I am a home owner in Serpentine Crescent, North Balgowlah for almost 25years. I object to the Tunnel strenuously. It doesn’t have a light rail and has no dedicated Bus lane. It is being built to purely appeal to the Toll operators. It will cause congestion and rat runs on the roads around the Seaforth/Balgowlah area by people avoiding the prohibitive tolls.
While it is being built the workers will not have an area big enough to park their private vehicles and as such will be a total disaster for residents.
I object to the total loss of green area that is the Balgowlah Golf course. The loss of such mature trees is a total travesty for the birds and other wild life. It is natural green space which will be gone forever. I object to the reduction in water flow by 94% of the stream flowing through the deviation as stated in the EIS report. This will decimate the vegetation and wild life reliant on the water abundance.
I object to the waste water being sent to Manly Lagoon and thus polluting Queenscliff Beach with heavy metal pollutant, making water swimming and water sports harmful for swimmers and our young Nippers.
I object to the total non - filtering of the exhaust stacks. This is in an area full of kindergardens and preschools .There is also Balgowlah Boys high school and North Balgowlah public school. The toxins and pollutants that will cause bronchial problems among children and the elderly are totally irresponsible. These unfiltered stacks will rain down on the residents for the life of the tunnel causing guaranteed health problems in the future. When the government was in opposition Gladys Berejiklian said about the Lane Cove Tunnel “Members of parliament should examine their conscience and consider how they would feel if their children or loved ones were exposed to this level of fumes every day…world’s best practice is to filter tunnels”. Why is this tunnel unfiltered?
I object to the dredging up of toxic sludge during the construction of the water tunnels polluting the pristine area of middle Harbour and its environs. It is a fact that the pollution curtains do not work 100% and pollution of the Clontarf swimming area is inevitable.
I object to the further loss of some of Manly Dams area, the loss of vegetation flora and fauna due to road developments and the loss of an animal corridor for our native animals.
I summarise my objections here , 1 Local traffic gets worse.2. There is insufficient traffic to fill the toll road requirement.3.Military road problem doesn’t get solved. 4. Infrastructure NSW rates it as a low priority project. 5. The need to feed cars into Westconnex should not be the driver for this project. 6. Public transport alternatives are not compared nor is public transport substantially benefited. 7 .The modelling relies on pre Covid and outdated data. 8. The project has a very high cost and low evidenced benefit.9. The travel time saved quoted don’t add up.10. There is a questionable Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), it has not been released to the public.

My two daughters sail each week at Northbridge Sailing Club. This is an excellent opportunity opportunity for them to exercise outdoors which is something often lacking in children's modern lives.
We are concerned that the restrictions to be put in place on Middle Harbour between Clive Park and Seaforth will make sailing from Northbridge impractical to the detriment of my own children and all other cub members.
We hope that the restrictions can be modified to allow sailing to continue.

I am ver opposed to this project due to the significant impact to the native wildlife that live around the North Balgowlah and Wakehurst Parkway area. When driving on the Parkway there is already a huge amount of animals that are hit by cars and left on the side of the road, this development encroaches even further on their habitat! There should be large wildlife crossing like being implemented in the Mona vale road project to ensure our precious native wildlife is protected, even if this project is stopped. Where do you expect our wildlife to go if we continue to encroach on its habitat?
The unfiltered stacks near our homes are going to emit significant amounts of fumes right in our community.
I absolutely object to this project.

As an environmental scientist, wildlife rescuer and carer, and resident of the Northern Beaches I am opposed to this project in the current form. It is presented as a fait-accompli rather than a considered project that examines the real impacts on residents and the environment. The known and unknown damage to the environment are not worth the proposed benefits. Even the proponent modelling within the project only states limited benefit to traffic along Military Rd in the long-term. Other transport experts have described the business case as poor. All evidence from previous road building shows traffic build up gets back to previous levels within a short period of time. Economic and air quality has been pointed out in many other submissions. My focus is on the massive loss of habitat.
As usual, government sees open space as not an asset for the community and other species but only space waiting to be developed. On top of the destruction of green corridor from Oxford Falls to Manly Dam that was caused by the Frenchs Forest Hospital, this is further loss (and well may be the tipping point) to open space and health of this urban bushland. The recent pandemic should have shown us the essential role open space plays for humans, not just the survival of other species. Yet you continue to remove it despite our current situation.
As scientists are pointing out massive environmental damage and loss of wildlife, the government continues ahead with damaging projects with the same way of thinking that has lead to this damage in the first place. Despite requirements to look at environmental impact, damage is ignored or there is a pretence there are offset options. There aren’t. Offsets are currently being used as a first option to do the damage that the proponent intends. It was designed as a last option when avoidance, minimisation or mitigation had been thoroughly explored. As we remove more and more trees and open space in our cities, to the detriment of other species and our own health, offsets are no longer available.
The damage to Manly Dam environs is unacceptable both during construction and long-term loss. Over 20 hectares is proposed to be cleared. The loss of mature trees is alarming and their services cannot be replaced even in 50 years. Replanting does not bring back the species loss nor is it particularly successful with many replanting projects recording over 40% of new plantings failing. Older trees not only have better carbon sequestration rates but provide better homes and food for wildlife. The idea of removing thousands of mature trees is insanity when we know we are dealing with serious escalation in climate change. Removal of mature flowering gums should NOT be allowed at all in this area as it will severely impact the Grey Headed Flying Fox permanent camp at Balgowlah (as will the construction noise). We have only recently come through starvation events from the drought, now these projects seem incapable with using real world, real-time changes that need to be considered.
Manly Dam needs increased buffer zones, not less space, as we are already seeing damage to trees , populations of fauna and water quality. Rescuers and bush regenerators are noting decreasing health of flora and fauna. This is probably the final blow in trying to maintain the health of this patch of bushland. We were dealing with increased road kill from upgrade of Hospital, but reported hits-by-car seems to have recently reduced largely due to impact on wildlife populations in the area. RMS own figures noted that removal of wallabies through current rate of vehicle kill would outdo the natural replacement rate.
Although Council and the government say they will protect our wildlife this has been proven not to be the case. Even high profile species like the koala, are still disappearing, largely because we will not do what is needed and that is to avoid further land clearing.
The Beaches link is poorly thought-out, simplistic and damaging proposal that will cause major detrimental impact on quantity and quality of our environment. There will be pollution, physical damage and indirect damage from loss of soil integrity and water impacts (as was quite clear from the recent upgrade to Manly Vale Public School). The tunnel itself will cause subsidence (as is the case with so many other tunnels occurring now) but the loss of green space and trees has not been costed properly in any way - the economic advantage our wildlife brings, the cost to rescuers, the cost to the wildlife itself and the economic benefits that green space and trees actually contribute

I strongly object as a resident of the Balgowlah area with the construction that is undoubtedly going to impact my family's and community's quality of life through dust, loud noise, vibration and heavy vehicle traffic going through our neighbourhood day and night. The 3,000 vehicles each day over all construction sites will impact us all considerably. This construction, over 7 years, day and night, is going to take a hard toll on the residents living close by. Over 4,000 homes will be subjected to excessive noise.
I also object to the impact the tunnel construction is going to have on the environment, including the movement of contaminated sediment to Clontarf and Middle harbour, causing pollution on the neighbouring beaches.
The discharge of 428,000 L per day of wastewater into Queenscliff Lagoon and beach resulting in health hazards to the community.
The reasons for the tunnel cannot ever warrant such a detrimental impact over a 7 year period.

I oppose the Beaches Link tunnel and support submissions from the Save Manly Dam Catchment Committee, Viable Transport Solutions and the Australian Conservation Foundation (Northern Beaches).
This project will cause extensive damage to our irreplaceable natural environment and puts numerous ecosystems at risk, including endangered grey-headed flying foxes.
It is incompatible with NSW’s stated goal of zero emissions by 2050 and various Council and NSW government policies and goals to reduce car use, improve public transport, sustainability and liveability
It fails to demonstrate the tunnel will reduce travel time, and there is evidence of additional congestion and slower local travel around tunnel entrances
It fails to provide up- to-date modelling on traffic, air quality and other important measures
The project will cause enormous disruption to communities, expose communities to multiple health risks, in particular children who will be forced to undertake many years of their education adjacent to large dusty, noisy construction sites.
It appears the EIS has been rushed and that none of the necessary detailed studies have been done to even understand the environmental impacts of the ground water draw down, nor the subsequent work needed to design means of preventing serious ecological damage across an entire catchment and watercourse.
I believe the information revealed in the EIS does not support the construction of the Beaches Link Tunnel and suggest TfNSW focus attentions on alternative transport options.

My family and I are devoted voluntary members of the Northbridge Sailing Club for the past 8 years. The Northbridge Sailing Club provides the opportunity for many new sailors who learn to sail in these beautiful and less busy part of Sydney Harbour. My 3 boys have grown up learning to sailing at Northbridge Sailing Club and my husband a devoted Junior Sailing Coordinator. We spend most weekends on the water throughout the year and this project will be cause huge disruption and safety issues for them to continue this activity. The lengthy timeline and required measures to build this project will mean that sailing activity in Middle Harbour with greatly limited, impacting all the learning and competitive sailing from the Northbridge Sailing Club.

I object to the Beaches Link tunnel on multiple grounds including
• the intense and negative impact on local communities during construction
• the risk to, and suffering of, school children forced to study over years next to major construction sites
• the failure of the design to include filtered emissions stacks and inadequate modelling of air quality locally
• the failure of the project to design in dedicated public transport lanes
• the widespread damage and destruction of the natural environment
• the project’s incompatibility with ‘net zero by 2050’ and numerous other greening and biodiversity policies and goals.
As a former Seaforth resident and now resident of Bayview, I would not use the tunnel. This is in large part because I object to private car based toll roads when public transport is not prioritised. I have also recently had the sad experience of witnessing the horrendous destruction of precious, majestic bushland during the widening of Mona Vale road and the impact of wildlife.
The Beaches Link will bring more of the same. For this reason, my submission focuses on:
Unacceptable impacts on Burnt Bridge Creek catchment and downstream to Manly
The proposed construction and operation of the tunnel will result in surface and ground water drawdown beneath the Burnt Bridge Creek and a reduction in base and surface flows of up 69 to 96 per cent (NBC). This would directly impact flora, fauna and downstream receiving waters, meaning the entire water system from Seaforth to Manly Lagoon and to the beaches of the Manly area will potentially be impacted. This EIS states: ‘The freshwater creek runs for about four kilometres and is a vital ecological corridor of regenerated habitat that provides a range of important habitats for a diversity of local flora and fauna’. EIS, Appendix O, pg 45. This includes a camp of endangered grey-headed flying foxes that rely on the creek and the retention dam in Balgowlah Golf Course for water. Northern Beaches Council says of the Burnt Bridge Creek Reserve: ‘The reserve is significant in terms of both ecological and community values. Ecologically the riparian corridor provides a habitat link between the coast and natural areas further inland. The protection and enhancement of the native riparian vegetation in the reserve is crucial for the movement of wildlife.’
Yet, the EIS pays little attention to such a significant impact on this creek systems, despite international and Australian research that highlights risks to ecosystems when tunnel construction affects ground and surface water. ‘Any changes in the ground water environment of any disturbances to the water balance of catchments may cause environmental impacts detrimental to the surrounding vegetation’ (Gokdemir et al, Advances in Water Resources, 133, 2019). The EIS provides no scientifically robust study analysis of the impacts across the catchment, within the creek and its riparian zone and downstream to Manly Lagoon and the Manly beaches.
The EIS says: ‘While these reductions could be considered significant, in particular for Burnt Bridge Creek and Quarry Creek, they are unlikely to result in a complete loss of aquatic habitat. Pools would be retained and there would still be high flows within the waterways immediately after rainfall events.’
Such a conclusion has no scientific basis. The removal of 96% of the water from a creek that supports aquatic life and a diverse riparian zone, including many species that rely on access to its waters, will have devastating impacts for ecosystems from Seaforth to Manly. It also fails to consider or investigate the implications of reduced water flow for the Manly Lagoon including reduced oxygenation and the impact on its aquatic life. The pools the EIS mentions would essentially be stagnant and, therefore, unable to support many forms of life.
By contrast Northern Beaches Council’s experts, in their (first) draft submission noted: ‘The EIS trivialises what would be significant hydrological and ecological impacts on Burnt Bridge Creek. The creek would essentially function as a storm water channel.’. The EIS fails to assess impacts downstream on Manly Lagoon including on endangered ecological communities. In a later iteration, NBC highlighted the need for a wide range of mitigating measures, none of which were detailed in the EIS.
While the EIS suggests further studies, these are not defined or detailed. It also very worrying that the EIS states: Where unacceptable ecological impacts are predicted, feasible and reasonable mitigation measures to address the impacts should be identified, incorporated into the detailed design, and implemented during construction. This does not constitute a commitment to do anything, as ‘feasible and reasonable’ are subjective terms and required design changes to protect this water systems may be judged as not feasible.
It appears the EIS has been rushed and that none of the necessary detailed studies have been done to even understand the environmental impacts of the ground water draw done, nor the subsequent work needed to design means of preventing serious ecological damage across an entire catchment and watercourse.
Of particular concern is the Balgowlah grey-headed flying fox roost: Balgowlah’s flying foxes are a nationally and state protected endangered species that rely on Burnt Bridge Creek and the water retention dam at Balgowlah Golf Course. Grey-headed flying foxes were included on a Federal Government list of 100 species requiring critical attention following the 2019/2020 bushfires, given the devastating loss of flora and fauna. Research also shows 30% of Australia's EPBC-listed threatened species live in urban areas. The Balgowlah flying fox camp is particularly important for two reasons. 1. Its coastal location means sea breezes usually keep maximum temperatures below 37-38 degrees C, the point at which flying foxes drop young, or themselves fall out of their roosts, with large die offs reported. 2. The colony’s proximity to large tracts of urban bush where they play a critical role as a keystone species responsible for night pollination and the maintenance of healthy genetic diversity.
Their camp lies in the vegetated area between Balgowlah Road and Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation, about 120 metres from the construction footprint. Potential noise impacts are noted in the EIS. The solution is listed as ‘Where feasible and reasonable, noise BL intensive works with the potential of impacting the Grey-headed Flying-fox camp (ie demolition involving rock hammering or resurfacing works) should be programmed to avoid September to February’. (19.6) The key issue here is the wording. ‘Where feasible and reasonable’ is not a requirement to protect this endangered species, it is an invitation to make a subjective judgement that may be swayed by financial priorities.
The NSW Government, through Save our Species, lists the key threats to Grey-headed flying foxes as loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat, and widespread pervasive factors such as impacts of climate change and disease.
The Beaches Link project will hasten the loss of this endangered protected and ecologically vital grey-headed flying fox colony through extreme construction disturbances, loss of access to water due to the de-watering of the creek and the removal of the water retention dam at Balgowlah Golf Course and loss of habitat.
The EIS provides no credible evidence-based plan to suggest the endangered Grey-headed flying fox camp will be protected.
Other environmental concerns include:
• More than 12 ha of high value bushland will be destroyed with the widening of the Wakehurst Parkway from North Seaforth to the intersection of the Parkway with Warringah Road. This includes Sydney Water site (Bantry Bay Reservoirs) at Kirkwood Avenue which was saved at the 11th hour by the community from being sold off to developers in 2015. The NSW Government promised to return it intact to Manly Warringah War Memorial Park to compensate for the loss of rare bushland and biodiversity as a result of the Manly Vale Public School expansion. This promise has not been kept.
A Total Earth Care Biodiversity Study commissioned by Sydney Water in 2018 revealed that the diverse bushland on the site was home to many birds and animals - including the threatened and fragile Eastern Pygmy Possum. Another threatened species mentioned in their report was the Eastern Bent-wing bat - which was notably absent from the species listed in the Beaches Link EIS. The NSW Government is promising to revegetate and return this area back to the park afterwards, but it is not possible to recreate the complex tapestry of endemic flora species or the lost wildlife. Disturbing and removing the original topsoil means opening up the whole area to invasive weed invasion. Locating an industrial grade work site here would be disastrous for the environment.
• Because so much high quality bushland is to be destroyed and this bushland is home to a number of critically endangered animals and plants, the TfNSW is required to “swap” it on a like-for-like basis for equivalent bush. This “offset” method is impossible in a practical sense, because there are no known pockets of land equivalent in their range of fauna and flora to be destroyed by TfNSW in the Northern Beaches.

I am making a personal submission to object to the Beaches Link EIS due to the following reasons:

1. Sydney needs better public transport infrastructure, not toll roads, and the money set aside to fund construction should be used to fund a Northern Beaches train line rather than the proposed toll road;

2. The construction entry point of the proposed tunnel at Flat Rock Gully will have a significant negative impact on the surrounding Pyalla St area where my family lives for an extended period (6+ years):

• Air pollution, including potentially carcinogenic fine dust particles like asbestos and hazardous chemicals from old dump sites, will be generated from both tunnel construction and vehicles transporting materials to and from the construction site, causing potential health issues for my family. In addition, when complete the projects 4 unfiltered smoke stacks will pour toxic fumes into the local environment near schools, playing fields and homes;

• Noise pollution, from both tunnel drilling and vehicles entering / leaving the construction site, will be a permanent 24/7 issue causing further potential stress and health related issues for my family;

• Vibrations, caused by tunnelling underneath the local area, will potentially cause damage to homes in the area, including my own on Pyalla St;

• Traffic in the local area will increase significantly causing potential road safety issues, with the ~90 trucks per hour entering / leaving the construction site together with construction workers vehicles putting further strain on an area that already has unsustainably high traffic flows, in particular during school pick up and peak hour periods;

• Parking will significantly worsen, with trucks and workers at the construction site using local residential streets, already clogged with city commuter and Northbridge Plaza worker vehicles, as parking lots to access the Flat Rock Gully site;

• Property prices in the local area will be significantly devalued due to the air and noise pollution, potential damage to homes cause by vibrations, traffic and parking issues over the duration of the construction period; and

• Destruction of the Flat Rock Gully ecosystem, with the removal of ~390 trees, washing of contaminated water down Flat Rock Creek and clearing of a significant land area covering ~10,000 square metres, destroying the local environment incorporating many native fauna and flora species and enjoyed by locals;

3. Local sports fields and amenities, including Willoughby Leisure Centre, Bicentennial Reserve Oval, Flat Rock Gully Reserve and Tunks Park will be unavailable for use during construction due to the site covering a significant area, combined with physical safety, air pollution and noise related issues forcing closing of adjacent facilities;

4. Lack of transparency / accountability justifying the Beaches Link Tunnel projects benefits, with no business case disclosed to the community or analysis completed for alternate options including the Northern Beaches to Chatswood Metro; and

5. Whilst not currently proposed, there is a material risk that a smoke stack will be permanently located at the Flat Rock Gully site on completion of the tunnel, causing potential long term health issues for my family from air pollution.

The Northern Beaches tunnel is not the infrastructure solution that Sydney needs, and my local community will suffer significantly during construction with no short or long term benefits if the proposed tunnel goes ahead.

I sincerely hope that you act in the best interest of the community and stop the Northern Beaches tunnel. However, if the tunnel does go ahead, to minimise impacts on local residential communities, I ask that you work with the RMS to move the proposed excavation entry point at Flat Rock Gully to the Artarmon Industrial area.

Yours sincerely

Matt Walton
3 Pyalla St, Northbridge
0457 529 318