SCEGGS Darlinghurst - Modification 3

I live opposite SCEGGS and my apartment faces Forbes Street and the school. In principle I support the project, now that it has become one of adaptive use of Wilkinson House, as opposed to demolition of a historically and architecturally significant building. In fact, I am delighted by the beautiful design the Smart Design Studio has created.
However, I have a concern about the traffic:
Traffic: For years we have had problems with the sheer volume of traffic, its non-adherence to road rules and total lack of management. Every pick-up and drop- off time brings chaos and traffic jams to our street and trespassing in our drive. Direct communication with SCEGGS resulted in no improvement whatsoever. Then, for over a year we have been working with the City of Sydney who has been working with SCEGGS to plan a proper traffic management system. We are close to having something that can be trialled.
However, I am dismayed by the finding of the expert who has studied Mod 3 on behalf of the Horizon, in that there is no requirement for SCEGGS to submit a traffic management plan to manage the construction traffic that takes into account the existing traffic conditions. This makes no sense whatsoever. Such a plan would be so irrelevant as to be of no use at all.
I ask you to insist on a traffic management plan that caters to consruction traffic on top of current school traffic.

Please find attached submission

The mod 2 was a welcome update to retain Wilkinson House and encompassed a good design. Mod 3 seems to be undoing some of the agreed concepts.
1. The road safety aspect seems to be excluding any addressing of existing traffic concerns which will only be exacerbated when the development commences. I attach a response I did to the City of Sydney regarding traffic issues last year. Whilst the photos are from 2021, the drivers still behave the same. There has been no improvement to the current school traffic issues and drivers to the school continue to display very unsafe driving practices. The addition of construction vehicles will only add to the risks if the current scenario is not also addressed.
2. The construction looks to continue for at least 21 months with extensive jackhammering and excavation. The Noise impact assessment notes that there 'will be noise impact exceedance' on the Horizon building residents. This is not reasonable, particularly given the projected 21 month build time. This issue needs to addressed and much greater detail provided.

The proposed external lift tower to the Wilkinson House building will have unacceptable visual impact for the Forbes Street residents, if an eternal lift tower is essential for this building, it should be located on the western side of the building so that no part of it is visible from the Forbes Street residences.
The additional rooftop-attic "admin" level of this building should only be permissible on the basis that it replaces the need for the other new "admin" building in the Masterplan which is located on the eastern side of the 1834 Barham House building and is undesirable because it will block all future public views of Barham House from the Forbes street footpath. In the Masterplan, the eastern and northern facades of Barham House and the surrounding grounds should be restored as closely as possible to their original 1834 condition so the public views from the Forbes street can fully appreciate the original historic design and character of this building.
The New DA for the Wilkinson House building should be rejected until the Traffic Impact assessment requirements of Condition B12 are complied with including an updated assessment of all construction and operations stage traffic and parking impacts for the new building works and an updated Green Travel plan for the school site which addresses the significantly increased levels of car usage which are now occurring at the site every date due to the post-Covid travel situation in Sydney, where public transport usage is decreasing and car based travel is increasing.
A Draft Construction Traffic Management Plan must be prepared for the New Wilkinson House DA which provides detailed technically based assessment and identifies mitigation measures to reduce the likely construction stage traffic or parking impacts from the works to minimal or zero levels.
As there is effectively zero vacant on street car parking available in Forbes Street on weekdays, construction workers will only be permitted to drive to and from work or otherwise travel by car, if dedicated on-site parking can be provided by the SCEGGS School for their vehicles. Otherwise these vehicles if parked on the street in Forbes Street or other surrounding streets will have an unacceptable impact on the current availability on on street parking. Also these vehicles will cause an unacceptable noise nuisance in the locality during the early morning period before 7 am where vehicles will circulate around the street or wait with their engines running for an on street parking space to become available.
Also for noise and amenity reasons, no loading or unloading of trucks shall be permissible in Forbes Street at any time and for school traffic safety and residential noise mitigation/amenity reasons trucks shall only be permitted to load or unload at the site between the hours of 9.30 am and 2.30 pm on weekdays.

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