NorthConnex - Hornsby Quarry

Suitability of Proposed Preferred Haulage Routes:

Two aspects about the proposed haulage routes that seem to defy logic with respect to safety and transport costs are as follows.

Firstly, the decision to use Bridge Road as the point of access with very steep grades and tight corners instead of the gently graded original quarry access via Dural Street and Quarry Road is odd. This route has the significant inherent risk of fully laden spoil trucks losing control as they descend into the valley past the TAFE site. The steep grades will place a heavy load on transmissions, tyres and brakes.

Secondly, the decision to send fully laden spoil trucks from the north construction site along the M1 Pacific Motorway to Kuring-gai Chase Road and back again to the Pacific Highway is bizarre. A very short access route to Lucinda Avenue would not only remove the need to cross the traffic from the M1 heading towards Pennant Hills Road as shown in Figure 4.2 (a safety improvement) but would also reduce the fuel bill (and associated carbon dioxide emissions) of the trucks by reducing the distance travelled fully laden by approximately 10 kilometres. Keeping the fully laden trucks off the M1 would also be a safety benefit.


Mountain Bike Trail Access:

The current preferred means to deliver the spoil to the quarry will disrupt all the easier mountain bike tracks whereas if Quarry Road was used and the spoil stockpile was situated near the remaining quarry buildings, the none of the mountain bike tracks would be directly affected by the project.

What's in this photo?
You'll have to look closely, but in one lazily-shot, poorly framed iPhone photo, I've captured the magic of what you have created at Old Man's Valley.

Zoom in and you'll find (from left to right):

- a young woman, being taught the ropes of mountain-biking with her boyfriend (currently out of shot), one of several such couples there at the time;

- a couple of 20-something guys, the more serious riders, heading off for a blast on lower Stage 2;

- some teenage guys hanging out on the benches, having a rest between sessions;

- an older couple strolling along the fire-road;

- a father enjoying the outdoors with his young family, while getting some exercise for himself; and

- finally, at the bottom of the image, the shadow of a busy young executive who leaves his worries behind when he laps the trails with his mates on the weekend.

When the discussions about the Hornsby Quarry Road Construction Spoil Management start to become abstract and wrapped up in the language of bureaucracy - talking about EISs from the DPE in regards to SSI, stakeholder consultations, public exhibition periods etc etc - I ask you to pause and consider the magic of a diverse, active community that has been captured in this image.

You've done exceptionally well with Old Man's Valley. What you see here is an enormously successful project that must have taken significant commitment to deliver to a very high standard. I understand the importance of the bigger picture re NorthConnex but please, I ask you to do all you can to preserve - or reinstate - the amazing community facility that many here have come to know and love.

Warm regards

Andrew

File uploaded

To whom it may concern,

Sydney MTB Riders Incorporated is an affiliated and non-profit entity that represents the best interests of Sydney residents in relation to the provision and maintenance of mountain bike facilities.
We are working hard to bring programs to the public to provide a safe and fun activity to keep people healthy both physically and psychologically.
We have a demographic of up to 90000 riders in the Sydney basin that use and require mountain bike trails and facilities.
With health costs of $50b/year on obesity in Australia and depression and anxiety prevalent throughout our society we feel that mountain biking is an essential part to the maintenance of good health.
We utilise Hornsby OMV mountain bike park for hosting rides in a controlled and safe environment and can deliver these to a range of skill and fitness levels due to the provision of green through to black trails at the park. There are no other facilities in the Sydney area that provide that range of grades together.
If this park were to be compromised by the building works planned we would loose a critical asset to our projects and the community would suffer.
We submit that the works be designed and carried out in such a way to ideally eliminate any damage to the trail network at the park and at minimum to keep any negative impact to a minimum or to ensure they are rebuilt to current or higher standard of what they are at now.
We request that the trails at this facility be treated with the up most priority and importance as a significant and unique piece To reiterate, there simply are not other parks or facilities that can cater for children and beginners as well as more advanced riders. This is a significant cultural centrepiece in the mountain biking community and should be preserved or restored during and/or after the works have been completed.

Please find attached comments.

Please see attached

I support the proposal however have some concerns about recreational access to the MTB area which could be better addressed by slightly modifying the arrangement of access roads within the site and allowing for a safe crossing point to provide for improved access to the trails. Information concerning the re-establishment of the MTB trails affected by the works is deficient.

The proposed layout of access roads within the stockpile area could be altered to allow for better access to Mountain bike trails during the construction period. Moving the northern access road and boundary fencing would provide for full use of the Lava Flow trail during the construction period. Provision should be made for a safe crossing point across the main access road. A sketch is shown in the attached figure.

Remediation of the MTB trail following completion of construction is vague. The MTB trails should be fully restored, and/or improved upon as part of the works.

1) See attached small bored tunnel solution. This solution is the only solution with the low inconvenience and costs to rate payers.
2) There is no compaction required in the quary because the spread fill will be under water and settlement is not an issue also spreading of the dumped fill will cause a solid enough platform to work on, no compaction a huge saving.
2) It is grossly unjust to the rate payers of the North to put all the truck traffic through Bridge street while we have an existing dump road through Quary street.

I resubmit my submission re spoil disposal originally submitted in relation to the NorthConnex project.

In doing so, I support the current Hornsby Quarry Spoil Disposal proposal, in all its particulars.

In doing so I recognise the particular hardship it might inflict on residents of the blocks of flats on either side of Bridge Street west of the old Pacific Highway. Whatever needs to be done to compensate for and overcome this problem should be done if at all possible.

If for this or any other reason the current Hornsby Quarry EIS fails to get approval, my sentiments, as expressed in my original submission re spoil disposal from NorthConnex into the Hornsby Quarry is suggested as plan B for HSC and the State, if not for NorthConnex spoil, who by then will have gone to their plan B, but for spoil from wherever HSC and the State can get it.

Submission is uploaded.

Please find attached a pdf letter with comments and advice on recommended conditions of consent should the proposal be approved.

Please see attachment

Please see attachment

See attached submission.
I wish to amend the column below to 'organisation objects to it'.

Please see attachment

for our submission, please see uploaded pdf

Please see attached letter

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Please see attached.