Pacific Highway - Woolgoolga to Ballina

To Whom It May Concern

I would like to express my concern as to the impact of the Section 10 upgrade, from Woolgoolga to Ballina, on the koala population in this area.

This area includes a nationally significant koala population which is a key source for the population of the entire Northern Rivers. With this upgrade, road kill will be increased as the fencing and underpasses have been shown to be inadequate. Furthermore, koala populations will be fragmented and separated from food sources.

Please take these issues into consideration.

Yours sincerely

My not-for-profit community organisation has asked me to write to convey our members great concern at the proposal for Section 10 of the proposed Pacific Highway route through the southern section of Ballina Shire to take a massive and unnecessary detour into the Blackwall Ranges.

We have now seen the draft Koala Habitat Study conducted by Biolink and attended briefings at Ballina Council on the study's findings. We have become aware that the proposed route would fragment and divide two known population centres for this koala population and seriously inhibit their access to food trees in the Blackwall Ranges.

We submit that, since this locality has now been assessed as being occupied by a nationally significant koala population far in excess of what the original Species Impact assessment suggested, to proceed with the proposed routing would clearly be environmentally unacceptable.

We therefore object in the strongest possible terms to this proposed route and ask that an alternative routing for this section of the highway be investigated, one that will not impact on this nationally significant endangered population of koalas.

Thank you for the privilege of making this submission

Lee Andresen
Media and Information Officer
Ballina Coastcare Inc.

I object to the proposed route for Section 10 of the Pacific Highway upgrade, in the south of Ballina Shire around the Blackwall Range, on account of its impact on nationally significant koala populations. The koala is an endangered species -this Australian icon should be treasured and protected.

I made a submission previously. In my previous submission I identified that the proposed upgrade of the Pacific Highway between Broadwater and Coolgardie will have a significant impact upon various Matters of National Environmental Significance.

Specifically the proposal will have a massive negative impact on the largest coastal population of Long-nosed Potoroo in northeast NSW and a nationally significant Koala population. I previously submitted that this impact is unable to be offset or mitigated and that avoidance of these nationally significant habitats is easily achievable by duplicating the existing carriageway of the highway. Duplication of the existing highway will be significantly shorter than the proposed upgrade and avoid impacts upon these Matters of National Environmental Significance (nationally significant populations of threatened species listed under the EPBC Act).

The RMS and their consultants have not responded to the concerns raised in my submission, nor has the RMS addressed the fundamental problem that there is no way to offset or mitigate these impacts on Matters of National Environmental Significance. Avoidance is the only way of maintaining these irreplaceable conservation values.

There has been no credible consideration of these matters within the copious volumes of material prepared for the RMS. If the proposal proceeds, extinction of these nationally significant populations is inevitable.

From my experience as a resident for 33 year's I have found that the provided drainage in our street is very poor and very inadequate.. No maintenance has ever been done in all these year's. Now the RMS built the highway and concentrated more water down our street and across our land. As we had significant flood event's within a 2 month's period, RMS passed it of as 100 year flood event, which in my experience is not accurate. The RMS also go by historical rainfall level's in Woolgoolga, which although only 6 klm's away can be very different from Arrawarra, ask anybody who live's here.The RMS has decided to dam and slow the flow of water, that will eventually still flow in our direction anyway.The best way to deal with large flow's of water is not to block it but to provide adequate drainage to the sea.This area has alway's been a low lying wetland, tidal catchment area.But with researched designs ,management and maintenance,effective Drainage can be provided.In my opinion Coff's Council need's to provide significant and effective drainage system's to protect resident's and properties in the Arrawarra to Corindi Area's.The Coff's Council collected significant rate's contribution's from this area for many year's, not a lot has been done to improve area.
Why isn't Arrawarra Beach Rd all 50 klm's, as are other residential area's eg. Woolgoolga, Corindi, Red Rock ?.

From my experience as a resident for 34 year's I have found that the drainage provided to our street is very poor and extremely inadequate. No maintenance has ever been done in all these year's I've lived here.

Now the RMS built the new highway and this has concentrated more water towards our street and across our land, during high volumes of water due to storms which create flooding at time's. As we had two significant flood event's within a two month period, how can two events be the same.

RMS passed it of as a hundred year flood, which in my experience is not accurate. RMS also go by historical rainfalls levels in Woolgoolga which is not the same as Arrawarra.

RMS has decided to dam and slow the flow of water that will eventually still flow in our direction. The best way to deal with large flows of water is not to block it but to provide adequate drainage to the sea.

This will then protect the village, properties and residents in the catchment area. It has always been a low lying wetland tidal catchment area.

Researched designs management, maintenance and effective drainage can be implemented to resolve this flooding issue.

The Coffs Harbour Council has collected significant rate contributions from this area for 34 years I've lived here, and councils services are virtually non existent out here in Arrawarra, as we are classed as rural/country. Adequate drainage has not been provided and it's maintenance is non existent to this area.

I wanted to ask the RMS why isn't all of Arrawarra Beach Road 50kms as all other residental areas are 50kms example Corindi Beach and Mullaway???

This road deviation will severely affect an untouched piece of coast. The Preferred Infrastructure Report - Response to Submissions does not give adequate weight to the environment including the Coastal Emu and the other 80 threatened flora and fauna. The preferred route should be changed to the orange option for the sake of the irreplaceable environmental values.

See attached submission

I made a submission on the EIS regarding this project particularly referring to the Cassons Creek area. The response states that I am wrong in my reading of the information regarding water staying in Cassons Creek. I am attaching a copy of the relevant section of the EIS and a copy of your response.
I would gladly welcome a personal talk with any of your engineers (as previously stated when my original submission was made).

Submission re Submissions Report W2B
The Woolgoolga to Ballina upgrade affords a once in a lifetime opportunity to achieve some kind of Coastal Cycleway because the way Government finances are, I can't see there will be any interest in funding too much additional cycle specific infrastructure into the future.

Having read the Submissions Report and the relevant section pertaining to Cycling (2-16) I recommend that the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) activate their Regional Cycling Consultative Forums (RCCF) to formulate detailed design of cycling infrastructure for this important section of the Pacific Highway Upgrade. There is Terms of Reference for RCCF's (attachment) which fit perfectly within the concept of negotiation with interested parties as referred to in the Submissions Report, except that everyone would be in the one room at one time.

If we're ever to achieve a uniform approach to the provision of cycling infrastructure in Regional New South Wales (NSW) the RCCF's are our only hope because otherwise personal are left to negotiate one on one with every individual Council and cycle interest group with each reinventing the wheel each time discussions get underway.

Case in point. When we protested the lack of a safe continuous, separated shared path in the final design if the Sapphire to Woolgoolga Upgrade (S2W) we showed an example that had been constructed in Coffs Harbour some 5 or 6 years before. We were made to feel as if we were asking for a Rolls Royce system by RMS personal, which we didn't understand because as far as we were concerned to replicate our model just one more white line was required in the reconfigured linemarking.

Around a year later a mutual acquaintance was visiting Taree and happened on Old Pacific Highway now referred to as the Manning River Drive and he was astonished to see the road linemarked exactly as we had suggested.

The Roads and Traffic Authority did that work in 2001 as part of the pacific Highway Upgrade bypass of Taree. If the information been on a database or captured in regular meetings of RCCF's our task of trying to convince RTA/RMS and joint Venture Staff our idea was doable would have been a whole lot less stressful.

When building cycleways/shared paths, could I also request that consideration be given to always using hot mix on all the shared facilities for the following reasons.

* It will raise the ground level approximately 40mm which will prevent road debris being forced off the road by the cars.
* It will give an alignment for the posts in the separation section.
* It provides far less friction for bicycles and will encourage greater usage. Also better surface for joggers, gophers and wheelchairs.
* Most importantly, having a hot mix surface to ride on reduces the seriousness of accidents. Grazes from hot mix are a lot less prone to becoming infected as are injuries where small pieces of gravel remain in the wound and become infected.
* I know of a cyclist who needed 2 operations to remove pieces of gravel from his elbow after falling off his bike going only slowly. This would also benefit the elderly if they fall.

I look forward to the day RMS convene the second RCCF meeting.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment

After 13 years promoting the Coastline Cycleway in this region, all at my own expense, and the last 5 years specifically to the S2W project, all vulnerable road users are being side-stepped by the bureaucrats who have total control and choose to not co-operate with community input. It's a sad time when the Community attempts to be part of the process and volunteer their expertise for nil cost and the heads of the RTA/RMS constantly throw curved balls at us to take pressure off the momentum we gain during the process.
For the W2B project I wish to resurrect the Regional Forums so that the RMS, contractors and vulnerable road users are working from the same plan all the way through the project. This way we will be able to achieve what has been on the drawing board for this region since the mid 1980's and is documented at all Councils along this route.
We also need to recognise that 1 million dollars for vulnerable road users in a project such as the S2W gives us about 0.2% of the overall $770 million budget with 99.8% for trucks and cars. It's time to wake up in NSW and see what the other states are implementing and have been for many years now.

See File attachment 1

Please see attachment

Please refer to the attached submission

Please acknowledge receipt of this submission.

submission attached

Friends of the Koala's objecting submission is at File attachment 1.

Please find attached a submission from the Clarence Environment Centre
Sincere;y
John Edwards
Honorary Secretary.

RE: Submission regarding Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Hwy upgrade - Section 10
I wish to lodge the attached submission. Your website does not make it easy to do so directly online
so could you please forward to the appropriate dept.
Thank you.
Dr. Lynne De Weaver

Dear Sir/Madam
Please find attached my submission for the above proposal.
Regards
John (Jack) Matthes