UPA Wahroonga Seniors Housing

Dear Tia
Please find attached the Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment Inc (FOKE)
Yours faithfully
Kathryn Cowley
PRESIDENT

Dear Sir
I object to the UPA development on the following grounds:
1) scale is too big, at least one too many tall buildings; buildings too high overshadowing neighbouring RFBs; buildings too close to neighbouring RFBs; building height negatively impacting streetscape
2) construction traffic plan using Munderah St & Ada Ave is simply unworkable
3) Ada Ave/Pacific Hwy intersection is blocked at peak times with 300 metres of queued residential and school traffic in Ada Avenue passing through this intersection (see photos attached); even at off-peak times (eg school extra curricular activities) traffic flow is limited; several speed humps and traffic calming road narrowing near the intersection exacerbate the problem; this intersection cannot cope with the addition of large vehicle construction traffic particularly trying to turn right
4) likewise the Munderah St/Pacific Hwy intersection is very inadequately designed to cope with both incoming and particularly outgoing construction traffic; incoming traffic swinging into Munderah St from the Pacific Hwy has to contend with the entrance to the Lexington strata complex only about 25 metres from the Pacific Hwy; outgoing traffic from Munderah St turning left into the Pacific Hwy has poor visibility of approaching traffic to the south (only 20 metres for kerbside lane) (see schematic attached)
5) width of local streets with cars parked either side is inadequate for trucks passing trucks or passing residential vehicles; hazardous to local traffic & pedestrians; accidents are inevitable; "stop/slow" contractors controlling traffic in Munderah St will only add to the hazards
6) the last of the six buildings cannot be constructed from within site due to the reducing on-site space; meaning construction trucks parked, unloading, queuing in local streets
7) SEARS requirements have not been adequately assessed on multiple criteria eg environmental amenity; visual impact; traffic, transport & accessibility; noise & vibration; dust emissions; construction, operating & staging etc
8) 4 year constructing timeframe is too long for anyone to having to tolerate living next to; for 4 years putting up with destroyed amenity, noise, dust etc
9) major inconsistencies between project docs; eg construction hours sought; suggests project planning is haphazard and poorly thought through
10) solar impact on 10 Ada Ave has not been properly assessed but it is evident that there will be an unacceptable loss of solar access between 9am and 11am; similarly the loss of solar access for 1-3 Munderah Street will be from 97% to 81% and also totally unacceptable
10) there is no guarantee that original seniors housing purpose allowing bonus height (3.9m) will not be changed to normal (strata) residential once built

Project planning needs to restart with an open page and:
1) a permanent slip lane to site allowed at 1610 Pacific Hwy especially for construction traffic but also on-going; this is a much safer option eliminating construction traffic from local streets unsuited to construction traffic use; no significant interruption to Pacific Highway traffic flow entering slip lane; traffic exiting site will be held by traffic controllers until there is a natural break in Pacific Hwy traffic flow
2) build 5 & 6 first to allow residents in neighbouring buildings to the west in RTBs some respite after what will be at least 2 years of construction
3) maximum building height limited to 5 storeys to remove overshadowing (solar impact) issues; match existing streetscape
4) delete building 4 at least as a 5 storey building; replace with a 2 storey building over the planned basement parking perhaps; build this building last
5) all construction trucks and tradies vehicles to be accommodated within site; no street parking allowed for either
6) address lack of water retention from existing & continuing buildings (cnr Ada Ave & Pacific Hwy) causing dangerous high volume water flow down UPA's Ada Ave entrance, and causing footpath erosion in front of neighbouring property
7) remove/relocate cover grates from UPA's Ada Ave driveway causing noise nuisance to neighbours at all hours
8) install at UPA expense 2.5m high sound barrier fence along UPA's Ada Ave driveway boundary to reduce all hours noise nuisance to neighbours; maintain in perpetuity at UPA's cost
9) have proper asbestos testing sitewide & removal
10) have proper measures to minimise dust emission, particularly of silica dust
11) have adequate on-site residential and staff parking allowing for extra cars over shift change times; no street parking to be allowed
12) no loss of residential street parking
13) larger "evacuation" area in event of fire or other emergency to copy with immobile elder residents or wheelchair bound
14) provide better emergency vehicle assess to site and better allow through local streets to other residences

In summary, the UPA application is inadequate to give a true picture of the proposed development. However it is clear that the residents of RFBs at 8-10 Ada Avenue, 7 Munderah Street and 1-3 Munderah Street will suffer a significant loss of amenity. The consent authority under sections of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 is required to consider the environmental impacts, the public interest, and all submissions made in accordance with the Act.

I ask that the UPA application in its current form be rejected, and the applicant instructed, if he so wishes, to resubmit a scaled-back version which can meet acceptance by the local community.

Robert Matheson

The UPA project creates a serious safety issue for local residents and the safety or 1500 Abbotsleigh students and over 500 staff.
The current traffic management plan directs construction traffic into the major traffic access points for Abbotsleigh staff and students.
Further, the trades arriving at 630am m will occupy all street parking and leave no parking for students and staff, further adding to traffic chaos every morning and afternoon.
The narrowness of Mundarah Ave already creates serious issues in the morning and evenings often resulting in car mirrors being swiped. There is already difficulty with 2 cars parking in the street. It will only get worse with the addition of truck usage.
Further, the proposed use of a stop-go traffic control system will reduce Mundarah Ave to a single lane and have traffic banked up on the pacific highway and ada ave.
The result will be a serious traffic gridlock around the pacific highway, Mundarah Ave and Ada Ave. This in turn will create a south bound Pacific highway, morning peak hour delay, due to the increased use of Ada Ave pacific highway intersection and cars being to que across the intersection and having to make illegal turns from Ada to the pacific highway.
The only safe alternative is to create all site access from the Pacific highway with deceleration and acceleration lanes and restrict UPA site entry to this option.

Traffic problems in the longer-term are also inevitable as the UPA precinct parking is already overutilized and the current plans TOTALLY UNDERPROVIDE for UPA residential and staff parking.
Based on the current residential facilities in the area, especially downsizers to affluent apartments such as the ones currently proposed by UPA, the average car usage is 2 cars per household. This is way more than the current parking provided in the UPA plans. The current staff parking plans are also seriously underestimated.
Unless the onsite car parking provisions for UPA residents and staff is increased there will be massive increases in the required street parking and further congestion issues for the precinct.

I work in this area and believe that the proposed truck route will have a significant, negative impact on traffic flow. I am also concerned about the safety of my students who need to travel along these streets by foot.

Dear Sir, I need to object to this project on several grounds, mainly the enormity now of this enlarged UPA project with its protracted timeframe with social and environmental impact on its neighbours and own existing UPA residents, and the proposed construction traffic flow. There appears to be a lack of information regarding potential asbestos in building demolition and storm water drainage, including fixing the existing runoff problem in the UPA driveway affecting Ada Avenue footpath. As neighbours, we are worried about the height of the buildings 4,5 and 6. From our apartment, this visually will be unpleasant when we chose to live here with a N-E aspect in leafy Wahroonga. However, the overshadowing and lack of sun is of great concern. There does not seem to have been adequately assessed the effect of noise, vibration and dust emissions on the surrounding residences. There are inconsistencies in the information regarding construction hours and the huge number of trees to be removed. What will happen to our lovely huge gum tree in our property? Will it be destroyed by damaged cutting of roots or made unstable and unsafe if branches are removed on UPA side due to the building's close proximity? As to construction noise - will there be "after hours" noisy deliveries? As to traffic problems with the route of the planned demolition and construction trucks and parking. Munderah St and Ada Ave already have a parking problem with "Lexington"2C Munderah St residents overnight parking and daily Knox school parents and overflow from Ada Ave Abbotsleigh parents. The project needs to include onsite parking for trucks and tradies [they will not car pool or walk with tools from public transport]. As to traffic flow, the proposed exit of trucks up Ada Ave is a disaster and risk to pedestrian and vehicle safety. This street is gridlocked at certain times but busy at all hours. It is used as a through road from FoxValley Rd to the Pacific Highway, where cars queue to turn left or right. Of course there are cars parked, as well as girls dropped off /picked up from Abbotsleigh School. It is no good restricting truck movement to "peak" hours. Abbotsleigh School has Ada Ave pedestrian access and the parking area for 166 cars enter and exit from Gate 1a, Ada Ave. This is used afternoons, evenings, weekends and school holidays as the Abbotsleigh venues are available for public hire. These facilities include the aquatic centre, indoor sports hall, sports field plus concert hall, assembly hall, gymnasium, gallery and residential facilities[school holidays only]. So the Ada Ave and Pacific Hwy intersection is already congested and worsened by the opposing Coonanbarra Rd and Pacific Hwy intersection, which is dangerous with 2 lanes converging to one lane for through traffic. To summarise: Project is too large and a huge impact on locality and impacting neighbours immensely and for too long. Demolition and Construction vehicles need to be off local streets for safety and congestion reasons, with entrance and exit from Pacific Hwy. Please make sure that all SEARS requirements are adequately assessed, later construction concerns properly and transparently enforced and hopefully not destroy the local resident's enjoyment of living. Thankyou for your consideration.

As an nearby resident I understand my biased towards this project somewhat and while I do not oppose the project as a whole, I do strongly object to the use of Munderah Street as the proposed entrance for trucks and Ada avenue as the proposed exit for them.

These areas are extremely highly trafficked roads already and regularly see vehicles illegally parked/stopped due to the adjacent Abbotsleigh Girls high school. This would create significant congestion along these roads whereby traffic would be blocked due to the width of the trucks having to squeeze between parked cars or stop traffic completely. I believe it would be absolutely unsafe putting trucks down these roads during daylight hours.

The much more sensible option would be for heavy vehicles to arrive and depart via an entrance on the pacific highway. It affords a good view of traffic heading the same direction when trucks are departing and is also a much less trafficked footpath when compared to those along Munderah and Ada that see not only peaks during normal school hours but early morning and into the evening due to the playing fields at the school on Ada.

Additionally the traffic plan does not take into account that the buildings to first commence construction are the ones closest to the pacific highway, so it would seem far safer and more appropriate for the entrance to be along there. It also allows trucks to safely exit the driveway accross multiple lanes if necessary at a safer angle, far safer than making the 90 degree turn heading west on Munderah street, a far narrower road.

I implore you to consider the safety considerations for those students at Abbotsleigh as well as the safety of pedestrians and those exiting/entering vehicles along the often already packed stretches of Munderah Street and Ada Avenue that would be seriously impacted by heavy vehicle traffic in daylight hours.

Yours Sincerely,
Angus Lord

This project poses significant risk to children at schools which are directly in the proposed traffic route.

Please refer to Objection Letter as attached.

THE OWNERS CORPORATION OF STRATA PLAN NO. 80729 WOULD LIKE THE ATTACHED SUBMISSIUON CONSIDERERED. THANK YOU.

THE OWNERS CORPORATION OF STRATA PLAN NO.77814 WSH TO MAKE THE ATTACHED SUBMISSION.

I object to the project for the following reasons:

1. Excessive shadow and erosion of privacy
The six to seven storey height of the development worsens overshadowing, and privacy loss for neighbours.
• Building 5 (7-storey) is built on elevated ground compared to the Ada Avenue building (5-storey). The extra ground height and extra storeys mean that building 5 will tower over its neighbours. Specifically, the plans show that building 5 is three stories higher than the Ada Avenue building.
• The shadows from building 5 will be quite extensive. I believe the EIS shadow diagrams has not considered the different ground heights between the adjacent properties. Hence, winter sunlight could drop below the Apartment Design Guide’s 2-hour minimum for adjacent properties.
• Furthermore, the elevated units also overlook private yards, eroding the area’s residential peace. The EIS claims minimal impact, but I argue the apartments on the elevated levels are “unacceptable” under Section 4.15 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979—local loss outweighs extra apartments.

2. Infrastructure strain
The development does not have enough visitor parking bays for family and friends to visit. Hence, the development will increase parking pressure on Ada Avenue, Munderah Street and Wahroonga Village, which is already congested near the station. Ku-ring-gai Council’s parking woes are well-documented, and these high-density apartments amplify the problem.

3. Accessibility Issue
The site’s 400-500 meter walk to Wahroonga Station from the development site exceeds the Seniors Housing SEPP’s 400-meter “reasonable distance” for many seniors, especially with slopes and limited footpath upgrades. This is made even worse by the extremely busy six-lane Pacific Highway that separates the development site and Wahroonga train station. Given the slow walking pace of elderly people, the high-density development will increase the risk of them being injured or killed by heavy traffic when they are trying to access Wahroonga train station.

I am 84, I have fragile, complicated and unstable health. 2 and a half years ago I moved from my long term home to Munderah St. One of the attractions to me of my downsized home is the sun which comes through the windows and warms and comforts me beautifully. I am afraid that the proposed tall buildings adjacent to my home will impact upon my enjoyment of this sunny aspect and create a darker and colder atmosphere in my apartment building and my home.

As I am mostly housebound I require many medical professionals to visit me at home to monitor and assist with my health. I currently have a pathology collection and a GP home visit every fortnight. These medical professionals carry equipment from their car to my home. Currently they have difficulty parking on Munderah Street and Ada Ave. I am deeply concerned that because UPA is not intending to provide “onsite” parking for their tradesmen, that tradesmen will take up any available street parking from prior to their 7 am start time, 6 days a week for 4 years. The DA suggests a finish time of 5 pm Mon to Fri and 3 pm on Saturdays. I am fearful that there will not be any street parking available for any medical professionals to visit me at my home or other residents, for the majority of the day for 6 days a week for 4 years.
I believe UPA have an obligation to provide safe on site parking for all the workers on their site, so as not to impact upon already very limited street parking to achieve their proposed build.

Being housebound I am deeply concerned about the constant noise and dust of the demolition and construction, the incessant vibrations caused by the up to 15 metre basement(s) car park dig out, the fumes associated with the many trucks required and while possibly idling on site and the probable asbestos contamination of the air from the removal old building, plumbing and electrical equipment. I request that all possible controls are applied to this DA so as to minimise these detrimental impacts on adjacent residents to the UPA build, especially given the probable impacts to our quality of life over a very long period of time. Please make the proposed DA accountable for its choices to impact its neighbours.

Given the proximity of a school to the UPA site it is highly inappropriate that trucks should be using Munderah Street and Ada Avenue. There are hundreds of students plus staff at the school. Ada Avenue is already highly congested in both the morning and afternoon. It is dangerous to have trucks moving where there are so many students.
It would make more sense for trucks to enter and exit the site from the Highway.

Please see attached letter outlining community concerns regarding the impact of construction of the Wahroonga Seniors Housing Development on local traffic

See attached for comments

I am keen for seniors housing to be improved in the area. I am concerned about truck access during construction via Munderah St and Ada Ave.
The traffic is already nightmarish at peak times, without large trucks being added in to the mix.
Please require the developers to make a large vehicular entry/exit on the Pacific Hwy, and reduce the risk to pedestrians on the side streets.
Thank you.

Abbotsleigh School is a neighbour of the UPA site. Our Senior School campus extends east to Ada Avenue.

While we are supportive of the proposed development to provide additional housing for seniors on the site, we have significant concerns about the proposed truck route to and from site during construction and the resulting impact on congestion and pedestrian and student safety. In particular, congestion on the section on Ada Avenue between Munderah St and Pacific Highway.

We provide comments on potential solutions to this problem which will need to be addressed.

I object to the proposed truck route exiting the constructionsite due to public safety concerns and the high probability of worsened traffic and parking in Ada Avenue, Munderah Street and the Pacific Highway end of Coonanbarra Road Wahroonga. The
DA appears to have no parking set aside on-site for construction workers. As the construction vehicles will use the proposed site exit route for 6 -7 days per week and the construction is expected to last 4 years, the proposed route is impractical and will be very problematic for students, staff and visitors to Abbotsleigh Senior school as well as Wahroonga residents and other members of the public who travel along Ada Ave to access Wahroonga Village and Pacific Highway. It does not make sense to allow trucks to travel in an area which is the main access point to a school with over 900 students and many hundreds of staff as well as the Abbotsleigh Aquatic Centre utilised by hundreds of children and adults for lessons and training. On Saturdays there are many visitors to the school due to competition sport being played at the school. The Abbotsleigh school site is busy 6 days per week.

There are significant public safety concerns with trucks using the proposed site exit route from Munderah St to Ada Ave and left and right onto Pacific Highway. The intersection of Pacific Highway, Ada Ave and Coonanbarra Rd is a major intersection with traffic lights. With trucks turning onto Pacific Highway from Ada Ave very few cars will get across the highway or be able to turn onto the highway especially at peak times. There are likely to be accidents occur at this major intersection. It is also very dangerous for the adults and children who cross the Pacific Highway at the point where the trucks turn right onto the highway from Ada Ave. Many school students from schools cross over at the Pacific Highway near the Shell Petrol Station.

The project needs to utilise a safer and more suitable exit route for trucks which does not inconvenience Abbotsleigh students, carers and parents, staff and visitors to Abbotsleigh, local residents and the general public and the project needs provide onsite parking for construction workers so as to not worsen the already problematic situation of parking in Ada Ave and Munderah Rd.

There is a critical need for slip lanes to be included as part of the development to prevent incoming and outgoing trucks from the project from blocking access to and parking on Munderah Street. Currently, traffic congestion occurs with Abbotsleigh traffic flows along Ada Avenue to the highway and into Muderah Street. These slip lanes will also be needed to accommodate increased traffic once the development is operational.

Objections raised by residents of 1-3 Munderah Street, Wahroonga 2076 are summarised in the attached document.