Northern Beaches Hospital Concept & Stage 1

Submission on rezoning proposal for Frenchs Forest Hospital Site

Pittwater Natural Heritage Association objects to the current rezoning proposal due to its failure to consider regional effects of increased traffic on surrounding roads, in particular Wakehurst Parkway.

Recent traffic studies show that roads surrounding the Frenchs Forest hospital site, including Wakehurst Parkway are already at or beyond capacity and in addition to its effect on commuters from the Northern Beaches this situation is causing a significant number of wildlife fatalities.

We feel that the increase in traffic on Wakehurst Parkway due to the Frenchs Forest hospital will just make matters worse, therefore we submit that any proposal to rezone the site should include a plan to mitigate these animal fatalities.

Yours sincerely

David Palmer

Secretary

Pittwater Natural Heritage Association

I oppose the State Significant Infrastructure Application No 5982 for a 10-storey
Northern Beaches Hospital concept proposal and destruction of endangered forest:

This hospital has been talked about for a long time but is opposed on many issues and is short-sighted planning .

1 ) ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
* Destruction of irreplaceable wildlife corridors between Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment and (a) Manly Dam (b) Forestville Park (Garigal National Park)
* Destruction of the largest [and still very healthy and viable] southern stand of endangered Duffy's Forest Ecological Community, with unique diversity of flora
* Loss of habitat for flora and fauna, e.g. swamp wallabies, sugar gliders, powerful owls and numerous endangered plant species
* 'Environmental Offsets': one unique ecological community of native forest and wildlife can never be plonked into bushland of a different ecological community in another unconnected location and survive
* The Government's EIS puts no value on the endangered Duffys Forest Ecological Community. The recent EIS carried out on behalf of the HEAL group on the site by well respected reputable ecological consultants proves the site is far more valuable for preserving than the Government recognises

2 ) HEALTH SERVICES DISTRIBUTION
* Provision of public beds well below what was initially promised
* Private hospitals focus on profits, not provision of health care for all
* Centralising for administrative convenience does not provide health care where needed.
* Patients and their visitors benefit from being in a hospital close to their home
* Loss of existing public community hospitals at Mona Vale and Manly when recent studies show that community hospitals in beautiful locations such as Manly and Mona Vale are more effective in promoting healing. The 21st century technology allows medical staff to treat their patients in community hospitals while being instructed by expert practitioners from afar
* The present hospital requirements can be much reduced and cheaper when the focus is on education for a health system which educates the community to maintain good health [rather than the present ill-health system]
* The proximity of the planned new 10-storey hospital is within 20mins drive to newly rebuilt Royal North Shore Hospital and thus a
duplication of services
* Both Manly and Mona Vale hospitals were community initiated and funded and are preferred and loved by the majority of the community but have been allowed to be run down
* It is known that most specialist Drs wish to practise in new hospitals. My oncologist at RNHS was unaware of the fact that the vital wildlife corridor is to be destroyed. He said he would be happy to practise at any new hospital building including Mona Vale. Hospital staff do not wish to work in run down conditions. The majority hospital staff, if aware of the ecological facts, would be prepared to have a new hospital elsewhere on the N. Beaches

3 ) TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT PROBLEMS
* Wakehurst Parkway and Warringah Road already at or beyond capacity
* No plans available to solve the need for new ingress and egress roads at the hospital and it appears the cost would be extreme
* Wakehurst Parkway regularly closed by flooding
* Intersection at hospital site unsuitable and gridlocked every day and polluted with traffic fumes
* Population growth on Northern Beaches (e.g Warriewood) will increase problems
* Substantial additional traffic (expert's estimate 10,000 per day): ambulances, staff,
patients, visitors, suppliers, waste disposal...etc.
* No public transport planned. Many do not own cars and a trip to the hospital site from other suburbs and even Frenchs Forest itself is very difficult and time consuming whereas public transport to both existing N Beaches hospitals is reasonably frequent and accessible and would not require much expense to be improved


4) DESTRUCTION OF LOCAL AMENITY.
* 10-storey building with overshadowing
* Eyesore on hilltop location with extra surrounding bush denuded to make way for new traffic needs
* Loss of bushland and its air cleansing function
* Air pollution from increased traffic
* Noise pollution from helicopters, ambulances and cars
* Overflow parking in residential streets
* Light pollution at night
* Narrow streets surrounding hospital will suffer from an excess of parked cars often blocking driveways

I request that Application 5982 be referred to PAC (Planning Assessment Committee)

Yours faithfully.

See attached.

See attached.

Today is apparently the last day to comment on the environmental impact statement for the proposed Frenchs Forest Hospital.

I cannot find where to send my comments, so hope you will be able to forward this to the right place.

With regard to the proposed new private hospital at Frenchs Forest, please don't build it.

Frenchs Forest doesn't need it. We can access Mona Vale, Hornsby, Manly and (except in the rush hour) Royal North Shore Hospitals. Even The San is relatively accessible for us. All of these except RNSH offer us travel against the rush hour traffic, and are very good hospitals. There is no way anybody could reach the proposed new FF hospital in the rush hour from any direction.

Traffic is already a nightmare in this area, and the hospital will of course create more chaos.

No doubt you will widen the Wakehurst Parkway in each direction, and this will lead to ever more animal carnage on that road. Interestingly, there is no mention in the EIS of the creatures that will effectively be slaughtered by this proposal: none of the Appendices deals with this appalling probability.

And what will you do to prevent the parkway flooding? Perhaps build on every bit of land either side of the Parkway?

As the EIS Appendix C states:

"Although the preliminary assessment indicates that there is sufficient midblock capacity in

Warringah Road and Frenchs Forest Road to absorb the traffic generated from this hospital,

there is also strong modelling evidence that the key intersections surrounding the site will not be

able to do so. These include the Warringah Road/ Wakehurst Parkway, Wakehurst Parkway/Frenchs Forest Road, Warringah Road/ Forest Way, and Forest Way/ Naree Road intersections. The existing levels of congestion experienced at these intersections will severely inhibit their effectiveness in accommodating the additional traffic volumes generated by the hospital.

These existing traffic capacity shortcomings have been recognised and RMS are developing supporting roadwork solutions to address these. This is also in light of the plans for wider precinct land use development."

There will be no sign of Mr Frenchs Forest by the time you have finished with it. Most of us moved here in order to enjoy the peace and quiet and beauty of the countryside whilst living relatively close to the city. We were very willing to forego good public transport in order to achieve this aim. This hospital will destroy our environment, our trees, our semi-rural ambience, our interaction with local wildlife.

We really don't need this hospital (especially a private one). Please don't build it here. If you must build a new hospital in our area, then what is wrong with building it in Brookvale? Brookvale is on 2 major roads, is accessible from all the Northern Beaches (much more easily than Frenchs Forest), has many industrial sites/spaces (and bus depots) that would actually be improved by the building of a new hospital. There are no trees to destroy, no animals to destroy, no peace and ambience to destroy. It would be accessible by many more people, including Manly dwellers. It would enhance the suburb as opposed to destroying it (as the FF one will).

The proposed Belrose extension of Garigal National Park as exchange for destroying Frenchs Forest is not a fair exchange. The Belrose site should be incorporated into Garigal anyway. Bits of Belrose are always being given away to other agencies and/or for house construction.

Please don't build this hospital at Frenchs Forest.

Thank you for allowing me to comment on this proposal.

As a resident of Frenchs Forest I would like to register my concern about the proposed development.

The built area and concrete roads cover too much area. I am absolutely stunned when i saw a model of it. It would be turning a green forest into a concrete jungle.

This forest is of immeasurable value in terms of a wildlife corridor, Habitat for native species and endangered species. It will also have a huge detrimental visual impact in terms of Loss of green space and permanent loss of irreplaceable trees and bushland that we all enjoy everyday!

Sydney's remaining bushland should be retained at all costs. Not enough value is placed on it. I just think it is really short sighted to destroy this fabulous asset for a building. Its Crazy. Haven't we progressed as a nation from the early settlers?

I cant see why it could not be built on already developed land?

It seems the hospital must go ahead and I implore you to build it in such a way that bush corridors are retained for wildlife and that it be obscured from view as much as possible.

Please see my attached document SS15982_NBH_submission.pdf

Please find attached

Please find attached

I OPPOSE THE STATE SIGNIFICANT INFRASTRUCTURE APPLICATION NO 5982 FOR A 10-STOREY NORTHERN BEACHES HOSPITAL CONCEPT PROPOSAL AND DESTRUCTION OF ENDANGERED FOREST.

BUILDING ANOTHER HOSPITAL IS ILLOGICAL - WE HAVE 2 HOSPITALS THAT ARE QUITE CLOSE TO EACH OTHER. NORTH SHORE HOSPITAL IS A FANTASTIC HOSPITAL - IT DOESN'T TAKE VERY LONG TO GET THERE. THE REDEVELOPMENT OF MONA VALE HOSPITAL MAKES FAR MORE SENSE THAN BUILDING ANOTHER ONE 'DOWN THE ROAD'..

IN FRENCHS FOREST THERE WILL BE:

OVERFLOW OF PARKING
LOSS OF BUSHLAND
INCREASED TRAFFIC
WAKEHURST PARKWAY ALREADY BEYOND CAPACITY
WAKEHURST PARKWAY CAN BE CLOSED BY FLOODING
LOSS OF HABITAT FOR WILDLIFE

Please refer to the attached document for my submission.

Please find attached:
1) my submission opposing the SSI application No 5982, because of its unacceptable impact of health service provision for the Northern Beaches, on the local community, the transport situation and on the environment.
2) review of biodiversity aspects of Northern Beaches Hospital Environmental Impact Statement, by Smith& Smith, 20/11/13

I am writing to oppose the construction of the new Northern Beaches Hospital on the Frenchs Forest site on the grounds that
- the site is a significant remnant stand of Duffy's Forest ecological community an endangered vegetation community (see attached report)
- that the proposed offsets for this destruction completely ignores the value of the environment in this block
- that the block acts as an essential wildlife corridor between adjacent national parks and conservation areas. This function will be irretrievably lost if the hospital is built, further fragmenting the bush available to fauna.
- the hospital will be built on the ridge line, promoting further development in the Narrabeen catchment, an area that government's of both political persuasions have committed to protecting. This will also be a source of considerable visual/light pollution

From the point of view of community amenity, I also object to the siting of the new hospital considering the present Mona Vale site or possibly a site in Brookvale would better cover the Northern Beaches community. The Frenchs Forest hospital places a major facility at a traffic choke point, with very poor access, on the road to another major hospital.

The community needs a new facility, but it should be in another location for reasons of the environmental impact and community access.

See uploaded objections

Please see attachment for my written submission.

Please find attached submission.

SSI application No 5982 for an up to 10 storey, 70000 sqm, floorspace Northern Beaches Hospital. NPA objects to the proposal on the grounds outlined in attachment 1.

Please stop this madness before it's too late. Refer attached submission.

I submit the attached objection

1. A hospital has been proposed for the Frenchs Forest site for some sixty years. In the meantime, a parcel of open space and bushland has survived a succession of abandoned and failed state government planning strategies. The ever spreading nature of development in Sydney has changed irretrievably the urban fabric of our city. It is most unfortunate and still inappropriate that this site, covered with its endangered and protected Duffys Forest Ecological Community (DFEC), has to be cleared. A more degraded site (such as the RMS land to the east of Wakehurst Parkway adjacent to the French Forest Business Park), would have involved lesser environmental losses.
2. It is positive to have an addition to a national park, but the proposed offset for the loss of the Frenchs Forest site's DFEC is inadequate. The offset contains no DFEC and is composed of a vegetation type already very well represented in the national park estate. See Peter and Judy Smith, "Review of Biodiversity Aspects of Northern Beaches Hospital Environmental Impact Statement", November 13, 2013 in a report to the community group HEAL Northern Beaches.
3. Buildings should be located on the site to maximise passive solar design principles. The indicative location and block arrangement of buildings in the north west sector of the site does not favour achieving these principles. Buildings should be oriented on a north-south axis rather than east-west that creates a warm and cold side to a building.
4. All built environment elements should demonstrate sustainability principles in terms of construction materials, building life, maintenance, waste minimisation, availability of fresh air ventilation to interiors and minimal reliance on air conditioning.
5. All patient ward buildings should face east and be located adjacent to the stand of vegetation proposed to be retained (hereafter referred to as the Wakehurst Parkway vegetation stand). The 1984 landmark study by Roger Ulrich, "View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery", (Science, New Series, V 224, I 4647, April 27, pp. 420-421) demonstrated the therapeutic and ultimately economic value of even a small view of nature from a hospital window. It is readily available on the internet (see http://www.ideal.forestry.ubc.ca/frst524/09_ulrich.pdf).
The positive effects on human health and wellbeing of experience in or exposure to nature has been the lifelong work of many noted researchers and academics, including Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, Clare Cooper Marcus, Nancy Gerlach-Spriggs to name but a few.
The building of the hospital at Frenchs Forest could be an opportunity to create an institution within a healing landscape setting rather than yet another example of `plonk architecture' (as portrayed in the schematic representation on the Department of Planning and Infrastructure website https://majorprojects.affinitylive.com/public/b5fe65ca7ab3bec82e11825517a44359/DGR%20drawings.pdf).
6. The Wakehurst Parkway vegetation stand should include the remnant vegetation stand that is located at the south east corner of the site between Bantry Bay Road and Wakehurst Parkway (and outside the boundaries of the former residential lots). It contains the same features (tall trees with healthy canopies, intact understorey) as the Wakehurst Parkway vegetation stand.
7. The Wakehurst Parkway vegetation stand has outstanding visual resource amenity deriving significantly from its quality of naturalness. This quality is rarely achieved by landscaping after site development. This vegetation stand should be retained intact as a screen or buffer for the hospital from the busy surrounding roads. All electricity service wires should be placed underground so that lopping of the tall trees is not required. Eucalypt species do not respond well to pruning/lopping; tree aesthetics, longevity and stability are all compromised.
8. A significant stand of remnant vegetation (minimum 100 metres wide) should also be left along the western site boundary with The Forest High School for the same purposes of screening and buffering. In this area regeneration works would be required as the existing vegetation is more disturbed and has an informal pathway present. A depth of one hundred metres is about the minimum required for vegetation to produce a noise mitigating effect. Vegetation stands of lesser depth do produce (only) the perception of sound mitigation.