Ultimo Pyrmont Public School

Whilst I appreciate there is a lack of childcare/preschool facilities in the area, I don't think that a childcare/preschool should be on the Ultimo Public School site. The space is already small enough as it is, and this will particularly be the case when the school is at capacity. I don't think that any of the precious space should be taken away from the children of Ultimo Public School. I'd prefer that this space either be used as an additional outdoor area in which children can run around or as an additional hall space.

Also, I'd like to retain as many mature trees as possible on the site. These trees provide natural beauty and shade.

Whilst I appreciate natural ventilation/air flow, I suspect that air conditioning will also be required throughout the school.

1. The proposal misses an opportunity to use the area overhanging the footbridge. Although a cantilevered structure over this area may increase the cost of the project, the usable space it would yield is very likely more valuable than the incremental cost.

2. While in theory the lack of Air Conditioning may make good environmental sense (vis a vis reduced electricity costs) - there is much evidence that poor air quality is a major contributor to absenteeism and poor learning outcomes. Moreover, bacteria, viruses, and allergens that contribute to childhood disease are commonly found in schools with poor ventilation systems.

3. The proposed design means that the basketball court can only be accessed via the main areas of the school. This may pose a security risk when the space is used by the general public.

4. The proposed design has many circulation pinch points that will likely lead to crowding at these points.

* I am concerned that the `play' areas are hard surface and appear to be movement corridors that being wide are presented as a play area. Hard surfaces will mean that children will not be able to run around as injuries will result if they fall.
* I am concerned that a preschool is being built on what is an extremely small site, that already does NOT have room for the current number of students. How can less land area in the new school format accomodate more students?
* I am concerned with the lack of air conditioning. The school is on an extremely busy main road, Wattle Street, and even if there are no windows on the Wattle St side, the exhaust waste that students and teachers breath in will be harmful. I have live in the apartment next to the school, on Jones Street, and every day there was a layer of black fine particle material covering all surfaces. Is the Department of Education and Communities or the State Government going to pay compensation for the lung diseases eg. Lung cancer, that may occur due to breathing in the fine particle matter from Wattle Street.
* I am concerned about there being only 3 car parking spaces, 2 disabled and 1 day park. Often teachers are bringing to school large items, such as wood for a building project or a large art display (think size of a door) and this obviously will no longer happen if one has to use public transport. Also, asking staff to stay late on nights such as the Art Show will not be a reasonable ask as depending on how far away a person lives and the lousy public transportation NSW State Government supplies, the arrival time home will be ridiculous.
* The design on the surface looks good, but any level of unpacking it shows that it has been designed by people with do not deal with the daily requirements/restrictions that staff, students and parents face daily. This was an opportunity to make a state of the art school that was not hampered by statements such as, `but no other school has...'.

Library - Is it possible to have a self service borrowing system similar to the ones found in public libraries? Also, is it possible to have a two tiered library to avoid all the excessive noise and supervision issues. Maybe the bottom level could used as another space for something else.

Air conditioning - I understand that some schools that have recently been upgraded (such as Bourke Street Public School) are currently spending money to retrofit their newly built buildings with air conditioning. New school buildings are being built without air-conditioning (such as Belleview Hill) and visitors (such as some of our staff members) are complaining about the heat they experienced. Is it fair to have students working in such conditions? Please reconsider the inclusion of air conditioning.

Car Park - Ultimo Public School will have no car park, yet the professionals that currently use it include itinerant hearing specialists, dental van, reading recovery specialist attending weekly meetings, Got Games Sports instructors with equipment trailers, Japanese School staff, Thai Kwon Do instructor, visiting executives from the department, day-to-day and last minute casuals, visiting presenters, etc. Please consider the inclusion of at least fifteen car spaces, which is what currently exists.

I live in the residential apartment building adjacent to the proposed redevelopment. Whilst I appreciate the benefit to the community in having a large primary school, the government needs to consider the impact that the new school will have on surrounding residents. The current school only has 300 students and our streets already have trouble coping with the cars/parking in the morning and afternoon. Also, there is literally no public transport that stops close to the school. There are a couple of buses that stop on Harris Street and they are not sufficient. The alternative is to walk to Glebe/Broadway.

By far the most concerning part of the proposed development in my view is the rooftop sports court with full sized basketball court. I lived on Bulwara road (near the Community Centre which has a similar rooftop basketball/soccer court) and I can attest to how loud a rooftop sports court can be. Residents on Bulwara road complain all the time about noise from the Community centre.

The location of the new school will allow the noise from the basketball/sports court to echo throughout our whole apartment complex and create significant noise and interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of residents. Our apartment complex is surprisingly quiet and it is unreasonable for this to change. I sincerely ask that you take this noise pollution into consideration when looking at the proposal. If the proposal goes ahead, I ask that council restricts the pubic from using the rooftop court on the weekend and weekday evenings. The weekend and weekday evenings are times that most residents are at home and will be significantly affected by the noise. Please do not let this go ahead.

The on-roof sport field for the new Ultimo school will significantly increase noice level around the acacia residential building so I suggest this roof top sport facility not to be built.

1. inconvenience and disruption of peaceful enjoyment during the extensive excavation, bulk earthworks and building works for a period of 2 years (including noise and dust etc) which will affect all owners;

2. some apartments will have their views significantly affected by the new school (noting that the school will be up to 5 storeys tall on the Wattle Street side);

3. the noise from the rooftop sports court which includes an open full-size basketball court on levels 3 and 4. This basketball court will be adjacent to Tower 1 of Acacia Garden; and

4. a significant increase in demand for car parking in the area.

5. There is concern that noise will echo throughout the whole of the Acacia Gardens complex.

1. inconvenience and disruption of peaceful enjoyment during the extensive
excavation, bulk earthworks and building works for a period of 2 years
(including noise and dust etc) which will affect all owners;
2. some apartments will have their views significantly affected by the new
school (noting that the school will be up to 5 storeys tall on the Wattle
Street side);
3. the noise from the rooftop sports court which includes an open full-size
basketball court on levels 3 and 4. This basketball court will be adjacent
to Tower 1 of Acacia Garden; and
4. a significant increase in demand for car parking in the area.

My Objection: I object the planned full-size open basketball sports court to be opened to the public on weekends (Sat and Sun) as proposed.
The Reason Of Objection:
1. The new school building is generally set back about 2.5m from Acacia Garden (the narrowest separation is only about 30cm off the common boundary) as per stated in DA. We understand the general students' activities in the school during school days. But opening this full size sports court to public over the weekends will create huge noise and greatly interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of Acacia Garden's residents due to the natural of it opening roof design and strength of playing sports, especially to all residents living just next to the school. Furthermore the noise will echo throughout the whole of the Acacia Garden's complex(There are total 334 apartments in Acacia Garden)
2. The Ultimo Community Centre on the corner of Bulwara Rd and William Henry Street has a rooftop sports court which has caused significant noise pollution to all residents of Bulwara Rd and Harris St. It is an existing example of how bad it affects residents around.
3. It will cause significant increase in demand for car parking in the area which will unavoidably bring more gas pollution to all residents in Acacia Garden.

We would like to lodge an objection to the proposed redevelopment.

The proposed rooftop sports court will create significant noise 7 days a week from 8am to 6pm, severely interfering the lives of nearby residents.

I feel this development of Ultimo School is an overdevelopment of the site. It will impact adversely on surrounding residents and commuters. The street frontage is too small to accomodate the amount of traffic that will visit, park and drop off at the school which will impede the flow of Wattle, Jones and Harris Streets. Wattle and Harris Streets are major thoughfares to and from the city and the Harbour Bridge. The parking available on surrounding streets is being reduced which restricts the amenity of local residents and their visitors.
The height of the buildings will impede the residents of adjacent residential buildings, blocking views and light. The development comes very close to residential buildings the narrowest separation is only 30cm off the common boundary.
The rooftop playgrounds will affect the quality of life of close residents because of the noise seven days a week as the school will be used after school hours and on weekends by other groups.
The development will also affect the value of close residential buildings as their amenity will be reduced.
The school will use the local park on Wattle Street as they do now but in larger numbers thus affecting local residents use of it and will increase noise and pedestrian traffic on Wattle Street.
This development would be better placed elsewhere on a bigger site that could have more playground and green spaces for the children and in a less busy part of the city for the safety of the children.

My Objection: I object the planned full-size open basketball sports court to be opened to the public on weekends (Sat and Sun) as proposed.

The Reason Of Objection:
1. There is one rooftop sports court at Ultimo Community Centre. It has caused significant noise pollution to all residents of Bulwara Rd and Harris St. It is an existing example of how bad it affects residents around.

2. The new school building is generally set back about 2.5m from Acacia Garden (the narrowest separation is only about 30cm off the common boundary) as per stated in DA. Opening this full size sports court to public over the weekends will create huge noise and greatly interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of Acacia Garden's residents due to the natural of it opening roof design and strength of playing sports, especially to all residents living just next to the school. Furthermore the noise will echo throughout the whole of the Acacia Garden's complex(There are total 334 apartments in Acacia Garden.)

3. It will cause huge increase in demand for car parking in the area which will unavoidably bring more gas pollution to all residents in Acacia Garden.

I wish to express my concern regarding the lack of free-range playing area in the proposal.
Whilst I fully understand the constraints of an inner city school, I feel that the government lacks a strong conviction towards inner city children growing up in apartments. These children already have very little opportunity to run and stretch their legs apart from a heavily used, populated park. Research has proven time and time again how a healthy amount of playground area reduces child stress, encourages healthier social relationships and generally contributed to a well-developed child.

I'm concerned about no air conditioning
I'm concerned where the cool air for the passive ventilation system is coming from without the dust of the city.
My courtyard is very dusty with the inner city building & activities of external factors not to mention the 2.5km dust is said to travel from original sources quoted by NSW Westconnex Project.
There seems to be no spaces for the 'Arts' music room, art room, sports areas, drama room.
The hall is too small for population. The shape is wrong. I'm concerned about the balconies & children falling.
It looks otherwise quite striking but am strongly concerned about the above subjects

I am concerned that air conditioning won't be built into the new which is an issue. As a graduated high school student I endured six years of schooling without air conditioning only old, poorly maintained ceiling fans that circulated hot air instead of providing relief and comfort to the students and teachers.

Classroom's without air conditioning cause learning disruptions such as fatigue, lack of cognitive thinking and on multiple occasions we were instructed to lie on the floor which ultimately disrupted our learning and stunted our education. Due to the turbulent learning environment, strong body odour, profuse sweating ,drowsiness and exasperation was caused by hot classrooms which air conditioning can easily relieve.

From personal experience, air conditioning must be provided in classrooms especially during the summer as Australia is renowned for its temperature severity. Pupils should be provided with a safe and comfortable environment for learning and the implementation of air condition assists with their education.

Essentially, I strongly believe that schools must have built in air conditioning in the classrooms. Through my personal experience and suffering I do not wish this treatment amongst any student or teacher.

I am concerned that the new school will not have adequate provision for staff parking in an area that only offers metered parking. Casual staff and visitors such as performers for events organised at the school will be also disadvantaged.
My other concern is that unlike the current school and the proposed temporary school it appears that air conditioning is not in the plans. In a hot urban area surrounded by busy roads with high level dust and lead particles this seems incredibly short sighted and could potentially be unhealthy for students and staff alike.

To whom it may concern,
I recently found out that the new UPS will not have air conditioning. It is very difficult to learn and teach when the classroom is HOT. The children will be distracted and the teachers will have an even more difficult job on their hands. Pollen, dirt and smoke will fill the classroom and the children, who have allergies, will suffer. Children who have asthma will suffer the worst. This is not acceptable!! I don't see how a brand new school will not provide a basic necessity, especially this day in age in Australia. Our students, teachers and staff deserve better than this. I am also disgruntled about the fact that there won't be an art or music room too! This is very unfortunate and I hope that it is not too late to be included in the plans. Children deserve and need a separate space to explore and expand their creativity. I love UPS and I only want the best for this community that I consider my 2nd family. Again, please reconsider having air conditioning, a basic need, in our school.
Thank You!

-Increase noise pollution around the residential zone, affect the peaceful enjoyment of the residents.
-Affect the safe environment around the residential zone since the traffic will be increased and parking area will be in high demand.
-Opening the rooftop sports court to the public on the weekend will create significant noise and will interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of the residents.
-The height of the new building will affect the views of the neighbourhoods.

I think it is a grossly negligent decision to consciously decide not to have air conditioning in the new 'state of the art' school. At every turn, the DoEd has shown that it cares more about penny-pinching than it does the welfare of the children of Ultimo/Pyrmont. For this school to be labelled "a blueprint for the NSW Department of Education's vision for the schools of the future" should be embarrassing for not including such a necessity as air conditioning. The negligence to think that cramming 500 MORE children into the same lot that currently can't handle 350 without concern for the fact that tighter spacing will need cooling is poor at best.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, allow common sense to prevail and install air conditioning in the new school.

I am extremely concerned about the fact there is no air conditioning in a brand new school. This is unacceptable. With the increase in climate change and the heat we experience in Sydney no air conditioning will have children very uncomfortable and unable to focus. This is not acceptable.

I am also concerned about the balconies they do not look safe at all and look like children could easily fall.

The halls are too small also.