Channel 7 Redevelopment - Buildings 6,9,10, 17

Many residents are concerned with Meriton's "Epping Park" development at 61 Mobbs Lane, Epping (former Channel 7 site) because of its traffic, environmental and aesthetic implications on its surrounding communities.

Having read the Traffic Impact Assessment, the claim that the two closest railway stations are within "reasonable walking distance" is an exaggeration. Eastwood Railway Station is still 30-minutes away by foot and a brisk walk to Epping takes 45-minutes (it takes even longer to walk uphill back from both stations to Epping Park). It's hard to imagine any of the Epping Park residents walking or cycling to the station (if this proposed "shared footway along Mobbs Lane to Midson Road" is ever built) so inevitably there will be an exponential increase in the traffic on the already gridlocked Midson, Carlingford and Marsden Roads.

As indicated in the Elton Consulting report on Epping Park
(http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/files/66637/Appendix%20C%20-%20Revised%20community%20consultation%20report.pdf),
there has also been growing "concern around properties being acquired to allow for Mobbs Lane road widening." Road-widenings have never solved any traffic problems as they only encourage more congestion and then the road has to be widened again. The report also pointed out that "existing services such as schools, doctor surgeries and local shops do not have the capacity to cope with additional dwellings."

As a Midson Road resident for almost two decades, I have experienced the growth in traffic and the resultant air pollution. Our street didn't have peak-hour traffic jams a decade ago but now, Midson Road is clogged twice every day - in the morning and evening peak. Ever since the Cavanstone development (former Austral brickworks site) began, trucks and road-trains carrying building supplies, soil and waste have roared past our houses, destroying the quiet character of our neighbourhood and leaving a disgusting trail of dust behind. This will only worsen with the Mobbs Lane development and its on-site cement works.

Contrary to the report's statements, public transport is grossly inadequate at Mobbs Lane with hourly buses on weekdays such as the 541. Epping Park represents an overdevelopment at the expense of a local community that used to be characterised by single-storey bungalows on quarter-acre blocks.

Having recently taken the 541 bus, I was able to witness first-hand the impact that the construction has already had on the residents of Edenlee St, with imposing six-storey apartments towering over their backyards. More alarming is that the completion of Epping Park will set a precedent for more high-density apartments in its immediate vicinity - encroaching on more suburban backyards and destroying the character of our area.

Unlike at the former Midson Road brickworks site where the majority of new dwellings are "low-rise", Meriton's tall towers presents a privacy risk with the potential for its residents to be able to overlook our backyards.

At 6-storeys, this concrete-jungle is not in keeping with the area's context - moderately-sized Federation homes, Californian bungalows and post-war single-storey houses with front and back yards. We need not look any further than nearby Rhodes where ugly tacky Meriton apartments have spoilt the panorama across the Parramatta River.

The detrimental visual impact of Meriton's Epping Park will only highlighted by the fact that some of the apartments are built at the highest point on the site and will be visible around the region and those driving up Midson Road. The crane at the Mobbs Lane site that spells out M-E-R-I-T-O-N in bright white letters is already a source of visual and light pollution every night.

This overdevelopment is also insensitive to the local ecosystem as suggested in the Elton Report which quotes the community’s fears over the possibility of losing the old native Blue Gum Trees on the Mobbs Lane site "which are a food source for local birds." Furthermore, new drainage pipes could alter the area’s natural water flow - an important consideration as Mobbs Lane and the adjacent Valley Road are already areas prone to be flooding with streets having previously been closed off due to this.

I strongly oppose the Epping Park project on the basis that it is essentially a high-rise development in its context - a disturbing overdevelopment at the expenses of community interests and our quality of life.

Many residents are concerned with Meriton's "Epping Park" development at 61 Mobbs Lane, Epping (former Channel 7 site) because of its traffic, environmental and aesthetic implications on its surrounding communities.

Having read the Traffic Impact Assessment, the claim that the two closest railway stations are within "reasonable walking distance" is an exaggeration. Eastwood Railway Station is still 30-minutes away by foot and a brisk walk to Epping takes 45-minutes (it takes even longer to walk uphill back from both stations to Epping Park). It's hard to imagine any of the Epping Park residents walking or cycling to the station (if this proposed "shared footway along Mobbs Lane to Midson Road" is ever built) so inevitably there will be an exponential increase in the traffic on the already gridlocked Midson, Carlingford and Marsden Roads.

As indicated in the Elton Consulting report on Epping Park
(http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/files/66637/Appendix%20C%20-%20Revised%20community%20consultation%20report.pdf),
there has also been growing "concern around properties being acquired to allow for Mobbs Lane road widening." Road-widenings have never solved any traffic problems as they only encourage more congestion and then the road has to be widened again. The report also pointed out that "existing services such as schools, doctor surgeries and local shops do not have the capacity to cope with additional dwellings."

As a Midson Road resident for almost two decades, I have experienced the growth in traffic and the resultant air pollution. Our street didn't have peak-hour traffic jams a decade ago but now, Midson Road is clogged twice every day - in the morning and evening peak. Ever since the Cavanstone development (former Austral brickworks site) began, trucks and road-trains carrying building supplies, soil and waste have roared past our houses, destroying the quiet character of our neighbourhood and leaving a disgusting trail of dust behind. This will only worsen with the Mobbs Lane development and its on-site cement works.

Contrary to the report's statements, public transport is grossly inadequate at Mobbs Lane with hourly buses on weekdays such as the 541. Epping Park represents an overdevelopment at the expense of a local community that used to be characterised by single-storey bungalows on quarter-acre blocks.

Having recently taken the 541 bus, I was able to witness first-hand the impact that the construction has already had on the residents of Edenlee St, with imposing six-storey apartments towering over their backyards. More alarming is that the completion of Epping Park will set a precedent for more high-density apartments in its immediate vicinity - encroaching on more suburban backyards and destroying the character of our area.

Unlike at the former Midson Road brickworks site where the majority of new dwellings are "low-rise", Meriton's tall towers presents a privacy risk with the potential for its residents to be able to overlook our backyards.

At 6-storeys, this concrete-jungle is not in keeping with the area's context - moderately-sized Federation homes, Californian bungalows and post-war single-storey houses with front and back yards. We need not look any further than nearby Rhodes where ugly tacky Meriton apartments have spoilt the panorama across the Parramatta River.

The detrimental visual impact of Meriton's Epping Park will only highlighted by the fact that some of the apartments are built at the highest point on the site and will be visible around the region and those driving up Midson Road. The crane at the Mobbs Lane site that spells out M-E-R-I-T-O-N in bright white letters is already a source of visual and light pollution every night.

This overdevelopment is also insensitive to the local ecosystem as suggested in the Elton Report which quotes the community’s fears over the possibility of losing the old native Blue Gum Trees on the Mobbs Lane site "which are a food source for local birds." Furthermore, new drainage pipes could alter the area’s natural water flow - an important consideration as Mobbs Lane and the adjacent Valley Road are already areas prone to be flooding with streets having previously been closed off due to this.

I strongly oppose the Epping Park project on the basis that it is essentially a high-rise development in its context - a disturbing overdevelopment at the expenses of community interests and our quality of life.