I totally object to in incongruous proposed development at Narrow Neck Road Katoomba. As a professional firefighter with over 40 years bushfire fighting experience and incident management, the site of the proposed development is totally at odds with community safety. Lives will be put at risk in the event of a fire. With climate change that risk is ever increasing. Furthermore, the world heritage values of the Blue Mountains are significantly influenced by the development that occurs and has occurred within the townships of the Blue Mountains. The aesthetic values for example may be significantly impacted by developments that protrude or intrude into the character of the natural environment and existing built environment. Large high rise developments are an example of inappropriate development impacting upon the aesthetic values, fabric and setting of the World Heritage Area and Blue Mountains Township. Once a proposal of this nature is approved there will be no restraint on future developments of this nature which will significantly degrade the character of the Blue Mountains townships and the World Heritage Area values impacting upon their fabric and setting. Conservation of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and the townships is based upon the respect for the existing fabric, use, associations and meanings. The proposed development does not respect the existing fabric, associations and meanings. People come to the Blue Mountains to live and to visit because it is meaningful as a setting within nature, away from the metropolis and dense urban areas. It has strong associations with arts communities, spiritual communities and outdoors enthusiasts because of these meanings and associations. These meanings and associations have been maintained since the earliest history of the Blue Mountains when people would come to the mountains to experience the natural world and to be inspired. I am hoping that the process for assessing State Significant Development will take this into account and not just be an excuse to bypass the local government and local community concerns in favour of development at any cost. Only appropriate development should take place in the Blue Mountains. The current proposal is far from appropriate.

My family has lived in the Blue Mountains since the 1890s and my grandfather and great-grandfather were builders up here and would have built many of the heritage sites. I'm also an avid bush walker and I've often walked down the Devil's Hole which is near the project. Like so many up here. This area is so important for its views and beauty. The views across the valley are very special to people in the Blue Mountains. We do not need this sort of development up here and I also oppose the HDA pathway in the Blue Mountains. It shouldn't override the Blue Mountains. LEP. We don't need rezoning to this degree. The project will also be impacted by bushfires as there was a major bush fire there approximately five or six years ago despite what is mentioned in the project papers. Had this project be placed somewhere on the old golf course it may be more appropriate. Although I have a great connection with the golf course too as my father was a green keeper there for many years, but of course we must move on from that and there was a great deal of land there that can be put to good use. So I suggest this project could again be submitted for inclusion in the area of the old golf course, where it maybe out of public view

1: The community has not been consulted on the large-scale urban development that this proposal requires before proceeding with housing.
2: During construction the narrowness of the road will cause considerable degradation of the proposed area. Given the large number of heavy vehicles that will use the road, the surround natural streetscape area as well as the local residential area will be negatively impacted.
3. The large of number of people the residential building is planned presupposes the development of planned safe roads and footpaths.
a) Narrowneck Road is a very narrow, bitumised, dunny-cart road, far too narrow for the amount traffic generated by such a large increase in population.
b) The community has not seen a business case for an additional art gallery, more restaurants and cafes, no mention of a supermarket. All of these businesses require safe and adequate infrastructure.

I strongly object to a development of this size in the Blue Mountains and also this area is not in Sydney
This development is declared as "A Development that will benefit the State" High Density developments in an area of the Blue Mountains adds no advantages to an area that is supposedly protected where the there are no homes over two stories. It is not in the town centre and a little isolated. I am assuming the people who are involved have spent little or no time in this area or even appreciate what they are destroying as this development will add nothing short of destroying the environment. How does this development add to housing in the Sydney area? Katoomba is a world tourist location set in a National Park Heritage Area. Narrow Neck Road is part of a scenic drive that adds to the beauty and originality of this area which includes lookouts and walking tracks. The Council and previous governments over time developed LEP programmes and strategies to try to safeguard this heritage and maintain the environment and unique character of this area. This is now being undermined by greedy governments and developers and people in government departments who do not appreciate why we need to keep this area pristine as possible for future generations and the world as a whole. A development like this adds stress to the environment which will undermine the ecological area destroying the natural fauna and flora and the entire area which is already fragile by adding stormwater, more rubbish and the added pollution being created by the need for extra power and transport.
This development is over 3 klms from the town centre and station, Sydney is 102 kms . Travel to anywhere takes time on the main road what is supposed to be "The Great Western Highway" which is just a widened bullock track and quiet often stopped in both directions or down to a crawl due to hiccups e.g. too much traffic and trucks, accidents and excessive fog and bad weather. Travelling by trains is no better. They do not run regularly and are often held by by freight trains which is a common occurrence and normally take over 2 hours to get to Central Station Sydney.
The climate in Katoomba is variable from hot to freezing, more often with cold howling winds. The development report stated that this development will not add to traffic as people will not require cars. People are not going to be always walking anywhere this report is a fallacy, in this day and age most families households have two cars, minimum do the maths?
Currently the roads in the Blue Mountains area have deteriorated over the years with Council fighting a losing battle to maintain and fix. Narrow Neck Road and surrounding roads are no better, they are narrow and more traffic will add congestion with more risks of accidents as there are times of heavy fog and low clouds which offer nil visibility and all the people who currently use them are aware of.
Other matters of concern - the Mountains is a high bush fire danger area, no area in the mountains is excluded from this. Narrow Neck Road has experienced fires in the past and with the changing climate the odds of this happening are increasing. The access roads to the Highway are limited for evacuations at the best of times without adding hundred of extra people .

There is not the suitable hospital or medical infrustructure in this area it is already stretched and the current residents have to travel down the mountains for suitable treatment or many illness and ailments.
This entire development needs to be removed or reworked to suit the standards of our Heritage Area. Nine, four story blocks of units should not be proposed anywhere in the Upper Blue Mountains, there is no advantage to the community or the environment. There are plenty of vacant buildings in the Katoomba area that could be developed to assist with housing and help the area to maintain it tourist and heritage standing if the Government wants to do the right thing. The Government has plenty of space they could development closer to Sydney and the new Western Sydney Airport where they can build highrise to allow people to be housed and with better access to current transport and work availability.
Consider looking after our heritage and environment, once it is destroyed it cannot be replaced

To whom it may concern,

Please find attached a personal submission as an objection to this development proposal.

Sincerely

Keith Muir

This proposal is in an extremely vulnerable place, with regards to bushfire protection, and therefore it risks endangering many lives on a frequent basis.

Additionally, it is in ecosystems that are vulnerable to such development.

Lastly, it doesn’t contain enough affordable housing.

We express our objection to the proposed development at this site for the following reasons:
• General impact on the neighbourhood and community,
• Environmental impact while building on land which has slope constraints,
• Exceeding height limits imposed on surrounding properties by a factor of 3 (5.5 m vs over 15 m),
• Lack of appropriateness within the state development guidelines, including:
• The proximity of the buildings will create undesirable shading.
• The imposing “block-like” nature of the buildings is urban, ignores the natural park and heritage character of the Blue
Mountains, and will change the nature of the residential area surrounding it for the worse.
• The developers ignore the impact on the surrounding area. Narrow Neck Rd already is a small road in poor condition, due to a high concentration of increased local traffic from recent developments and ever-increasing traffic from tour operator buses looping around the area. Although the presented plans superficially appear to be complying with requirements, it is not apparent how this will have a positive impact on housing availability for the state - the LGA provides sufficient housing already.
• There is a lack of appropriate infrastructure planning and traffic management in relation to bushfire and flooding - previous bushfires burned within a few hundred meters of the proposed development. Also slope constrains are not taken into account, possibly resulting in damage to adjoining properties from water run-off during heavy rainfall.
• Road access and capacity in case of emergency evacuation for the neighbourhood is not adequately accounted for. Ultimately, the development will feed into the already apparent choke points in the area putting an additional 300 plus vehicles on the same road and make evacuation and emergency access in case of a fire emergency even harder than it already is now. Without the development of sufficient infrastructure, lives will be put at risk when the next bushfire threatens this area.

The site is in very close proximity to our home on Essendene Rd and will have a significant impact on us as well as the community as a whole. We have not received any communication from the developer regarding the site development. All information we have is from the documents downloaded from the state government website.

The short community consultation framework is not sufficient for a thorough evaluation of this proposal.

Narrow Neck should be kept without a huge building as is proposed. There is a huge bushfire risk.
The style of building is not in keeping with the architectural style of Blue Mountains.
The visual impact of the proposed ugly building on the pristine area of Narrow Neck would very much have a negative impact for visitors and residents alike.

Attached is a submission with objections to the project

I am opposed to the development. As a resident of the Blue Mountains for 45 years, the proposed development at Narrow Neck will be a scar on the precious, protected landscape of the Mountains. We should be preserving the beauty of our beautiful environment. For a start, 200 residents, each with a car, will contribute significantly to the traffic and parking limits in the mountains. Has the infrastructure been developed to cater for this increase? No. As a a resident who has been here for many bushfires, the danger to those residents is significant, as well as the increased risk to other residents, especially if we have to escape quickly via one road in and out of the area. I strongly object to the proposal which will damage the Blue Mountains irreversibly if it goes ahead.