I live in Allambie Heights, on the opposite side of the valley to where Wakehurst Parkway will be developed, and a tunnel entrance built. I object to this project for multiple reasons:
1. Construction will cause severe destruction to the local wildlife and environment around Manly Dam. It is not possible to do this project without severe destruction.
2. Construction will cause severe traffic chaos through peak hours, middle of the day and on weekends. Traffic is already bad, and the process of building the Warringah underpass tunnels caused severe delays for those of us on the northern beaches that rely on this as a thoroughfare.
3. Construction will cause runoff of down into Manly Dam, and into Bantry Bay. Manly Dam is a beautiful environment that needs to be protected.
4. The track record of development in our area is not great - in terms of disruption to local residents (eg Warringah underpass project), and also in terms of not sticking to the original plan (eg Manly Vale School redevelopment).
5. There are multiple mountain bike and hiking tracks around Manly Dam. This is used by local residents and visitors for exercise purposes, which has a beneficial impact on fitness, health and mental wellbeing. Throughout construction, and potentially once finished much of the mountain bike trails will be inaccessible and destroyed. There are also aboriginal rock carvings next to Wakehurst Parkway (Engravings Track) that need to be protected.
6. If there are less visitors to the Manly Dam area for mountain biking and walking, it will have a negative impact on local businesses such as cafes that rely on this patronage.
7. The end result of this project is only forecast to save 10m travel time. This is ridiculous to spend this amount of money on a project that will not save significant travel time, especially when it will cause such severe disruption to residents, and destruction of the local environment.
8. The travel time benefit of this project can be achieved via different means:
- Build a wider bridge above the current Spit Bridge
- Create a dedicated Bus Lane all the way from Manly Vale to Neutral Bay
- Disallow any parking along Spit Road and Military Road at any time of the day.
- Invest more into public transport - eg more B1 style services, with associated car parking.

The proposal to construct a tunnel to primarily increase vehicular traffic flow from the Northern Beaches to the city comes at some environmental and financial sacrifice to the Northern Beaches and NSW in general. To make it count, we have to get the most we can out of this, or else, we will be revisiting the probable 20-30 years later, at additional cost. Favouring cars, trucks and buses over trains is a folly. This is a once in a generation project at best, and possibly once in a lifetime opportunity to build a sustainable (population and environment) infrastructure to assist the beaches for the future. I am personally in favour of a tunnel which would support a metro rail down the spine of the beaches, from Narrabeen to the city, or to a north shore alternative, capable of supporting an interchange. This will provide equal jobs and impact the environment during construction equally. However, the final result will be a mass-transport solution which is scalable for the next 100 years, with a clean energy alternative to the current proposal. Other countries have turned to rail despite being chronologically quite old, e.g. Milan 1960's, Northwestern Sydney 2010's. They have been highly successful at implementing a metro-style rail, despite the imposition on existing architecture and infrastructure. The same could happen on Sydney's Norther beaches.
I urge the government not to waste this sacrifice on a short-term, polluting vision, in favour of a longer-term, greener solution, scalable to the future needs of our community.

I am writing to object to the Beaches Link proposal due to the environment impact it will have on Flat Rock Gully. I have deep concerns about the justification for this project, and the long term sustainability of it. This tunnel will only add more vehicle traffic, it will not provide more sustainable public transport options. Therefore, not only will this tunnel have a negative environmental impact on the special environmental area of Flat Rock Gully, it will also result in higher emissions from more vehicles on the road. The justification is not there.

As a resident of Willoughby, I spend a lot of time in Flat Rock Gully. The beautiful natural landscape is incredibly important for quality of life for many residents of the area, including myself. Protecting such a pristine area of bushland in the heart of the city should be a priority for the government. I would ask that an alternative public transport feasibility study be published before any further planning occurs so that impacts and outcomes can be fairly compared.

I object to the tunnel due to the impact it will have on residents during the construction phase. There is already a high level of noise pollution and air pollution from the traffic that flows through the area. Increasing this with construction will have negative impacts on myself, my family and other residents of the area.

This project is a missed opportunity to transform Sydney into a world class, healthy and sustainable city with a strong public transport system. I believe the Government should reconsider the project and identify how the important environmental area of Flat Rock Gully should be protected.

Kind Regards

Jessica Timmins

Our tax payer dollars are paying for project and it will impact our health, our suburbs, and the environment. To build this tunnel, wildlife, bushland and marine life will be severely impacted - as a young person in the community, this greatly concerns me. I think there are much better methods to fix the Northern Beaches issue.

The objections the P&C has to the project are contained in the attached document.

Our tax payer dollars are paying for this project and it will impact our health, our suburbs, and the environment. To build this tunnel, wildlife, bushland and marine life will be severely impacted - as a young person in the community, this greatly concerns me.

I object to this project on a number of grounds, most importantly on environmental and health concerns. I note the following about the project:

The environmental impact to Burnt Bridge Creek, related fauna and animals;
The unfiltered smoke stacks near homes and MANY schools. I note that Ms Berejiklian stated the terrible health effects when her electorate were to be affected that unfiltered smoke stacks ;
The environmental impact to the harbour with the dredging releasing contaminants into the water;

In addition to the above environmental and health concerns, I would also not the business case for this is flimsy at best. The blatant disregard for public transport in the area (especially changes to bus timetables that force people to drive) shows the desperation to have this project look feasible.

I wish to lodge my objections to the Beaches Link Tunnel based on the following points. I have attached a document explaining in detail why I object to the project.

First, I would like to express my concern about the fact that the online submission process has been a daunting effort. The EIS has more than 12,00 pages and weighs 22 kgs! It takes weeks and full-time commitment to go through all the details! Consultation feedback should be made simple not frustratingly hard to access.

I have a teenage son at Bally Boys High and a 9-year-old child at Balgowlah Heights Public School and I am horrified to read about the catastrophic impacts of the construction and operation of the proposed Beaches Link Tunnel on the community, children, teachers and staff of local schools, the school grounds, and on Balgowlah Oval. I live nearby the Balgowlah Oval and it's hard to understand how this project could go ahead, we live in a democratic country where political leaders should nurture and protect the community and especially children. This tunnel will obviously cause some damage. My son will be exposed to toxic substances 12 hours a day from early morning at his school Balgowlah Boys High to evening when he trains with his football team (North Sydney) at Cammeray Oval three to four times a week.

The proposed construction and operational phases of the tunnel construction will irreversibly impact on the whole community in terms of noise, dust, vibration, access, disruption, traffic and road safety, air quality and health, and use of open space and sporting facilities. There are so many flaws in this project. Why would the NSW Government go ahead with this project when NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes says he wants to implement a policy that aims “to temper demand for driving and car parking by aligning development with public and other transport options, continuous bike paths and end-of-trip facilities”? (SMH, Friday 26 February 2021).

Transport NSW and DPIE must establish a Working Group with the broader community, local schools and their respective P&C to provide a platform to discuss TOGETHER the backlash of such project in order to identify and appropriately minimise construction and operational issues for the Beaches Link Tunnel. These include (but are not limited to):

• Noisy construction works
• Dust emissions
• Unfiltered stacks
• Access arrangements
• Heavy trucks traffic (+500/day)
• Impacts on utilities
• Long-term operational issues
• Damaging impact on the wellbeing and mental health of residents, school children, their teachers and staff.

Environmental issues

The Beaches Link Tunnel will have a disastrous impact on the lifestyle of residents and during the construction phase and cause long term irreparable damage to our precious environment and green spaces. The government has recently declared a green space policy was to be implemented to protect precious open green spaces. This project is not in contradiction with this policy as this project will result in bulldozing Burnt Bridge Creek and Flat Rock Gully to make way for a dig site and a truck turning circle, plus destruction of various golf courses (Cammeray and Balgowlah).

Burnt Bridge Creek was supported for many years by an environment levy we all paid to the then Manly Council. Manly council called it the 'The Life Spring of Manly'. This was money well spent! Many residents are asking why it will dry up when the tunnel is built? The de-watering of the creek doesn't occur in isolation, the construction will take the ground water out of an entire suburb forever. What will that mean to our street trees and gardens and local bush reserves? No water flowing downstream will also devastate Manly Lagoon. The EIS provides us with no answers, no reassurance and no solutions. Residents want their water catchment, creek and local ecosystem to be saved! (references are EIS App N pgs. 364,427).

The gazetted state park that protects Manly Dam’s clean waters is home to endangered creatures like the eastern pygmy possum, large-eared pied bat, red-crowned toadlet and even the amazing climbing fish, the Galaxias brevinines, an evolutionary relic dating back to the Gondwana era some 60 million years ago.
Just under 2000 mature trees will be felled in this supposedly protected catchment. Within the project’s entire construction footprint, the environmental impact statement says 23 threatened fauna species and one endangered population will be impacted.

Unfiltered emissions stacks

Why does this project ignore completely the health and safety our school children and the residents? The NSW government wants 20 and 25-metre-high unfiltered emissions stacks. One will be installed near Balgowlah Boys High School and Seaforth Primary School and North Balgowlah PS. The other will overlook the freshwater Manly Dam, on which many endangered species rely.

These unfiltered emission stacks will spread fumes from the 15-km tunnel over the suburbs of Cammeray, Neutral Bay, Manly, Seaforth, Balgowlah, Manly Vale 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. It would be criminal to allow these toxic substances to float above our heads therefore it is unacceptable that the tunnel emission stacks be not filtered and located in such close proximity to schools.

Noise construction works will affect residents’ mental health

EIS’s graphs show that noise impact from Balgowlah roadworks is likely to affect over 4,000 homes (sound of loud TV or greater), about 1,000 at the Balgowlah construction site (Bally Boys High School will be directly impacted) and another 1,000 around Middle Harbour. About 1,000 homes are likely to experience sleep disturbance from the Balgowlah roadworks.
The big impacts from construction will be the noise… Many thousands of people will be affected among them many children trying to study or sleep. The noise will have a damaging impact on mental health and wellbeing.


Heavy traffic around schools will jeopardise school children

Manly Vale congestion on and around Condamine Street is already horrific and the EIS doesn't hide from the fact that it will get worse.
According to the Northern Beaches Council's submission, they refer to a recent review that has, among the many suggestions, these that are of particular concern:
- Join the 2 ends of Quirk Rd.
- Replace the roundabout at Balgowlah Road / Roseberry Street with traffic lights.
- Replace the roundabout at Kenneth Road/Roseberry Street with traffic lights.
It will lead to an increase of traffic around Manly West PS, which means that traffic-wise the school will be impacted somewhere near the scale of Bally Boys.
More information about this can be found in the draft submission at https://files.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/.../attachmentbo... page 136 (of the PDF).

Pandemics have always had an impact on planning and architecture, and this one will be no different. Don't you think it's an ideal time to adapt to what we want the future look like and reflect that in the built environment?
The government is rushing through a decision to proceed with a design that has serious risks for the environment and the residents’ wellbeing and mental health, marginal benefits in traffic reduction along Military Road, a big increase in congestion in Manly Vale and Balgowlah and will massively increase traffic coming to the Northern Beaches in summer months.
The NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes often says that the government doesn't want to build our cities around motor vehicles, or around the buildings, and that we should prioritise the history and the people. To do so, we obviously need to adopt viable transport solutions and not a tunnel that will destroy lives and damage our precious environment and the communities. Why not build a light rail instead with almost zero toxic emissions? The Beaches Link Tunnel Project is an outdated transport solution. As cities around the world have embraced car use reduction and local living promotion, what are our politicians thinking in Sydney? Where is the vision?


This project is obviously not consistent with the Paris Agreement and as such, can be legally challenged in court. If the Federal Government is to take action to meet Paris Agreement climate targets and moves to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, it will be hard for the NSW government to succeed in assessing how the Beaches Link Tunnel could be consistent with the Paris target of keeping global temperature rise as close to 1.5C as possible. It would be a proof that our ministers can’t keep claiming commitment to the Paris agreement, while simultaneously taking