Forensic Pathology and Coroner's Court

I submit my concern as a Botanica resident on the propose public entrance access in significant heritage Main Avenue Botanica for new 3Level Forensic & Coroners Court application.

Main Avenue Botanica has a peaceful & serene environment, use as public access for Coroners Court will see increase traffic, additional risk to children & families, decrease residence property values, chaos on narrow road parking & possible crime.

Weeroona Rd is the ideal flow of traffic to use for the public access entrance/staff entries of Coroners Court propose application for their business and not in the heritage Botanica resident area in Main Avenue Lidcombe.

A block of 19 units is currently build along Main Avenue and Onuri Korean Church are using busy Main Avenue Lidcombe for car park, as well as narrow resident roads around Botanica.

The propose access public entrance of Forensic & Coroners Court with over 100 car spaces, cutting trees will environmentally disrupt and ruin the heritage of Main Avenue Botanica in Lidcombe.

Resident of Botanica paid in excess of over $750,00 for a unit in a peaceful environment.

If developers go to great length to restore building heritage for housing, why does the government wish to disrupt Botanica with this ugly public entrance access of high rise Forensic & Coroners Court?

I object to the proposal as presented on the following grounds:
1. Main Avenue as the main entry and exit points requires substantial alternation to a heritage listed site which includes the Gate Keepers Hut at the far south western corner of the estate.
2. It appears that the proposal does not say if the public car parking is free or a levy/charge will be incurred for a parking bay. In any case, the result is likely to result in cars parking along the length of Main Avenue, regardless as to whether or not no parking signs are installed. This includes the Media vans and associated vehicles who demonstrate that they have no regard for road signs. There is also the matter of rubbish tossed from vehicles into the gutter and lawns.
3. Alternatively, the main entrance could face west onto Joseph Street with the provision of an additional left turning lane for entry and an exit from the facility (left turning only). Also entry to be installed to facilitate the safe and reasonable flow of traffic.
4. Accordingly, I submit that the integrity of Main Avenue remain unimpaired, except for re-fencing and re-hedging down to the corner of Joseph Street, thereby doing away with the present degraded access a few meters east of Gate Keepers Hut.
5. Entry from people travelling from north to south along Joseph Street will use Botanica Drive as their entry point and thereby increasing the flow of traffic through the estate and the overflow of the parking will infiltrate Palm Circuit, Betty Cuthbert Drive and surrounding streets.

If this project goes ahead it will mean a significant increase in the volume of traffic not only on Main Street but throughout the whole of the Botanica estate. There will be traffic congestion not only on Main Street but throughout the estate. As it is the streets in Botanica are very narrow, there is very little room for cars to pass each other.

Main street in Botanica is listed as a heritage significant road.
It will increase safety risk to our children and elderly residents within the estate.

If this project goes ahead it will mean a significant increasein the volume of traffic not only on Main Street but throughout the whole of the Botanica estate. There will be traffic congestion which will pose a safety risk to residents particularly children and the elderly. As it is the streets in Botanica are very narrow, there is very little room for cars to pass each other and there are no speed limit signs on the streets.
Main street in Botanica is listed as a heritage significant road.

If this project goes ahead it will mean a significant increase in the volume of traffic not only on Main Street but throughout the whole of the Botanica estate. There will be traffic congestion not only on Main Street but throughout the estate. As it is the streets in Botanica are very narrow, there is very little room for cars to pass each other.

Main Street in Botanica is listed as a heritage significant road. It will increase safety risk to our children and elderly residents within the estate.

If this project goes ahead it will mean a significant increase in the volume of traffic not only on Main Street but throughout the whole of the Botanica estate. There will be traffic congestion not only on Main Street but throughout the estate. As it is the streets in Botanica are very narrow, there is very little room for cars to pass each other.

Main Street in Botanica is listed as a heritage significant road. It will increase safety risk to our children and elderly residents within the estate.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to request that you kindly reconsider the application to position the main entry to the new Forensic Pathology and Coroner's Court on Main Avenue, Lidcombe.

Main Avenue is the main thoroughfare through our beautiful, peaceful and quiet residential estate "Botanica".

I have lived here for 5 years and the local residents are a mix of young families, middle-aged, singles as well as retirees. The Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Ferguson Lodge and Sydney Omnuri Korean Church are also situated in close proximity.

My main objection is that I do not wish to see our peaceful environment disturbed by the heavy traffic flow which would result from the entry to the Coroner's Court being on Main Avenue. This is a heritage-listed area and having the extra traffic would undoubtedly cause traffic issues as well as safety concerns to the residents.

There is also a shortage of street parking in the estate, with many residents parking on the street already, making it difficult to manoevre through the narrow streets, especially when vehicles are parked on both sides.

May I suggest that Coroner's Court entrance bypass our lovely estate and instead be situated on Weeroona Road. That way we can keep the blissful undisturbed surroundings we expected when we bought into this community.

Botanica is built on the site of the former Lidcombe hospital, a heritage significant area, and Main Avenue in Botanica, is listed as a heritage significant road that, up until now, has been preserved. Constructing driveways into and out of Main Avenue as the public entrance to a new coroner's court and forensic pathology laboratory is totally at odds with the heritage significance of the road and the previous efforts to conserve it.
My main objection is that it will increase traffic throughout the estate, particularly Botanica drive, Betty Cuthbert drive, Pepper Tree Road, Grevillea Cres, Palm Circuit, Sussex St and Main avenue, as cars will be forced to drive through Botanica to get to / from the court and morgue as the exit from main avenue to Joseph st is left hand turn (i.e. Southbound) only.
In addition it will:
- create ongoing parking problems, as people will park in Botanica's streets if the public entry to the court and morgue is from Main Avenue. In addition the public will assume that there will only be paid parking available and will therefore park in Botanica as they can see on Google that the court will be just a short walk away.
- it will compromise the aesthetics of Main avenue which is subject to a heritage listing. Cars will park potentially everywhere and on the grass verges when there are major cases being investigated. The grass and shrubs on Main Avenue will be destroyed.
-it will GREATLY increase the safety risk to our children and elderly residents within the estate. And in particular to residents of the ParaQuad NSW Home on our estate, who can currently travel freely and safely around the estate and Central park in their motorized wheelchairs. IN addition there are MANY toddlers and children not yet of school age who can currently walk and play freely in the Estate. With increased traffic and noise their security will be at risk.
- it will decrease the value of homes in Botanica once buyers become aware of the traffic and related safety issues
- disturb the owners of houses on Main Avenue and decrease the live-ability of that street as the Coroners Court is a 24/7 operation and therefore lights will be shining ALL night from the building. This will disturb the sleep patterns of the residents on Main Ave. This is unacceptable.
Perhaps some real consultation with residents in early phases of the planning process might have been useful!

To Whom it may concern

Re Forensic Pathology and Coroner's Court Reference SSD 16_7545

I wish to lodge an objection around aspects of the proposed coroner's court. I live in Botanica, Lidcombe and am a heritage enthusiast.

Heritage Issues
This is an immensely historical site, dating back to 1882. The history of the site is set out in the 1995 Lidcombe Hospital Conservation Management Plan by Noel Bell, Ridley Smith & Partners - I note the heritage consultants for the Court Development didn't refer to this document, which seems a major omission.

The Heritage study missed the significance of the Senior and Junior Medical officers residences. Refer to "A Historical Tour of Lidcombe Hospital by Gregory Marcar and John Ballard - page 32 "Of these the most significant are the Senior Medical Officer's residence (Residence No 6) and the Junior Medical Officer's residence (No 5) built in 1929 and 1934 respectively. They are located on the South side of the Avenue and are a good example of the Inter War Georgian Revival Style". The other interwar buildings - wards 34, 35 and 36 were preserved and are now residences on Sussex St, in Botanica, Lidcombe. Yet these Senior and Junior Medical officers residences are even more significant, when considered in conjunction with the 2 medical Superintendents residences - both which have been conserved - one is in Botanica and one is now in the Juniperina site. The significance of these cottages is also articulated in the 2002 GML Conservation management plan for the Lidcombe Hospital site eg in 1.7, 2.8.5, 3.6.1 and para 3.9.

It would be grossly irresponsible to demolish these cottages. They represent the pattern of medical officers' housing, as well as interwar architecture - as these were built post WWI but pre WWII. I urge the planners to do the right thing and conserve them for future generations

Further, Main avenue, where it intersects with Joseph St and looking up to the Galleries, in Botanica, Lidcombe, has looked the same since the 1800's - you can see the old photos is the book "A Historical Tour of Lidcombe Hospital by Gregory Marcar and John Ballard" - It is extremely inappropriate to have a court and car park exiting from Main Avenue that has been conserved since the 1800's and ruining the streetscape, which is on the state heritage register.

Traffic and Parking Issues
While the new Court development is on Weeroona road, it has been designed so the public entrance is from Main avenue Lidcombe, in Botanica, which is a residential estate. This is not clearly NOT appropriate.

Further, the studies didn't' include traffic modelling for the new homes currently being built in Botanica nor the traffic from the potential expansion of the Court development. The studies also failed to recognise that the inbound visitors will also go via Botanica. In relation to the outbound visitors, they will have no option of turning right onto Joseph st, so will also have to go through Botanica, 24 hours a day. Our streets are not set up for commercial traffic.

Further, Botanica is a family residential area with hundreds of children. There are also people in wheelchairs from Ferguson lodge. I urge the planners to consider the safety of our residents, if the main public entrance to the coroner's court is from within the family oriented residential estate of Botanica, it clearly puts residents at risk

I request this decision to have the main public entrance from a suburban street be reversed.

Thank you
Sophie

Dear Sir,
I am writing to OBJECT the application to build the Forensic Pathology and Coroner's Court at the site described in this application because it is detrimental to the residential community in Botanica.
In particular, I OBJECT to build the forensic pathology for dead body and Coroner's Court next to Botanica as this will severely disturb the peaceful residential environment in Botanica.
Forensic pathology for dead body shall be built in a hospital complex, not next to a residential community.
The Coroner's Court shall be built in a public place and shall not be built next to a residential community.
In relation to the whole design of the application, there is significant flaw and it affects the residential community in Botanica. The whole Botanica community is for residential purpose and a significant flow of public transport and public groups will cause safety issue and severely disturb the community.
As stated in the application, there are other options so I do not agree the location proposed in this application is the best option.
Please reject the application.

I am writing to express my concerns regarding public entrance to the Coroner's Court via Main Ave.

Due to existing congestion in Botanica I would like the developers to consider moving public access to Weerona Road and staff access the building via Main Ave instead. If the public are accessing the Coroner's Court via Main Ave, it will create more congestion and not enable traffic flow into and out of Botanica via Joseph St, if there are high profile cases there will be a significant number of media surrounding the vicinity.

There is no objection to the Coroner's Court moving to Lidcombe, I only request that there is consideration to shift the public access to a road (weerona rd) that will not have minimal impact on residents of a quiet neighbourhood that has narrow streets and limited parking.

Thanks

Please consider changing public access via Main Ave. Currently there are limited parking available within Botanica and there is already high congestion.

Public entry will exacerbate this issue the residents face daily and will create further issues for residents who wish to enter/exit Botanica via Main Ave. Also, as there are no traffic lights when exiting Main Ave onto Joseph Street (very busy road), it may cause car accidents which is a major safety concern.

Suggestion: allow staff access via Main Ave and public access via Weerona Rd which has available street parking and traffic lights to enable the public to turn into Joseph Street in a more safe manner.

Traffic and Access
* Public entry/exit via Main Avenue is inappropriate because it would compromise road safety and dramatically increase traffic movements throughout Botanica.

* Joseph Street or Weeroona Road should be the designated access to reduce the impact of this development on existing residences and roadways.

* Public entry/exit via Main Avenue would increase traffic on local, narrow residential streets in a suburb that has been designed for local traffic

* The Botanica Estate has been designed with a Central Park. It is a popular children's playground within easy walking distance of residents' homes. It is inappropriate to direct traffic to a high profile government facility through a peaceful residential housing estate.

* Ferguson Lodge, is located within the Botanica Estate. It is the only supported accommodation for people with a spinal cord injury in NSW offering both a permanent home as well as respite accommodation. This development proposal will bring increased traffic to Botanica placing disabled residents at risk.

* If the public entry/exit to the new Forensic Pathology and Coroners Court is via Main Avenue then any visitors heading north will need to find an alternate route through the residential streets of Botanica as Main Avenue only provides an exit southbound onto Joseph Street.

* By its very nature, the Coroner's Court will receive clients from across New South Wales. Many of these visitors will be distressed and there is concern that disorientated visitors to the Coroner's Court will be driving through the unfamiliar streets of Botanica Estate, placing residents at risk.

Heritage
* This development proposal disregards the heritage value of Main Avenue, which was the formal entry c1896 to Lidcombe Hospital when Rookwood Asylum was established. It is graded in the 2002 Lidcombe Hospital Site Conservation Management Plan (CMP) by Godden Mackay Logan as an element of exceptional significance.

* The avenue of hoop pines and phoenix palms along Main Avenue is also graded as an element of exceptional significance in the CMP. Construction of the proposed public entry/exit from Main Avenue, Botanica will require demolition of the historic brickwork and verges and interrupt the streetscape.

* The Gatehouse at Botanica on the intersection of Main Avenue and Joseph Street is heritage listed. If Main Avenue becomes the access road for the public car park the intersection of Main Avenue and Joseph Street will become manifestly more dangerous and expose the Gatehouse to the risk of damage.

Amenity
* This is a development that is unusual by its nature. Its hours of operation can be 24/7 and, at times, will involve distressed relatives, emergency services and media attention. This is a serious issue for Botanica residents who are concerned about the impact this will have on their residential amenity.

* There is also concern for the safety risk to residents of Botanica if Main Avenue is used for the delivery of chemicals for the mortuary and laboratories.

We ahve big concern about this new developement in hour neighbourhood
we really enjoy our place
I have 2 kids - we play and walk around the park , around the main avenue
My main concer will be traffic , kids will not be safe as more traffic will run around the main avenue
It will cause more traffic chaos
I am behemently rejecting the idea of entry and parking via main avenue

Why not try through weeroona rd - that is more appropriate for public access

this is too dangerous to have so many cars coming in and out at Botanica. As road at Botanica is so narrow, no traffic lights and too many kids and old people walking during the day time.

is too dangerous to have too many cars coming in and out at Botanica. In this area, roads are too narrow, no traffic lights and too many young kids and old people walking during day time

I object to the provision of public access via Main Avenue as Main Avenue to Joseph street is left turn only (southbound) and the access for the public who do not intend to turn left from this entrance would need to drive through the residential area. This would create confusion for drivers trying to find roads to return back to the main roads creating unnecessary u-turns as well as a high flow of traffic through residential areas. A day-care center is located down the street of potential high flow traffic will need to travel and wheelchair residents from Ferguson lodge frequently enjoy their day in the quiet residential area.
I would like to suggest an alternative public access via Weerona Road or Joseph Street to be in consideration.

My main concerns are the safety and amenity of residents in the area that is not being accounted in the proposed decision making.
Thank you for your time.

To Whom It May Concern,

With reference to the proposed construction of a new Forensic Pathology and Coroner's Court on the corner of Main Avenue, Joseph Street and Weeroona Road, Lidcombe; I strongly object to this development on the grounds of safety, heritage status and logistical reasons (i.e. traffic/parking) etc.

The Botanica Estate has been designed with a Central Park. It is a popular children's playground within easy walking distance of residents' homes. It is inappropriate to direct traffic to a high profile government facility through a peaceful residential housing estate, posing unnecessary threats to children's safety and well being.

Ferguson Lodge is also located within the Botanica Estate. It is the only supported accommodation for people with a spinal cord injury in NSW offering both a permanent home as well as respite accommodation. This development proposal will bring increased traffic to Botanica placing disabled residents at risk. I also have concerns for the safety risk to us residents of Botanica if Main Avenue is used for the delivery of chemicals for the mortuary and laboratories.

As well as the critical safety concerns I hold, This development proposal disregards the heritage value of Main Avenue, which was the formal entry circa 1896 to Lidcombe Hospital. It is graded in the 2002 Lidcombe Hospital Site Conservation Management Plan (CMP) by Godden Mackay Logan as an element of exceptional significance.

If residential development were proposed that interfered with, or caused the demolition of the historic brickwork verges and interrupt the streetscape, (as this proposed development does), it would most definitely not be approved. I urge you to apply the same consideration to this Coroner's Court and consider the historical significance of this heritage listed entrance.

Finally, myself and my husband live on Sussex St (opposite Central Park) and have two cars. As we only have a one car garage it is essential we have street parking for a second vehicle. By its very nature, the Coroner's Court will receive clients from across New South Wales. Many of these visitors will be distressed and there is concern that disorientated visitors to the Coroner's Court will be driving through the unfamiliar streets of Botanica Estate.

Particularly, If the public entry/exit to the new Forensic Pathology and Coroners Court is via Main Avenue then any visitors heading north will need to find an alternate route through the residential streets of Botanica as Main Avenue only provides an exit southbound onto Joseph Street. This impacts on parking, traffic, pedestrian volume and exposure to undue exposure to the public and media attention due to the unusual nature of the proposed structure.

i urge the department to consider the fierce objections I, and the residents of Botanica hold towards this proposal for safety of residents (children and disabled residents in particular), the proposed destruction of heritage facades etc. and traffic reasons.

I object the above project next to Botanica, which is a big residential community in Lidcombe. This project will increase traffic in the local area, cause damages to heritage items, affect pedestrian and driver safety. It is not suitable for a Forensic Pathology and Corner's Court to be built so near to a residential community.

I object to the public entry and exit to the public car park via Main Avenue.
This will cause increased traffic in a housing estate leading to reduction in pedestrian and driver safety.
Main Avenue was never designed for such heavy traffic and placing the entrance to the car park opposite Betty Cuthbert Drive is placing all those who use Main Avenue and Betty Cuthbert Drive at risk.
Botanica Estate was designed by taking in to consideration its history and preserving heritage items. The car park entrance should be designed as a slip road from Jospeh Street and the exit
on Weeroona Road.