I have a son attending the Local Boys School, Balgowlah Boys, along with 1200 other boys. The school has made incredible steps forward in recent years, and is at the top of the tables for English in NSW. It is a highly sought after school in the area. I've learnt that the tunnel works will be in such close vicinity to this school, it's hard to believe that this has not been taken into deep consideration. The Impact on the boys learning, concentration, their environment, their health, both physical and mental, their general wellbeing, as well as their safety in the vicinity, the noise they will have to endure, the vibration, and the loss of open spaces for sport, not to mention the impact on the rest of the school staff, and teachers, is immeasurable.

As a parent to two small children (one of which is attending public school right next to where there will be an unfiltered stack), I have grave concerns for the health of my family and the devastation to the local area with the destruction of flat rock reserve. Let alone the amount of time it will take to rectify the damage, the health concerns with digging up an old tip is quite scary.
The new tunnel will also increase traffic (car usage) into the city which will result in more pollution.
If the tunnel is to go ahead then 1. public transport (a rail line) should be seriously considered to reduce traffic (we don’t need more cars on the road and public transport to/from the Northern beaches to dismal); 2. all stacks should be filtered (the concentrated fumes that will otherwise be discharged should not be allowed. The long term health implications could be disastrous); and a full study into the safety and impact on local wildlife from digging up flat rock reserve, as well as how and when the local areas will be restored. Many of us have chosen to live in this area due to great public transport (which should be afforded to Northern beaches residents) and the beautiful bushland. Please don’t take this away from us!

to whom it may concern.
I object to the proposed project on the following grounds.
!) Adverse, cumulative impacts on biodiversity across the project and in particular in the waterways, and in the FlatRock catchment area. The Impact statement prepared by the Project acknowledges impacts during construction, however I am particularly concerned about the longer term degradation and incursion into the catchment of post-construction infrastructure.

2) Aboriginal heritage. Local history document cites the FlatRock area as oe of the last known settlement areas by Aboriginal people on the north shore. The construction impacts on Aboriginal sites are irreversible, further erasing pre-colonial settlement history of the region.

3) Adverse Health impacts during the construction period of noise and air pollution. More concerning is the cumulative impact of unfiltered air pushed into the atmosphere from the proposed stacks, many adjacent to local schools.

Adding to my objections:

We need proper street / noise abatement along flat rock drive / Brooke the road is steep and truck noise would be amplified with the revving of accelerators

Limit ALL truck movement to 7am-6pm .. not just soiled filled trucks. We have a right to enjoy our homes, and not have our lives disrupted with 24/7 noise pollution.

Implement safe road crossings for children across streets impacted including 40km speed limits. This is a priority as crossing flat Rock is already dangerous. Install cameras to monitor speeds.

We already find it near impossible to turn out of Grafton Ave into Brook during peak times. We need lights installed or something to allow us to be able to leave our street without waiting 10+mins to do so ... which at times is already the case. With increased traffic this will only get worse.

Ensure trucks DO NOT use air breaks up and down flat rock / Brook Street

Implement bus stops with bus lanes into the city on Brook street .. this will reduce the traffic on the roads and many people drive into Cammeray or Crows Nest to commute

Development plans for Flat Rock regeneration.. what are the plans??

Thank you.

Tanya

The North Harbour Community Group objects to the Beaches Link Tunnel Project as proposed in the EIS.

I wish to lodge my objections to the beaches link tunnel based on the following points:

1. EIS is not current and much of it was written before covid therefore the facts and data it contains are irrelevant to current situation eg with respect to travel time data, post covid - there is much less dependency on peak hour travel. many more people are working from home and will continue to do so as workplaces have become more flexible. thus a new, up to date post-covid EIS needs to be written and re submitted for community consultation.

2. the 'beaches tunnel' has been declared "worlds best practice', however, this is untrue, as 'world's best practice' would include filtration of the tunnel ventilation/emission stacks. as plainly stated in the eis, these will NOT be filtered, therefore this plan for beaches tunnel is NOT worlds best practice, therefore, until it can be deemed, "worlds best practice', it should NOT go ahead.

3. The original document signed by Mike Baird when he was premier clearly stated that in finding a solution to traffic congestion along military rd and this corridor that public transport options NOT be considered. This is a blatant abuse of the investigative process and thus excluded from the start, any real objective research into the best solution for the traffic congestion problems identified. thus, the basis of the project is biased and non-scientific and illogical from the start. therefore, the project needs to stop until a full investigation into public transport options, especially rail from dee why-chatswood can be evaluated and compared to the proposed $15,000,000,000 stretch of road /tunnel that is the .beaches link. also, there has been some mention that Mike Baird was prompted to exclude public transport option from this project plan because large transport companies like Transurban were major political party donors.

4. At $15,000,000,000 this project is unjustifiably expensive for the 16 km stretch of road/ tunnel that saves supposed 10 minutes travel time and thus must be analysed further as to cost-benefit. However, since the travel data contained within the EIS is out of date by up to 5 years, this is not possible, and thus such expenditure can not be justified.

5. This project is unethical as it uses public money to make a private Toll road and as such is not for the benefit of the wider community. The tolls will be too expensive for most and this will encourage rat-racing and more traffic on local roads. thus the road/tunnel will never achieve its aim of reducing traffic.

6. Due to the phenomenon of 'traffic demand' , whereby in the absence of viable public transport options, such a project will only increase car travel and thus any short term reduction in traffic congestion along military rd and similarly congested roads will soon be reversed. thus, this project is ill conceived, short sighted, un ethical and nonsensical

7. This project actually encourages car travel and further tolling in sydney. major cities around the world have all shown the negative effects of car congestion in their cbds yet this project aims to increase car travel into sydney's cbd. this is irresponsible planning and not in sydney's long term interests.

8. Non-filtered emission stacks will spew forth the products from the 15 km tunnel over the suburbs of Seaforth, Balgowlah, Manly Vale, Fairlight and Balgowlah Heights where there is a high concentration of preschool, primary and secondary schools. this is unacceptable since the increased car and diesel truck exhaust fumes contain several extremely toxic substances including tiny particles that are hazardous for human respiratory and circulatory health. this effect is heightened in the bodies of young children, thus it is unacceptable that the tunnel emission stacks be not-filtered and located in such close proximity to the community.

9. The loss of habitat for endangered flora and fauna in the Seaforth and Balgowlah bush land due to tree removal and disruption to natural water courses will be significant and probably never recover. We will lose valuable green space and Manly Dam will be hugely impacted.

10. Residents will be placed under significant stress and hardship due to increased noise from construction 24/7, increased traffic in local streets, parking congestion as tunnel workers will fill all streets with their cars. In Seaforth Judith and Kirkwood streets are already congested with overflow from weekend soccer, cricket, football, bowls and boats trailers and caravan as well as residents cars. We have to endure 7 plus years of this for no gain only loss of amenity.

11. The proposed storage of chemicals etc behind houses on Kirkwood Street is unacceptable as we are in a fire zone so a more suitable location should be found as this is dangerous so close to houses.

12. The government has recently declared am 'open space' initiative/policy in which it seeks to protect precious open green spaces. this project is not in alignment with this policy as this project will result in destruction of these green spaces.

13. The plans for the tunnel are less than 50 % complete at this time, therefore the EIS can not provide a comprehensive impact study, therefore the EIS must be re-done and submitted for further consultation.

14. The prime objective of population growth via immigration must now be re-assessed given that we are now living with the ongoing threat of covid. therefore, the projected need for the tunnel is lessened and thus the business case weakened in current covid - times. the EIS makes no mention of current work travel time changes due to covid and is thus out-of-date and irrelevant on many counts.

In conclusion I object to this 'beaches Tunnel' project going ahead on several counts, namely the EIS is out of date, the business case doesn't hold up, the primary objective for the tunnel is biased away from public transport options and the project is too expensive and environmentally damaging to Sydney's precious natural habitat and waterways.

I recommend a complete review of the original process in which ALL options are considered and compared to find the best way to approach perceived traffic congestion. An investigation into the original conception of the idea from Mike baird's time as premier and any undue bias towards road/tunnel projects over more viable public transport options should be undertaken. This project is negligent and irresponsible. This project does not have the best interests of the general public in mind and is narrow minded and its focus too short term to have any lasting positive impact.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed sporting facilities at the Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection.

AFL NSW/ACT is fully supportive of the AFL opportunities that will stem from the northern entry into the Beaches Tunnel Link.

Over the past five years, Australian Rules Football (AFL) has experienced double-digit growth in community club players; double the rate of any other state and territory in Australia.

Following the introduction of the elite AFL Women’s Competition in 2017, female football continues to flourish with 223% growth (from 2016-19), making NSW second only to Victoria in terms of female Club participation nationally and AFL Sydney is now the largest community football competition in Australia.

Attached is a detailed submission (SE-15356352) from the Balgowlah Suns Junior AFL Club. The club have addressed two fundamental aspects of the proposal very well.

1. Staging – we support the club’s suggestions of mitigating the playing/training impact on the club during site preparation, construction and site remediation upon completion.

2. Final layout – we support the partnership with field hockey and cricket and endorse ‘Final Configurations A and B’ in the attached Balgowlah Suns submission. Given the ongoing growth of Australian football on the Northern Beaches, a two oval configuration is critical. AFL’s preference is ‘Final Configuration B’ (as accompanied). We fully realise that if staging to minimise disruption for the Balgowlah Suns suggests configuration A is best (leaving them in the south/east corner throughout) then it also has the AFL’s support.

Australian football is very healthy in the Northern Beaches but constrained by current facilities.

We fully support the project, and upcoming consultation process, requesting that we be consulted during the process about to be jointly led by Transport for NSW and Northern Beaches Council. We also request to be included as a member of the Community Reference Group.