt Bridge Creek which means there will be no creek left. My house backs onto the creek and we use uses the cycle and walkway daily. The pathway along the creek provides shade and being away from the traffic and major roads allows us to take our smaller children. The ecological impact of the tunnel on the Burnt Bridge Creek is massive and will impact all the vegetation, flora and fauna. It’s also unacceptable that the Balgowlah Golf Course construction support site (BL10) will discharge 428,000l of waste water to the local storm water system Burnt Bridge Creek before it comes out at Queenscliff Lagoon, a place that sees a large volume of the community going to use the beach. This again will destroy this ecosystem. Another route and way to source water for tunneling needs to be found, it’s not acceptable that the tunneling will draw from our ground water risking all vegetation and flora along the Seaforth to Manly Lagoon corridor! There needs to be a review assessing the impact the reduced baseline flows in Burnt Creek will have on the ecosystem and vegetation.
Traffic congestion:
Impact of increased traffic will also have a major impact on all residents of Seaforth and surrounds as contraction begins. For anyone commuting into the city or trying to manage multiple school drop offs.
Overal this will have a massive negative impact on our community for years to come. There should be consideration toward alternative public transport routes to help reduce emissions. I have not spoken to anyone in the community who actually wants this tunnel and at this point. The time and the billions of dollars towards this project would be better used elsewhere.

Sincerely
Seaforth Resident

Firstly, my community has not been advised in detail about the impact of the project that is being proposed!!!! EVERYTHING: Constant noise, dust, disruption, traffic and road safety, air quality, health etc. We already have continuous renovations happening in this area every day of the year! NOISE and TRANSPORT: imagine that students will have to deal with alot more than is currently happening. How are they to concentrate?? BUS routes have already been severely disrupted and changed during Care OVID - particularly in my suburb of North Balgowlah - are you now proposing that we add more disruptions to Sydney Road and Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation - this will be an absolute disaster - do you actually care? SAFETY: my child goes to Bally Boys High school - how is this going to be impacted for safety of the boys? REMOVAL OF GRASS AREA: Is it true that a narrow strip of trees on the boundary of the school with Sydney Road are will be removed during construction? WHY???? The kids have little shade as it is. HEALTH and INHALING DUST - what are your plans to reduce this - are we going to have another "asbestos" retrospective problem where dust flies everywhere and whoops we should have thought of that!!!! REDUCED VALUE of houses: this is a no-brainer - why would anyone want to buy property that has such a lengthy. noisy, dusty, inaccessible project with a bloody big ugly tunnel running through it, let alone a blood tunnel is anything to go by then this is going to be a massive waste of time and money. If the Northern Beaches I suppose my major concern is that this plan seems to be going ahead without proper consultation with the community - an undemocratic way of dealing with proposed changed. I am disgusted with the conduct of planning for this project. It has been lengthy and all this time we've had no good information, it's been hidden amongst occasional documents and complex plans. I shake my head as I write this. Our community should be properly advised. I can bet the planners and anyone involved in this project don't live in the areas that are going to be impacted!!!!!!!

Family members of mine live in between St. Cecilia's Primary School and Balgowlah Boys School with 3 young children who attend St Cecilia's Primary School. 1. I am extremely concerned about the health risks posed by the traffic pollution that will come from the proposed unfiltered exhaust stack (to be located where Balglowlah Golf Course now resides). Our niece living there has severe asthma that gets triggered by smoke or particles. She spent days in the northern beaches hospital after smoke inhalation in a critical condition. Why wouldn't the stack be filtered as mandatory? Public health should be a priority over dollars spent (and built into the business case) especially with so many local schools and young families so close by. There is inconsistency in the data used in the air quality modelling that needs to be investigated, houses next to each other situated in a valley have either no or top level emissions impact marked against them. The chart does not make sense and a more accurate investigation of pollution impact needs to be carried out. 2. The impact of the tunnel construction will be significant for 5-7 years with increased traffic flow including trucks through the local streets surrounding the construction site that are using alternative routes. This will put people and especially children in additional danger as they park and cross already busy roads close to the schools. The construction noise will continue 24 hrs 7 days a week for 5-7 years and studies have modelled the impact of the noise reaching as far as stocklands Balgowlah. This is hugely detrimental to the quality of life for a huge portion of the local population and is unacceptable. 3. The impact on the environment is devastating at a time when we need to protect it most, we will lose approx 2500 trees, lose the local golf course, threatened species such as the eastern pygmy possum and grey headed flying foxes that live in the impacted bushland will be displaced or impacted by the pollution during construction. We will lose large areas of bushland across burnt creek deviation, wakehurst parkway as well as impact to manly dam. Disturbance of toxic sludge whilst digging the tunnel and pumped out to waterways and is likely to impact wildlife more broadly across the beaches including Manly /Queenscliff lagoon and Clontarf. Swimming there could be dangerous for years to come. There are other cleaner, greener transport options available (more public transport, buses, covered cycle lane for bikes and electric bikes even). This project will also create over 700k tonnes CO2e during the construction phase and 40k t CO2e from additional vehicles using the tunnel each year once it is in use. NSW 2030 emissions reductions target already fall way short of what is required to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. This is devastating for our future and our children's. 4. Business Case - $12 billion dollars would be far better invested in public transport, supporting the environment through carbon reduction/renewable energy, schools or healthcare. This tunnel "may" save people a few minutes (5 or 10) on their journey but most likely the traffic will back up as they get close to the city and traffic will continue to worsen as the population rises. Or people may continue to work remotely and the traffic stats for the tunnel may not justify it being built if modelled correctly. Already many buses have been cancelled through Balgowlah Heights and surrounding areas and the remaining ones are crowded. Why reduce public transport when we need more of it? Hopefully this is not being used to increase the traffic stats to justify the tunnel. Overall this $12 Billion investment for a minimal upside in travel time, leaving catastrophic impact to the environment and health of surrounding locals /schools is insanity.

Too damaging to manly dam, the environment and native animals.

Please find my objections outlined in the attached document.

We are in a climate crisis and we should be encouraging public transport rather than easier access by private vehicles.
We need to maintain wildlife corridors intact and connected.
The size of this development and proposed location will mean that many thousands of trees removed (killed) and also a loss of bushland . These trees and bush are the home to many animals. AS we have seen before many will be displaced and many will most likely die during this clearing and construction process.
We may see extinction of wildlife in the area that is being built upon. I am concerned about the quality of water in middle harbour and manly dam which is not only used for recreation and also as a home for species including endangered species.
I am concerned for the Flying Fox camp at manly vale with the huge increase in noise and disturbance. Where will they go?
At the moment wildlife need to cross a busy road wakehurst parkway to access water/to breed/to find food/ and for safety if scared. We need to ensure there are underpasses and overpasses on the roads between seaforth /manly dam and Garigal NP Northern Beaches hospital. .
Koalas have been seen recently on Wakehurst parkway so we need the habitat trees suitable for koalas retained I hope that you will not want them extinct on northern beaches.
Biobank/Biodiversity offsets should be agreed before any consideration of removal of trees in this area. These offsets need to be in the northern beaches such as wakehurst area /oxford falls/ narrabeen.
We are being asked to lose a lot of open space so that people can drive more quickly to an area that is grid locked now. This will just move the problem not resolve the problem.
How will the relocation, and animal husbandry of displaced animals to be managed. Where will they go?
Are you setting up another zoo for these animals ? Because there is no facility big enough to house all the displaced animals .

What is the problem?

Best practice in development of any program is to start by defining the problem. No one has been able to do this in the case of the 'need' for the tunnel. Let's be clear, Narrabeen and the Northern Beaches exists at a distance from the city. No tunnel will change this. There is a small amount of traffic on Burnt Bridge Creek deviation between 7:45am and 8:30am. Does this equate to a billion dollar problem? Please show me current data that proves this? My house literally looks over Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation. I worked from home 2 days a week pre-COVID. So I can confidently say that whilst traffic has reduced significantly due to COVID-19, this reduction is not what I base my statement on. I observed some traffic but not a multi-billion dollar problem before COVID-19. But the bus system mitigates this. And better public transport would mitigate this further. I am gobspacked at how often not a single car passes by. I have lived in NYC and London. By comparison, there is literally no problem with traffic.

Let's talk data...the base data used in modelling is pre B-Line. Does the NSW Government not want to take credit for implementing a system that works? Because it does. Yes, it needs adjustments and improvements, but why focus money and attention in another direction as opposed to taking a solid idea and enhancing it.

Let's talk strategy...Northern Beaches Transport Strategy 2038' it states they aspire to reduce the usage of cars by 30% by 2038, refer to pages 12&13, so why do we need the tunnel if there is an active campaign to reduce the usage of cars.

Let's talk personal behaviours and a the changing of the demographic of work age individuals...the current generation entering the workforce does not want to drive as much as previous generations think they do. This is seen by a significant drop in the stats of young adults obtaining their license. More and more are delaying this. Why? Because they care about the environment, appreciate public transport, and selfishly they prefer not to drive as this provides them more time on social media. Don't believe me? than read the attached papers and research from MIT and NSW Government that show the decline. NRMA itself is quoted as stating "In out Major Cities, younger people are forgoing obtaining their driver license.." In their report named 'The Future of car ownership' they also call out to government to take action, "While governments need to undertake reform in order to fund the critical infrastructure our society needs, developments in the wider mobility industry (including the car industry) are seeking to change the way we think about mobility and challenge the concept of auto mobility as the best way to get around."

So again I ask, where is the multi-billion dollar problem. Oh, you want to point out the survey Zali did of what people in the area want. Let's talk statistics. Guess what, even if something is listed as the highest interest at 38%, this is still less than 1/2 the population in support of the tunnel concept.
So much of what has been presented to date is re-framing a story to sell a product. The building of a tunnel. The EIS is thousands of pages long. It takes a minimum of a university degree to read it, let a lone the luxury of time to digest it. So all of a sudden there is a huge portion of the population who simply hear, oh a 10% reduction in commute time sounds great! Guess what, that 10% reduction equates to 6 minutes. You neglected to point this out in your consultation period. Oh and what about the timing of the consultation? I was never able to attend as they were at 6 or 7pm, prime dinner hour for any working parents. So our voices go unheard. Is this fair or just or democratic? But I think the most disappointing was the planned website upgrades during the final weekend the submissions are due. How many people do you think went online only to give up because the portal didn't work?

But I digress. Like all best practice research on consultation, the start position is to define the problem. I would argue the problem is not a need for a tunnel so more people can drive. I would argue the problem is that for 45-1hr during the working week, traffic is worse in some locations than others. This can be frustrating to individuals who do not have other options to get to their final destination. When framed differently, suddenly a plethora of other solutions open up. High speed trains, more double decker buses, more routes, working remotely, work off peak hours 8-4 or 10-6pm. Or as my millennial co-worker reminded me, move close to work or change employment. Ironically people are doing the opposite and moving further away from work to the Central Coast. Why is this? Because there is a high speed train available to them. And employers are happy to let people work remotely more often. Don't believe me again, then read your own policy and strategy. NSW Dept of Transportation is quoted as changing their policy post COVID-19 and actively support more people to work from home/remotely.

There is no problem that warrants billion dollar expenditure on a tunnel. And more people would be telling you this if you made the massive impact and loss to the community clear and simple to understand.

My family and I live very close to Burnt Bridge Creek. It provides a beautiful, natural escape from suburbia as well as a habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals. The creek has shaped much of our environment and the walking/cycling track down to Balgowlah along the creek is much loved and much used.
I understand that the construction of the Northern Beaches tunnel will reduce base water flow by up to 96%. I am not convinced that enough thought has been put into the impact this project will have on the future of the creek and the plants/animals which rely on it.

You have a whole lane on military rd where cars are parked. Before you take away our parkland green space of a golf course and put up stacks on our neighbours and schools door steps. How about you make that road a clear way every day.

This is the source document in which NSW Premier openly objects to tunnel projects being built without filtered smoke stacks. I neglected to attach it to a previous submission.
To be clear, I object to the tunnel being built.

Please see my submission attached.

I object to the project for the reasons set in the attached submission

This will have a negative enviromental impact on the surrounding community. The health and well being of the neighbours to this road / stacks & construction will suffer.
There was government owned land in Seaforth and this was sold off. You now want to take the golf corse and ruin the surrounding neighbours quality of living.

I thought this consultation about solving issues and not creating more. But that does not seem to be the case based on what was provide in the EIS. Everyone knows that traffic exists. We always focus on the worst areas in an effort to improve our living environment. But is the worst problem Burnt Bridge Creek deviation and the commute into the city. Are the most amount of people impacted by this? And will the tunnel solve the problem? I would argue NO to all of the above.

In the area the traffic on the weekends from locals moving about and others coming into the area, this is the worst problem at the moment. So many cars on small local streets. Is this solved with a tunnel? No, it is actually made worse by it. I say this not because I am an isolationist who doesn't want people to visit. I like people. I say the problem gets worse because you told me so in the EIS. 100-200 additional work vehicles per day for a period of 8 years. additional traffic lights which will worsen congestion around Manly West Primary school. Even the local council has come out to publicly object to this part of the plan. Guess what, a train and other public transport infrastructure improvements will not only reduce traffic on the morning commute, but also on weekends? Imagine that, a solution that resolves more than one issue. Have you considered this? No? why not?
So, if you want to be heroic and support the community to improve their quality of life, please explore public transport measures that can be used by commuters to the city and families on the weekend. Don't spend all our hard earned tax funds on a tunnel that only a few people with political influence and affluence want to build. They argue that they have dreamed of this car tunnel for too long and so it is time that it be built. I would argue, they dreamed a solution to a problem from their past. Any solution must be built for the future. Now is not the time to be nostalgic and spend billions on an old dream. Please dream a new and show true leadership. It will be hard to come out publicly and stop this project, but that is exactly what the people want. Thousands are sunk costs. Don't turn them into billions. Please stop this project and re-think the future of our community.

Please see attached objections submission and also add request that if approved a Bus only lane is included in the tunnel otherwise the mooted bus services will get stuck in ordinary tunnel traffic.

Years and years of construction for little benefit, in the meantime wildlife in the Flat rock gully will be destroyed never mind school children’s possible health issues caused by an exhaust, toxic substance may be leaked to the harbour by disturbing the old landfill ground. We don’t see any upside at all of this project. We could only see handful of people benefiting hugely from this project, on enormous sacrifices of local community.