Northern Beaches Hospital Concept & Stage 1

I am opposed to the planned Northern Beaches Hospital:
1. Increased traffic & noise pollution in the area (both road & aerial).
2. Increase parking in residential streets and inconvenience to local residents.
3. Lack of sufficient planned off-street parking.
4. Increase congestion at the intersection of Wakehurst Pky. & Warringah Rd. I already have difficulty getting access to Warringah Road. It's a nightmare in the mornings.
5. Wakehurst Pky is frequently flooded and will make access from the north difficult.
6. Public transport is inadequate (no plan).
7. I object to it being a Private Hospital who would mainly focus on profit with Health care coming 2nd.
8. Insufficient Public beds planned.
9. We have perfectly convenient Hospitals in Mona Vale & Manly, these SHOULD BE RETAINED.
10. Mona Vale Hospital should be upgraded. The site there has a lot of open space for expansion, parking, etc, plus it is much more convenient & accessible for ALL Northern Beaches residences.
11. In my opinion the Northern Beaches Hospital is not an economical solution to providing improved health facilities given all the addition services that go with and around a hospital like - road reconstruction, footpaths, parking, Doctor & health services accommodation (external to hospital), Community Health facilities.
These do not appear to be costed.

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I oppose the destruction of wildlife corridors and the destruction of the endangered Duffys Forest Ecological Community at Frenchs Forest and also to the construction of a 10-storey private hospital instead of re-building Mona Vale Hospital and Manly Hospital.

The decision to build the proposed Northern Beaches Hospital at Frenchs was made by the previous Labor government. Going ahead with this proposal supports the previous government's poor decisions.

The current Liberal Government can do better than
* Build a hospital in the wrong location
* Vandalise the environment an offer inappropriate environmental offsets
* Negatively impact the local community and destroy amenity
* Downgrade existing health services
* Create transport and traffic problems

I urge you to reject the proposal in its current form


Hospital Proposed For Wrong Location

* The proposed Frenchs Forest location is unreasonably close to the recently rebuilt Royal North Shore Hospital, and not centrally located to the population it is intended to service.

* Traffic management plans have not yet been developed and cost to mitigate negative impacts has not yet been quantified.

* The Wakehurst Parkway is repeatedly subject to flooding

* Traffic is already congested in the area of Warringah Rd and Wakehurst Parkway and further congestion would result

* To reach acute emergency care, residents from the northern part of the peninsula will confront long travel times after the inevitable subsequent downgrading of Mona Vale Hospital.


Environmental Vandalism & Inappropriate Environmental Offsets

Environmental Vandalism

* Site preparation for the proposed hospital includes vegetation clearing, ie removal of the largest southern stand of an endangered ecological community; however all component species of that ecological community are currently protected.

* The Duffys Forest Ecological Community (DFEC) is listed on Schedule 1 Part 3 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 as an endangered ecological community

* Habitat would be lost for wildlife such as Swamp Wallabies, Sugar Gliders, Powerful Owls

Inappropriate Environmental Offsets

* One unique complex ecological community cannot be offset / replaced by another unconnected area with different characteristic species and environmental conditions including soil types, vegetation and landforms.

* The previous government's proposal to offset this devastation will not provide corridors for threatened species.

* Endangered fauna and flora species will be negatively impacted by the severing and destruction of the irreplaceable wildlife corridor between Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment to the north and the more southerly Garigal National Park.


Local Community Negative Impacts

* The proposed hospital will negatively impact on the local community by substantially increasing traffic, parking congestion and noise, light and air pollution.

* Existing and alternative hospital locations in the Northern Beaches area would have a far less significant and disruptive effect on our community.

* The concerns of local residents have not been adequately addressed by the proposal or through consultation.

* A 10-storey hospital building would create overshadowing and would be an eyesore on the hilltop location

* There would be problems created by additional parking in local residential streets.

* Noise pollution from helicopters, ambulances and increased cars would be created

* Light pollution at night would ensue and air pollution from increased traffic would rise

* There would be a loss of existing ambience and the visual amenity of natural bushland vegetation


Transport and Traffic Problems

* Wakehurst Parkway and Warringah Road already at or beyond capacity

* The current road network providing access to the proposed hospital location is prone to severe traffic congestion and flooding. Wakehurst Parkway can be closed by flooding and the intersection at the proposed hospital site is gridlocked every day

* Population growth on Northern Beaches, e.g as has happened at Warriewood, will increase problems

* The proposed development will substantially increase traffic, including ambulances, staff, patients, visitors, suppliers, waste disposal.

* Suitable traffic management plans and comprehensive costings to create adequate transport infrastructure have yet to be completed.

* Mitigation measures are likely to be high and it would be irresponsible to proceed without the publication and budgeting full costings.


Health Services Downgraded

* The proposed hospital will lead to the downgrading of comprehensive public health care in the region and the inevitable closure of Mona Vale Hospital.

* There will no substantial gain in the number of public beds.

* The proposed hospital will be Privately run and will operate to operate as a business with a bottom line focus on profits.

* Management of the hospital could inevitably sacrifice the quality and quantity of public patient care in the pursuit of profits.


I urge you to reject Application 5982 in its current form.

Until better access to the site is provided, the development of the site and building should be put on hold. Frenchs Forest Road is a narrow residential street, which already carries very heavy traffic in both morning and evening peak hours, and the extra traffic generated by the hospital would make the situation extremely difficult, if not impossible. Every morning, radio traffic reports speak of slow traffic movement (bumper to bumper vehicles), on Warringah Road from Allambie Road to Starkey Street, Forestville. The hospital is being planned in an area where there is heavy traffic congestion already, and the problem of flooding on Wakehurst Parkway after heavy rain has not yet been addressed. A site with better public access is highly desirable. Residents of the Forest area west of the hospital, travelling to work in Brookvale, Dee Why etc are going to have more traffic delays as Frenchs Forest Road and Warringah Road are the only available routes to the east. Please address these problems before it is too late.

Submission against the proposed Northern Beaches Hospital - French's Forest (SSI 5982)

Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission.

Whilst I understand the need for a hospital in the Northern Beaches area, and am all for a new public hospital, I strongly object to the proposed Northern Beaches Hospital being situated at French's Forest on the following grounds.

The decision to build this hospital was made by a bad government. The blame will rest on the current government.
I understand that the current government feels committed to the project, and that's understandable - it is human nature not to want to stop a process that has gone so far. But what is not understandable is continuing to ram through - at immense cost - a project that is so clearly a bad one. A good government does NOT press on with a bad project begun by a bad government, especially when it can be stopped before any real damage is done. The blame for the bad project will now lie squarely with the current government. This is a bad decision.

In the news: the importance of nature and healing
While the rest of the world is surging forward, Australia seems (healthwise at any rate) to be going backwards. There are many new articles and reports that are revealing the importance of nature and healing.

Apart from the healing benefits the ocean air has on patients, this is a wonderful healing asset for visitors and relatives who visit the hospital. I have visited sick family and dying friends both at Mona Vale and Concord hospitals. At Mona Vale I recovered from the ordeal by going for a beautiful walk along the headland. At Concord, I visited the `retail area' nearby. The beach walk at Mona Vale was calming and healing. The Concord experience was incredibly stressful, and brings terrible memories still, years later.

I understand that not everyone is lucky enough to have a hospital by the sea, but why on earth would we get rid of the ones we have got? It is hard to fathom that we are going to close down two hospitals by the sea, and then devastate an ecologically crucial site to create a new `super' hospital (probably with accompanying super-bugs) in a traffic-laden, pollution-ridden, inaccessible and completely unsuitable position.

Ecological importance of the site belied by false and inaccurate environmental reports
Looking through the studies, it is clear that the biodiversity statements and environmental reports are not accurate. Whether this is intentional or just poorly prepared, I feel this will impact very badly on the government when accurate reports are revealed - especially if irreversible, irreparable damage has been caused. Biodiversity credits are only useful if they are properly applied - not `waived' because they can be. The site has some incredibly rare and unique flora and fauna which we can't afford to lose and which won't be saved by biodiversity credits.

Traffic Concerns
If you have driven in this area, you will know that this is a real concern. And I don't think you will need to build any carparks: you will have carparks stretching north, south (this one will be constantly flooded), east and west, to Narrabeen, Chatswood, Dee Why and Hornsby. The cost of trying to build infrastructure and transport measures to cope with the traffic jams caused by an increase of 10,000 cars a day would probably allow you to build a new PUBLIC hospital at Mona Vale over and over again.

10-Storey High Concerns
The houses surrounding the proposed area are quiet, residential, mostly single / two-storey structures. A 10-storey hospital on this site is not in keeping with the surroundings in any way at all. This hospital had many potential sites, all of which are much better suited in every way (surrounds, traffic, infrastructure, public transport). One visit to the area will show that the proposed site is not the right site for a 10-storey building.

Privatisation Concerns
We need PUBLIC hospitals in the Northern Beaches! It is completely inconceivable that you are going to close down two public hospitals and replace it with a private one. It simply doesn't make sense. People will suffer. A private hospital is fine, but not at the expense of a public one. (Let alone TWO!)

Please. Upgrade Mona Vale hospital. Keep Manly hospital. Save the bushland and its ecologically important place in this amazing area. Build the private hospital in a more appropriate area which doesn't have such destructive environmental ramifications. You're a good government. Make a good decision that benefits ALL the community!

Thank you

With this submission I request that this Development Application be referred to PAC (Planning Assessment Committee).

We wish to object to the proposal on the following grounds:


WRONG LOCATION - TRAFFIC VIEWPOINT

The traffic surveys on which the decision are based were conducted in the year 2000 (Northern Beaches Accessibility Study, September 2000). They are very much out of date. In particular, the junctions at Warringah Road & Wakehurst Parkway and Warringah Road & Forest way are now extremely congested at both the morning and evening peak hours.

The road system could not support the traffic generated by a major hospital - already Frenchs Forest Road is used as a detour for traffic attempting to by-pass the Warringah Road / Forest Way junction, especially in the morning and evening peak hours. What was once a quiet street is now a main thoroughfare. Wakehurst Parkway is often blocked by traffic during the peak hours and by water several times a year.

It is grossly irresponsible to nominate the hospital site as French Forest without determining the cost of the necessary extensive upgrades to the surrounding road network


WRONG LOCATION - HEALTH VIEWPOINT

Frenchs Forest is on the edge of the area to be served, not in the centre (documents from Northern Sydney Health show that the areas of densest population are closer to the coast). The proposed location is unreasonably close to the recently redeveloped Royal North Shore Hospital, that adequately services the needs of residents on the Western Side of Northern Beaches.

The Mona Vale Hospital site was designed for expansion into just the facility now forecast as being required by Northern Sydney Health. It should be refurbished / extended to serve the Eastern side (and most populated) portion of Northern Beaches

INAPPROPRIATE BUILDING SIZE

A 10 storey hospital building would be completely out of character with the surrounding areas which are predominately residential. The site is on a major Sydney ridge that has so far been protected from large buildings. A 10 storey hospital building would be an eyesore for miles around

DOWNGRADING OF PUBLIC HOSPITAL FACILITIES ON NORTHERN BEACHES.

The most disappointing aspect to the Submission is the realisation that Public Hospital facilities on Northern Beaches are to be replaced by a private hospital to which the public are allowed access. This intention has never been expressed during the last two decades of research and study by hospital management or politicians.

If our understanding of the bed numbers is correct, once Manly Hospital is downgraded there will be no extra public ward beds in the Northern Beaches hospital system- defeating one of the main objectives in improving hospital facilities on the Northern Beaches.

We wish to object to the proposal on the following grounds:


WRONG LOCATION - TRAFFIC VIEWPOINT

The traffic surveys on which the decision are based were conducted in the year 2000 (Northern Beaches Accessibility Study, September 2000). They are very much out of date. In particular, the junctions at Warringah Road & Wakehurst Parkway and Warringah Road & Forest way are now extremely congested at both the morning and evening peak hours.

The road system could not support the traffic generated by a major hospital - already Frenchs Forest Road is used as a detour for traffic attempting to by-pass the Warringah Road / Forest Way junction, especially in the morning and evening peak hours. What was once a quiet street is now a main thoroughfare. Wakehurst Parkway is often blocked by traffic during the peak hours and by water several times a year.

It is grossly irresponsible to nominate the hospital site as French Forest without determining the cost of the necessary extensive upgrades to the surrounding road network


WRONG LOCATION - HEALTH VIEWPOINT

Frenchs Forest is on the edge of the area to be served, not in the centre (documents from Northern Sydney Health show that the areas of densest population are closer to the coast). The proposed location is unreasonably close to the recently redeveloped Royal North Shore Hospital, that adequately services the needs of residents on the Western Side of Northern Beaches.

The Mona Vale Hospital site was designed for expansion into just the facility now forecast as being required by Northern Sydney Health. It should be refurbished / extended to serve the Eastern side (and most populated) portion of Northern Beaches


INAPPROPRIATE BUILDING SIZE

A 10-storey hospital building would be completely out of character with the surrounding areas which are predominately residential. The site is on a major Sydney ridge that has so far been protected from large buildings. A 10-storey hospital building would be an eyesore for miles around

DOWNGRADING OF PUBLIC HOSPITAL FACILITIES ON NORTHERN BEACHES.

The most disappointing aspect to the Submission is the realisation that Public Hospital facilities on Northern Beaches are to be replaced by a private hospital to which the public are allowed access. This intention has never been expressed during the last two decades of research and study by hospital management or politicians.

If our understanding of the bed numbers is correct, once Manly Hospital is downgraded there will be no extra public ward beds in the Northern Beaches hospital system- defeating one of the main objectives in improving hospital facilities on the Northern Beaches.

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposal hospital at Frenchs Forest. I am extremely concerned with traffic and transportation problems the hospital will bring to my local area.

There is no planned public transport to the site and an increase in cars to the area will only amplify the traffic gridlock that occurs every morning and afternoon in the local area. Frenchs Forest Road West is backed up with cars into Rabbett and Adams Street from 7.30am onwards. This traffic gridlock is married with bumper to bumper cars on the Wakehurst Park and Warringah Road and there is no solution offered that would ease this congestion. Indeed without an increase in public transport servicing the hospital the traffic will only get worse and local residents will be 'locked in'. The gridlock only eases after 10am and then returns in the afternoon peak travel time.What traffic changes will be introduced to reduce the gridlock?

Population growth in the Northern Beaches particularly in DY and the Warriewood Valley will mean more cars accessing Warringah Road, the Wakehurst Parkway and in some cases local traffic zones. My area is a local traffic zone and it is reduced to a slow crawl most mornings. This will only get worse.

The closure of the Wakehurst Parkway in fires and floods only compounds the problems and there is no solution offered to resolve this very current local problem.

Projections are that the hospital will result in an increase of 10,000 additional cars in the area daily and these additional cars, vans and trucks will have an adverse impact on traffic flow in the local area at all times.

The other concern I have is the overflow parking that will occur in my local streets. At the moment the commuter parking is barely manageable - I have difficulty getting out of my driveway and driving in my very crowded street. VIsitors to the hospital will no doubt park in the local streets to avoid paid parking and this will add to the pressures on local residents and already limited free parking available locally.

I am also concerned about the pollution - noise and air that the increase in traffic will have on my family home and the area in general. Is the government intending to sound proof residential houses to limit the noise pollution causes by the increase in ambulance activities not to mention the medical helicopters that will be landing on the roof of the hospital. Will the government also be investing in sound proof fence/barriers along Warringah Road to lessen the noise pollution local residents will experience as a result of the traffic increases and gridlock that will occur on our local roads?

The height of the hospital is also a concern. The hospital will be visible from my back and front gardens and will potentially create overshadows into my property. What steps will be taken to prevent this from occurring? I am also concerned about light pollution at night from the site.

The increase in traffic and the added noise and air pollution will be made worse with the destruction of local flora and forest that is very significant to the local area. Removal of this forest will remove the cleaning function that the forest currently performs. Removal of this forest will also adversely impact on the local fauna that is already under considerable pressure for survival.

Powerful owls are present locally and a 10 storey building, constant helicopter activity and night lighting will result in the loss of local habitat for these endangered birds. Other animals, reptiles and birds will be placed under pressure and may disappear from our local area all together. Worse is the wholesale destruction of the single largest southern stand of endangered Duffy's Forest Ecological Community - a unique diversity of flora that once gone can never be replaced.

The logic behind the new hospital site is one that I cannot comprehend. There are two large hospital sites in the local region that can continue to be developed over years, due to the land sizes, to meet the needs of the local populations. It seems from economics background that an investment in existing sites and infrastructure would be a better use of limited tax payers money and is one that the local residents favour. The Frenchs Forest hospital will not provide the public beds we are being lead to believe and as we all appreciate private hospitals focus on profits not community needs. The new hospital will not provide the level of care we have come to expect of a large regional hospital and one must ask if there will be unnecessary duplication of services between RNSH and this proposed Frenchs Forest hospital.

I request that Application 5982 be referred to the Planning Assessment Committee and that the Government reconsider this proposal. Invest in existing local hospitals at Mona Vale and Manly as the residents want and save the endangered Duffy's Forest Ecological Community.

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposal hospital at Frenchs Forest. I am extremely concerned with traffic and transportation problems the hospital will bring to my local area.

There is no planned public transport to the site and an increase in cars to the area will only amplify the traffic gridlock that occurs every morning and afternoon in the local area. Frenchs Forest Road West is backed up with cars into Rabbett and Adams Street from 7.30am onwards. This traffic gridlock is married with bumper to bumper cars on the Wakehurst Park and Warringah Road and there is no solution offered that would ease this congestion. Indeed without an increase in public transport servicing the hospital the traffic will only get worse and local residents will be 'locked in'. The gridlock only eases after 10am and then returns in the afternoon peak travel time.What traffic changes will be introduced to reduce the gridlock?

Population growth in the Northern Beaches particularly in DY and the Warriewood Valley will mean more cars accessing Warringah Road, the Wakehurst Parkway and in some cases local traffic zones. My area is a local traffic zone and it is reduced to a slow crawl most mornings. This will only get worse.

The closure of the Wakehurst Parkway in fires and floods only compounds the problems and there is no solution offered to resolve this very current local problem.

Projections are that the hospital will result in an increase of 10,000 additional cars in the area daily and these additional cars, vans and trucks will have an adverse impact on traffic flow in the local area at all times.

The other concern I have is the overflow parking that will occur in my local streets. At the moment the commuter parking is barely manageable - I have difficulty getting out of my driveway and driving in my very crowded street. VIsitors to the hospital will no doubt park in the local streets to avoid paid parking and this will add to the pressures on local residents and already limited free parking available locally.

I am also concerned about the pollution - noise and air that the increase in traffic will have on my family home and the area in general. Is the government intending to sound proof residential houses to limit the noise pollution causes by the increase in ambulance activities not to mention the medical helicopters that will be landing on the roof of the hospital. Will the government also be investing in sound proof fence/barriers along Warringah Road to lessen the noise pollution local residents will experience as a result of the traffic increases and gridlock that will occur on our local roads?

The height of the hospital is also a concern. The hospital will be visible from my back and front gardens and will potentially create overshadows into my property. What steps will be taken to prevent this from occurring? I am also concerned about light pollution at night from the site.

The increase in traffic and the added noise and air pollution will be made worse with the destruction of local flora and forest that is very significant to the local area. Removal of this forest will remove the cleaning function that the forest currently performs. Removal of this forest will also adversely impact on the local fauna that is already under considerable pressure for survival.

Powerful owls are present locally and a 10 storey building, constant helicopter activity and night lighting will result in the loss of local habitat for these endangered birds. Other animals, reptiles and birds will be placed under pressure and may disappear from our local area all together. Worse is the wholesale destruction of the single largest southern stand of endangered Duffy's Forest Ecological Community - a unique diversity of flora that once gone can never be replaced.

The logic behind the new hospital site is one that I cannot comprehend. There are two large hospital sites in the local region that can continue to be developed over years, due to the land sizes, to meet the needs of the local populations. It seems from economics background that an investment in existing sites and infrastructure would be a better use of limited tax payers money and is one that the local residents favour. The Frenchs Forest hospital will not provide the public beds we are being lead to believe and as we all appreciate private hospitals focus on profits not community needs. The new hospital will not provide the level of care we have come to expect of a large regional hospital and one must ask if there will be unnecessary duplication of services between RNSH and this proposed Frenchs Forest hospital.

I request that Application 5982 be referred to the Planning Assessment Committee and that the Government reconsider this proposal. Invest in existing local hospitals at Mona Vale and Manly as the residents want and save the endangered Duffy's Forest Ecological Community.

I have occasion to visit Frenchs Forest at least two days a week and the present level so traffic have turned this trip into sometimes a 40 minute drive - one way. The peak hour traffic in the area around the hospital site is terrible and the expected increase in traffic will only add to the traffic congestion in the area.

Parking in the area is already stretched to the limits with commuters parking in the local streets. Overflow parking from the hospital will place more pressure on the local area and the residents will be hemmed in both in trying to park and just to travel locally.

My daughter lives near the proposed site and the noise pollution from existing traffic has gotten much worse since they moved to the area 5 years ago. The increase in traffic around the site will only increase the noise pollution. I am concerned about the health impacts the increase in the traffic and related air pollution in the area will have on my grand children.

The stands of trees in area and the forest is an essential part of a healthy environment and the destruction of this to build the hospital will be adversely impact on the health of the environment. Trees will not be in existence to filter the air not to mention the loss of important habitat for local and endangered fauna.

I ask that the application 5982 be referred to the PAC and the government invest the identified funds back into the existing health infrastructure of the northern beaches - Mona Vale and Manly hospital.

While I agree with the need for a new Class 5 Hospital for the Northern Beaches, I feel that the proposed site was chosen for the convenience of Senior Health Department Management rather than for the convenience of the residents of the Northern Beaches.
I suspect that no consideration was ever given to the costs imposed on other Government agencies such as Department of Transport or the Roads and Maritime Services as they aren't part of the costing of health services provided by the New South Wales Government.
I also believe that no consideration was given to choosing and buying a nearby commercial site for the sake of saving a few million dollars.
I suspect that the proposed protected wildlife offset is an accounting decision which is similar to the building of a patch of 6 lane highway at Dee Why Beach because it costs less to obtain the land, .when it is more valuable to actually build an extra two traffic lanes along Pittwater Road at Dee Why shops instead, despite the much higher cost outlay .
I think that cutting costs at all costs is unhealthy, and leads to accounting offsets which are not in the interest of the taxpayer who is also the voter.
Don't blame this issue on the Wran Government of the 1980's because most of the senior decision makers in New South Wales Health were not Labor voters and often had affiliation with Coalition Parties.
This Hospital is going to cost Government Agencies other than Health for a bad siting decision for the Level 5 Hospital for the Northern Beaches.

I live close to the hospital site and am very concerned about the loss of the local forest environment and local fauna. There are powerful owls that live in the forest around my home and cutting down these trees, helicopters flying all day and night and the lights that will be on a night will put pressure on the powerful owls and their ability to continue living in the area. They are an endangered species and need as much help as we can give them to keep them from being lost to our city forever.

I am also concerned about the lack of public transport currently in the area and the pressure that the hospital visitors will place on the little bit of public transport we currently have. There is no light rail proposed with the hospital build and I wonder how visitors and patients are expected to get to the hospital. Fossil fuels are a limited resource and we should not be building a hospital that will service a large regional area and expect people to drive in cars to the area.

I am also worried about the increase in noise, air and light pollution that the hospital will introduce to my local area. The lungs of the forest will be gone, forest cut down, and the local environment will not be healthy. I am concerned about the impacts this will have to my own health. Pollution from traffic and traffic that is gridlocked is a known health issue and this will only get worse with the increase in cars to the local area.

Also I walk and ride my bike a lot in my local area and this will no longer be a safe activity. More cars, vans and trucks on the roads, more cars parked in my local streets, more damage to the roads - there are potholes everywhere and less safe places for me to ride my bike.

I object to the hospital and am worried about the increase in noise and traffic that will result due to the building of the hospital. At the moment it takes me 30 minutes to get to school on the bus and an increase in traffic, up to an additional 10000 cars a day in the local area will mean slower trips to get anywhere in the area.

The gridlock in my local streets starts at 7.30 in the morning and in the afternoon this starts again from 4.30pm. This will only get worse with more cars, ambulances, vans and trucks on the road. The hospital will need to be serviced by a range of vehicles and these will be operating all the time creating more traffic and more gridlock on the local roads.

The Wakehurt parkway was closed in the recent rains and that means ambulances cannot get to the hospital. Road accidents also close this road and so does bush fire so a hospital on a road that is closed all the time does not make sense to me.

I am also concerned about the loss of important habitat for endangered and threatened species and once these are lost we cannot bring them back. The trees and forests in the area are important of a range of reasons and we should not be cutting the trees down. We should be protecting the little bit of local bush we have left.

I am also worried about the air and light pollution the hospital will create and the impact this may have on my personal well being. It is noisy enough in the local area due to the 'normal' traffic increases in traffic to the hospital will increase the noise pollution in the local area.

I request that application 5982 be referred to the PAC and that the government spends the money on the other existing local hospitals.

My wife and I strongly object to the proposed construction of a new hospital at the junction of Frenchs Forest Road and Wakehurst Parkway. At this stage we would like to stress our main area of concern: the fundamental unsuitability of the site for any kind of major development because of the current traffic situation. To propose a hospital in that location, with a requirement for ease of access at all times appears completely illogical. For several hours each day in the morning and evening, traffic is habitually backed up in both directions at the intersection, together with similar tailbacks along Warringah Road. A further negative factor is the susceptibility of Wakehurst Parkway to flooding whenever it rains heavily, denying access from Pittwater Road.

The dire traffic situation, which has become steadily worse over the years (we have lived in Romford Road since 1985) would lead to the following two inevitable consequences:

1) Access to the hospital for ambulances would be extremely difficult and tme-consuming, especially during rush hours, which in turn could endanger critical patients, while at the same time having the flow-on effect of exacerbating the already long delays experienced by commuters.

2) Inevitably there will be a need to park in adjoining streets by visitors to the hospital - streets which already see heavy parking during the week from the office buildings on Frenchs Forest Road and at weekends from the Sunday market at the Parkway Hotel.

i will hate living in the helicopter flight path and the local area will be destroyed from noise pollution due to ambulances.
i want to see traffic pollution in place before any hospital consideration is decided. i dont want a private hospital i want a public hospital and im sure the community would agree i also believe there are environmental issues like the bush land being threatened and i believe that the bush land should be protected.hardly anybody knows that submissions are open and will close in 2 days time. i believe something this important to the community should have been advertised better and a longer submission time should have been given seeing this will effect the community vastly.

Plans to offset the environmental impacts of the proposed Northern Beaches Hospital are grossly inadequate and are "well short" of what should be done to compensate for the loss of almost 5Ha of endangered Duffys Forest Ecological Community. We lost a similar area of high conservation bushland with the controversial and politically mismanaged ARDEL site development nearby. The potential loss of 10Ha of this endangered bushland type is to be deplored.
I also have concerns regarding traffic management around the site, loss of community hospitals at Manly and Mona Vale, and the fact that no extra public hospital beds will be provided.

I object to the proposal to build a ten storey hospital at the Frenchs Forest site. My reasons are as follows:
1. Traffic around the proposed site is congested at most times of the day and severely congested at peak times. These are the very times when emergency vehicles need quick access to the hospital.
2. During periods of heavy rain, Wakehurst Parkway is closed and this will only make the traffic situation worse in surrounding roads.
3. Local residents already feel the burden of excess traffic being forced into smaller side streets and this also impacts on parking availability. This will much worse with a hospital and the huge increase in traffic this will generate. I understand there are no funds in place to address the numerous traffic issues.
4. Public transport in the area is minimal. without much improved public transport, this hospital should not go ahead.
5. Building the hospital on this site will mean the destruction of the Duffy's Forest ecological community and the wildlife it supports. This site is also a major wildlife corridor.
6. As this proposed hospital will be a private hospital (build and run by the private sector) this spells a significant downgrading of public sector facilities.
7. Already this proposed hospital has spelt the significant downgrading of the existing hospitals at Mona Vale and Manly. This leaves residents on the Northern Peninsular with no easy access to a hospital, yet this proposed hospital will be no more than 20 minutes from RNS Hospital. There is simply no logic in locating a second large hospital so close to an existing major hospital.
8. A hospital of this scale will negatively impact on the local amenity.

I would also like to add that the submission time was not well advertised, especially considering it will have such a huge impact on so many people. The submission time also needs to be longer to give residents a chance to respond.

the proposed site for this hospital is totally wrong,
listen to the people

I am against building Northern Beaches Hospital in Frenchs Forest:
1. Mona Vale & Manly hospitals are already built but have been allowed to run down - there is no need to waste ratepayers money supporting a new hospital if these are maintained. Mona Vale especially is well positioned for people on the peninsular, and in an area that doesn't pose traffic problems or intrude in surrounding communities.

2. I had reason to attend RNSHospital emergency 3 times this year; it is only 1/2hr away from Frenchs Forest; it was modernised & opened in Dec 2012; half-way through 2013, five wards were closed due to lack of funds - NSW is already financially struggling to meet basic commitments, what irresponsibility to try & support a new hospital when Mona Vale is already built and RNSH is now state-of-the-art.

3. Several private hospitals already operate in the peninsular.

4. The land is adjacent to a Public School with hundreds of children coming & going across roads to catch buses, or picked up by parents waiting in cars.

5. Traffic congestion on highways in this area, is already a problem - especially Wakehurst Parkway, which is frequently flooded, Forestway & Warringah Road which will be a nightmare if hospital traffic is added.

6. The proposed removal of bushland in Frenchs Forest will be an ecological loss - it's one of the few remaining natural areas along Warringah Road.

7. The peaceful residential area of Frenchs Forest will become choked with traffic, noise and air pollution.

My main concern for the Northern Beaches Hospital is that the likelihood of health & safety risks/fatalities for patients, ambulance drivers, pedestrians and general motorists will increase.

Why?
Because the underdeveloped road systems with 1-lane corridors (Wakehurst Parkway etc) that approach the new proposed hospital site, are already congested, and if ambulances have to travel further than Mona Vale hospital (for Palm Beach residents), this increases the risk of patients being worse-off or `dead on arrival', because of the increased time it took to access life-saving services.
Also the impact on the motorists who have to move aside to allow ambulances to pass, will often make them go off onto `shoulder-less' roads, which increases the risk of accidents for them or to pedestrians walking on footpaths!
Once the ambulance arrives at the congested intersections of Wakehurst/Warringah roads, delays will occur for the ambulance to enter the site, increasing likelihood of patients being worse-off.

With regard to the helicopters, has there been `impact studies' done on the disruption of `visibility' (flying debris) and concentration of drivers (overwhelmed by noise and looking at helicopter and NOT the road), where helicopters are hovering only 6 stories above major traffic areas? Any reasonable human being would agree there will be an increased likelihood of motorist accidents due to disruption of helicopters around this site in an already highly congested traffic zone.

Finally, it would be an abhorrent act of any government, to make a decision not to upgrade already existing hospitals (Mona Vale and Manly) because they valued the real estate more than the lives of the people, who have faster access to these hospitals, than to a new hospital in a bad location where they may have to die to get there?

Hi
There are perfectly established hospitals on the Northern beaches. Rebuilding, refurbishing or expanding will not further impact our local flora and fauna.
To build a hospital in the middle of a pristine environment would have a huge environmental impact on the area and surrounding areas such as;
*Irreplaceable wildlife corridors.
*Destruction of the largest southern strand of Duffys Forest Ecological community
*Loss of habitat for a huge number of species.
*Destruction of a unique area which cannot ever be balanced out by any other means i.e. this corridor links other areas therefore it has far reaching consequences!
From a provisions point of view how will a private hospital (who rely on profit) serve the public?
* Not enough public beds will be provided
*This will also cause increased traffic to one central location rather than keeping our hospital resources sped out.

None of this plan makes sense at all! Please see this from a animal, people and ecological perspective. Please rebuild Manly and Monavale hospitals instead! Lord knows the block that Monavale is on surely has enough room for 2 more hospitals alone!
Best regards.