Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2

To Whom It May Concern,
Please find our cover letter and EIS objection submission document.
Briefly, our property is marked to be acquired for Stage 2 Parramatta Light Rail. We object the action. Please read through the cover letter and our submission.
We look forward to collaborate with Transport of NSW for a fair resolution.
Regards,
Joanne and Joseph Fischer

Please build the project asap. There are many new residents are moving in such area and the suburb along its side. If the public transportation is built too slow, the road might not be handle anymore. Now, on the peak time or event, the traffic is really horrible. So, please please please start building parramatta light rail stage 2 as soon as possible. Thanks

As the resident of Sanctuary building which now the Light Rail will directly be built in front of my unit I have a few major issues identified:
1- Route: Initially the rout was going next to river and connection to the Ferry and Bus transport hub. When I bought the unit I was not expecting to see anything except the green land in front of my unit! Personal matters apart, please reconsider the design for the benefit of the larger community.
New route is going through Sanctuary and SOP parkland with the first stop somewhere around Half Street!! Considering 7min walking to Ferry and more than that to Primary and High School, this will cause too much chaos for both commuters and parents. The kids will cross the street and won't let cars to drive during school hours! We have already so many traffic issues around Hill Rd and the new high school is going to make it worst. You have to consider disabled and elders of the community.
I was notified that the rail L shape at the intersection of the Wharf and Hill Rd is causing the changes to the rail route, you already have this in Macquarie St, some areas in CBD and also after the Melrose Park to WWP bridge (in your own planning)! I am sure this is not a valid reason for changing the route. You have enough space there to reduce the L and make it a wider curve there.
2- Parking: During the construction phase all Hill Road parking spot including woo-la-ra will be removed, after construction WWP will lose 45 parking spots for ever!!! How are you going to give back the parking to the already troubled suburb with regard to street parking? Have you considered new high rises that are going to be added to the area which require street parking? What short-term option you have for the construction phase? Please engage another urban planner to get a second opinion on this section.
3. Alternative Parking: In the construction phase car parking for workers should be at Sydney Olympic Park, and the workers then bused, there is no plan where they are going to park!! How are you going to manage the traffic considering so many construction trucks and vacuum and street sweepers, etc are needed from 7AM to 7PM and the almost 12,847 residents, many with cars?
4- Noise and vibration: Please redo the noise study for the Sanctuary area. You have not done any study at Sanctuary Building D location at all (Where in technical paper I can find it?). Due to the topography we can hear the noise from 4 km away and the bridge even during the day, you have to re do the noise assessment for the current buildings your Noise study has big flaws. Alas, you need some temporary measures during the construction to reduce your noise as many are working from home. But I need a proper study for operation phase.
5. According to Technical Paper 3, After operation commencement the ground-born noise will exceed the limits by 35 dBA at certain hours and even above the airborne noise. The tram operation is 5AM to 1AM!! What rail technology are you planning to have? I am not sure even CSLER could help this suburb! Not only that the station notification after 9PM will be annoying.
6- There will be 24/7 lighting of the track!! I can't not express my frustration as a resident and also on behalf of animals in the SOP parkland. You know that area has no light?? You are going to leave a scar on biodiversity of that area. Lights just where necessary and to be lux levels
7- Bridge to WWP: The ramp after the bridge should be connected to the footpath next to the river and also an elevator for disabled, the current plan is going to the park and design is not user friendly. Who has suggested that design??
8- The foot and cyclic path is considered to be 3 meters wide, the standard is 3.6! If you redesign and go next to river, you won't have issue buying land from Sanctuary.
9- Wire-Free: Given Wentworth Point is a wire-free suburb, we need the wire-free power supply to be underground. Battery stations to be installed.
10- Green-Track: There needs to be a green track in Wentworth Point. There will be a lot of trees cut down and a green track helps prevent flooding. Please check flooding in recent years in Hill Rd, I guess you have access to GIS historical maps.
11- With the loss of carparking we need to look at alternatives such as multi storey car parks or underground parking. This could be explored on the Sanctuary site or TfNSW site.
12- The work is ok to be from 7 AM to 7 PM, it will facilitate the work but Sunday to be a construction free day and Saturday up to 1pm.
13- Where will the contaminated soil be disposed of? You know that we have mountains of hazardous waste buried around WWP.
14- Please arrange the bridge and road works to be performed parallel. In your plan it will take until 2040 and many of us are not alive by then.
15- The biodiversity study at SOP is poor, with the amount of ground-born, air-born noise and 24/7 lights adjacent to the parkland, you are going to destroy the flora and fauna and this is unethical.
16- You mentioned ISCA in your glossary of terms. Interestingly I could not found anywhere in your documents you explained any sustainability initiative that will give you a high rating for ISC design and as build. When you have an abbreviation there should be a section to it, but it seems sustainability is the missing part of your EIS. Lack of green-track, not considering community current and future issues, light, noise and vibration problems, all shows your EIS is very poorly drafter and I expect to see more focus on the amendments.

This is an important project to provide a more reliable and consistent mode of public transport for residents of Wentworth Point, to connect to Sydney Olympic Park, Parramatta and the CBD via the new metro. This project will give us more safe walking and bike paths, in addition to reduce emissions as part of a truly integrated public transport solution. It will also help visitors who use the ferry to travel to SOP for events. The current buses are often full and not as reliable.
I hope the timelines are brought forward and this project is completed as soon as possible.

Please kindly consider my submission with a sense of urgency. My property is one of the most impacted as it is located very close to a proposed light rail bridge over the Silverwater Road.

The land of 99 South Street was purchased in early 2021 to provide life-long accommodation to a person with mental disability. That is my autistic son, aged 27.

Prior to the purchase, no public development impact to the land was made known to me. The Parramatta Light Rail Phase 2 project was only publicly announced in June 2022.

I was first contacted by the light rail project relationship manager Westley on 8/11/2022. He and project manager Victor visited me again on 9/11/2022 for information and consultation. My son’s mother was also present. Westley and Victor alerted us to probable land acquisitions for the light rail project. We became aware the project will construct a light rail bridge over Silverwater Road.
We later visited the Bidgee Bidgee Bridge over James Ruse Drive to understand how a light rail bridge closeby may impact land use and environment around my place, at 99 South St, Rydalmere.

It is obvious that a light rail bridge over the Silverwater Road will have a large land requirement, and significant land acquisitions in our areas may be inevitable. I have little doubt that my land will be one of the most impacted.

I am now very concerned that the project work activities will negatively impact my autistic son for many years in future. Much more importantly, the presence of light rail and it's bridge very close to my property will have continued adverse impacts for my son, potentially making my place unsuitable as a life-long accomodation for my son.

My mental-disabled son has many challenging behaviours and many care needs. Being autistic, obsessive compulsive and hyperactive, he needs a safe place, with lots of space, and also quiet privacy. The house that he lives in needs to be tailored and customised to suit him. Surroundings outside his place of residence are also very important consideration for the quality of his life. We can tell more about my son if necessary, so that the project team may understand our predicaments.

The immediate impact is that I now find it very difficult to continue house renovation that caters for my son’s special needs, as I am concerned that my place will be unsuitable for my son to live out his life, and a relocation may be needed.

I would like to explore the possibility that the light rail project may assist me to relocate, by purchasing my property outright and also offering me compensation to relocate to a similarly-suitable place for my son. This way, the project can be assured of land use over 99 South Street, Rydalmere, and we can confidently plan for my son’s life-long accommodation in another location.

If the project is unable to offer the required assistance and compensation for me to relocate, then the least I expect is that there will be no land acquisition of my land. I cannot accept that the light rail infrastructure is installed too close to my house, as that would make the place unsuitable as a life-long accomodation for my son. In other words, please at least respect the existing boundary of my land, otherwise please do consider helping me to relocate, for my son’s sake.

Please let me know as soon as possible.
Thank you.

I object to the significant effect this rail line will have on Newington Nature Reserve and Hill Road bikeways and walkways, trees and green space, parking and traffic congestion along Hill Road and the Parramatta River cycle path and walkway. There are no offsetting benefits that warrant this damage and denuding in an area that is already overdeveloped and poorly planned.

The development removes parking down Hill Road, is likely to remove the trees and maybe the bike path on the western side of Hill Road, and removes part of the alternative bike path to the river on the eastern side of the Armoury wetlands. It is unclear what the remediation will be, but construction will go on for years and the impact on parking, traffic congestion, walkways, cycleways and landscape will be significant. This does not appear to be called out significantly in the reports.

Some of the key attractions of this area are the quiet secluded bike paths /walkways shaded by trees, the 2 alternative pathways to the river, and the adjacent wetlands and river that are part of Sydney Olympic Park land and supposedly protected. This is removing key connecting parts of that.

Wentworth Point has a shortage of parking, traffic congestion, and a lack of parks for the many children. It is fantasy to think a rail line that removes parking, takes up road space, removes thousands of trees that are 20 years old, and removes or impacts key connecting bikeways and walkways will be an improvement for this area. The area is to be ruined for a rail line to connect Parramatta with Sydney Olympic Park when the Sydney West Connect rail line should be used to do that and take all that traffic underground.

The Parramatta Light Rail project is a waste of money and resources with far higher priority investments required in the area. It should be terminated at Ermington and funds should be redirected to the West Connect rail project and to constructing schools and playgrounds for the area. Bike paths, trees and access to the river should be left untouched.

Strongly support this project, beautiful transport and make the city more dynamic and more convenient

I support this project but this is not a good idea if the new bridge between Wentworth Point and Melrose park will not include all vehicles permitted. For the planning and development, please consider local needs, such as traffic issues. If build the new bridge between Wentworth point and melrose park allow vehicles to drive through. That will be great. Also, it can solve the problem of traffic issues in Wentworth point.

The proposed direction of the light rail does not make sense, as Olympic park has multiple modes of public transport, where as the Gladesville / Balmain area has limited transport coverage. That area has large developments anticipated and hence need more public transport facilities
Likewise the north shore area has limited public transport.
There seems to be a tendency for doubling or even quadrupling public transport in some areas - eg: Westmead, Parramatta, Olympic Park
May I suggest planners communicate with communities and think rationally.

Since Stage 1 will be delayed well into 2024. Does that also Stage 2 will be delayed well into 2026.
If there is a change of govt in March 2023. Could the project be put on hold indefinitely. So a review could take place say in cost, funding, EIS or value for money. No doubt Federal and State Govt funding is involved.
Kylie

None

I support PLR stage 2.
Wentworth Point - Hill Road.
From initial route shown in the EIS and proposed 'footbridge' LR station, there is currently not information provided around how the intersection between Footbridge Blvd, Hill Road and the future Light rail bridge / Bus crossing will connect.
The intersection is busy as it is today, with significant development still to occur in Block H and Sanctuary sites leading to more people, how will that intersection cope with buses coming across from Melrose park (and new bridge) continuing up to Rhodes station across Bennelong Bridge? How will traffic in / out of Wattlebird road work? How will hill road cater for safe pedestrian movement across to the light rail station?
We have seen the risk to bus movement along the Wentworth point peninsular when trying to turn out onto Hill road, the plan needs to ensure that safety of pedestrians, road users and bus passengers is catered for in the detailed design.

I'm a supporter of PLR stage 2.

Wentworth Point (Hill road) the permanent location of the tracks along hill road should be placed further back from hill road (into the parkland) to maintain the tree canopy that is currently in place. By putting the tracks further back from the road, retaining the tree line along the road will help to create a noise barrier to reduce noise impact on apartments opposite, and also the visual aspect. Behind the current tree line, the large hills do not contain tree canopy thus putting the tracks close to the road (and removing the trees) will reduce the overall canopy cover in the area. It also means that pedestrians who use the walking paths along that side of the road would not need to cross the tracks to reach the pedestrian path by maintain the path under the tree canopy between hill road and the permanent tracks.

I am writing to support the view that Stage 2 should run via Rydalmere Station enabling people living east of there to travel directly north to Carlingford -- and possibly at some later stage to Epping-Chatswood.
South Street in Rydalmere has become increasingly busy due to industrial developments and employees commuting by car. An additional factor is the increasing number of dual occupancies being built in the residential streets. There is therefore a need to consider improving access from South Street via Clyde Street to Victoria Road (which currently does not allow right hand turns) and from South Street onto Silverwater Road (traffic lights installed and two lanes turning left would suffice).
IT WOULD SEEM PRUDENT TO TAKE THIS HOLISTIC APPROACH rather than simply plan roadworks designed purely for the light rail when it is obvious that unrelated road works in the same streets will be required soon - possibly now but definitely soon.

I fully support this project. One of the biggest benefits to come out of stage 1 (aside from the light rail itself) is the excellent active transport path that runs alongside the tracks. With Sydney Olympic Park having some of the best cycling tracks in Sydney, I hope that stage 2 will connect with and expand the active transport network.

Hello,

I see that the eastern end of PRL stage 2 ends at Carter St, Lidcombe. While funding is always an issue, I believe extending the light rail line from Carter St to Lidcombe station utilising the current Lidcome-Olympic Park railway alignment would produce multiple favourable outcomes.

Public transport access to The Olympic Park precinct with change significantly with the opening of the western metro. Direct and fast access will be available from Sydney CBD, Parramatta CBD and the northern railway line with interchange at North Strathfield. Utilisation of the Lidcombe-Olympic Park shuttle train will diminish dramatically.

Extending the light rail to Lidcombe station will maintain an important service, but it will also provide a superior connection to places beyond Olympic Park. The service would be far more economical to operate than the current shuttle, would be more environmentally sustainable (fewer lighter vehicles required) and should be competitive on travel time.

The most straightforward option would be to use the alignment of the currently unused single line bridge over the M4 and Great Western Highway, follow the railway alignment to Lidcombe using Lidcombe's platform 0 as the terminus, or even a street terminus. Heavy rail access to Olympic Park from Flemington would be retained, for major events if required. The need for heavy rail access from Lidcombe would require investigation (shared heavy/light rail may be an option for some of the Lidcombe leg if necessary, with a light rail exclusion for the infrequent times a heavy rail service is operating).

Pursuing this option while the rest of PRL stage 2 is build makes sense, and will provide a superior and more integrated public transport option for Olympic Park, Wentworth Point and many surrounding areas.

For your consideration.

Chris

The project included a bridge for the light rail on James ruse drive in Rosehill, though I am not sure if the plan to include a station in the area.
Camellia had previous station there, there is Rosehill race course which cater for many functions during the year with very busy pedestrian movements in those events,
It will be critical to make a station I. Rosehill or camellia as the light rail is already reaching the area.
Please consider and even a multi storey car park to take the cars off the road and use the station.

Parramatta LR Stage 2 should have a direct link to the Olympic Park ferry wharf to truly serve as a direct link to its namesake suburb

I strongly support the delivery of this long-promised infrastructure.

This submission raises issues (objections) to (1) the community consultation strategy and (2) proposed slow/lengthy period of construction.

Nowhere in the ‘Virtual Room’, Frequently Asked Questions, Project Overview, or Precinct Fact Sheets is the length of construction period or proposed operation date provided. Community members must dive very deep into the EIS (info not included in Executive Summary) via an external website to find reference to the proposed commencement date. This is very relevant information to submission authors and potential submission authors to consider as it is relevant to the length of time construction impacts will be imposed on the community and when social/environmental/commercial benefits of the project will be received.

The proposed start dates of operations should be more clearly stated in the consultation resources to allow people to fairly consider the proposal, its impacts and its benefits and for the project team and consent authority to gain more valuable feedback in submissions.

Section 7.1.2 of the EIS states that the estimated first passenger services are proposed to start from 2030/2031. However, Figure 7.1 suggests that testing and commissioning of the Stage 2 service will run until mid 2031/2032, so passenger services would not commence until 2032/2033. The EIS should clarify the proposed start date of operations and state it in the Executive Summary.

Eight – eleven years (unclear in the EIS and consultation documentation) is a very long time to construction Stage 2 and commence operations. Especially as it has been promised to the community since the inception of the Parramatta Light Rail. Construction should be expedited to reduce the period which construction impacts will be suffered by the community and to provide this long overdue service to the community much sooner than proposed.

This is my second submission. It raises additional issues but is entirely consistent with the position of my first submission.

please find my submission attached. thanks