Concept Proposal and Stage 1 for Alterations and Additions to Barker College

Please refer to letter from Principal of College.

Please refer to attached letter from Principal of School.

Please refer to attached letter.

Please find attached letter submission from the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Broken Bay.

The Grange is a large Over 55's Lifestyle Village located one block from Barker College. Traffic and parking in the local area is already a concern and we feel that the increase in volume will cause significant problems for our Residents.

We are a large Strata Village and believe that the increase volume of traffic in the local area will be a huge problem for our Residents.

As discussed with Kevin Kim today, I would like this submission to replace the one previously submitted by me to more accurately reflect my thoughts on this matter.

I have seen Barker School / College grow over almost 40 years, and know it is an excellent educational instituation.

However, this growth has created an accompanying growth in traffic which has created a traffic nightmare for residents in the local area in the form of increased congestion on the comparatively narrow local roads surrounding the school . Cars park on both sides of these roads, and struggle to pass each other, leading to accidents, and traffic jams, and safety issues.

One such incident involced the 'off street' drop off and pick up zone whizh resulted in over 30 minutes of a traffic jam which blocked up the whole of Clarke Road, the roundabout at College Crescent and the feeder roads because a car wanting to turn in to the pick up zone couldn't, and so blocked the entire road because they refused to move on or pull over.

The underground car parking still exits and enters from these same streets, so adds more congestion.

Many residents, like myself, have taken to actively avoiding driving along Unwin and Clarke Roads and College Crescent , which become almost impassable during school hours and sports times on weekends. Let’s not even think about end of term which is utter chaos, or evening and sports events. I should not have to take a detour to visit my daughter because of the school's traffic congestion.

Any increase in facilities and student numbers will only exacerbate this situation.

Barker is not the only ratepayer - there are other people who live here and pay their rates to use the facilities -like being able to drive on the roads.

It’s time Hornsby Council took our needs into consideration.

The school already creates a traffic nightmare for all the residents in the local area, is responsible for major traffic jams, safety issues, and accidents. Many people, like myself, have taken to actively avoiding driving along Unwin and Clarke Roads and College Crescent , which become almost impassable during school hours and sports times on weekends. Let’s not even think about end of term which is utter chaos, or evening and sports events. Any increase in facilities and student numbers will only exacerbate this situation. This isn’t Barkerville! It’s not just about the school! There are other people who live here and pay their rates to use the facilities , like being able to drive on the roads. It’s time Hornsby Council took our needs into consideration.

Owning a unit in the nearby streets, I am well aware of the traffic backups and great congestion in the area. Particularly, around Unwin Road. I have personally waited for 5 sets of lights to get out onto the highway. I have witnessed one school child nearly get taken out by an impatient driver frustrated by the traffic snarl in the area.
How much worse will it be with ANOTHER 571 souls trying to use the site?? Proposed improvements in pick up/ drop off situation would be a band aid solution at best. Where are all these extra staff going to park?
For these reasons, I say NO.

We are opposed to the proposed increase to student and staff population.
As close neighbours of Barker College we are impacted on a daily basis by heavy volumes of traffic and parking availability. Since the college became a fully co-ed school (K-12) with a resultant increase in student numbers, we have experienced a substantial increase in traffic and an associated loss of amenity. This is despite Barker College proposing to address traffic flow.
We are opposed to any increase in the existing student and staff numbers as the local residential area is unable to sustain any increase in traffic movements.

Having reviewed the EIS and the Transport and Accessibility Impact Assessment, I believe that traffic impacts have not been properly assessed and therefore the increase in student numbers and development of the Performing Arts Centre should not be approved as proposed. In particular I make the following comments:-
1. The performing arts centre is noted in Section 3.1.1 as containing a 750 person capacity recital hall, but with only 90 parking spots. Nowhere in the document is the traffic generated by this development considered
2. 6.6.2 of the EIS states that no student parking is provided on site at present. However, the whole basis of the traffic assessment in the EIS is that there are an existing 487 spots on site for students and staff which completely contradicts 6.6.2 as there is no indication that student on site parking will be allowed. A cursory inspection of Unwin Road and Russell Avenue will show a large number of red P plated cars parked along these streets restricting 2 way traffic flow.
3. The traffic consultant counted only 376 operational spots on site compared to the 484 spots that are repeatedly referenced. 49 of the missing spaces are used for the drop off and pickup activities . Given the proposal to have additional drop off capacity its unclear how these spots can be considered to be available. They also cannot easily be used by senior students as there general start and end times correspond to the school pickup and drop off times.
4. Section 1.3.1 of the EIS states the student cap is currently 2,420 increasing to 2,850 (Ref 3.1) yet the EIS asserts negligble impact on traffic. The parking figures also assume that none of the extra 330 students will drive which is unrealistic.
5. Traffic surveys were undertaken in February 2021 during covid restrictions. I am aware of a number of traffic surveys during Covid that showed reductions in traffic compared to normal conditions. The traffic count figures should be verified now that covid restrictions are moved.
6. The traffic assessment repeatedly states that the STFM model predicts traffic in the area will increase substantially by 2026 due to Northconnex. In particular the model suggests that northbound traffic on Unwin Road will increase by 9.1% per annum. Im not sure how the opening of Northconnex will generate more traffic on Unwin Road, as to get too Unwin Road northbound from Northconnex, vehicles must use Russell Avenue and the traffic on this road is minimal compared to that on Unwin Road. The opening of Northconnex is also likely to have removed people from Unwin Road as there is now less traffic on Pennant Hills Road meaning less incentive to use backstreets.
7. It is noted that Northconnex opened in October 2020, which means that changes in traffic would be noticeable within the traffic counts undertaken in Feb 21. However , due to Covid and the claimed impact of Northconnex, new traffic surveys should be undertaken to confirm if the traffic on Unwin Road has increased given the survey data is now 2 years old and the traditional motorway ramp up period of 18 months has passed.
8. The proposal justification of "the traffic will not get any worse" is an unacceptable basis to approve the development, unlesss the intersection of Unwin Road and Pacific Highway is improved, which should at least be partially funded by Barker College.

Regards

During the construction of Rosewood building and the nearby lane has caused a lot of traffic jam on Unwin road, especially during morning rush hours. When finished, new traffic jam caused by the vehicle going in and out of the entrance to Rosewood building. I have great concern this will be repeated in the proposed project. Therefore, I, believe many local residents would feel the same, request the NSW state government to work out practical solution to address this traffic problem. I hope the government can consider banning the parking along Unwin Road on the college side on weekdays and also work out the traffic control of entering and exiting the college. Personally, I believe the college should work out a way to control the traffic on all access to the college.
Furthermore, parking by the students and casual/part-time teachers on nearby streets is getting worse day by day during school days. Please consider this together with the traffic issues. Thank you.