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

I object on the grounds of Increased traffic, greater interruption to the quiet enjoyment of our neighbourhood, potential for harm to integrity of building structure, likelihood of continuous incessant noise, with growing concern for increased stress and mental health issues, as well as a monumental harm to the environment, local habitats, pristine foreshores and bushland. This project must be halted and then, possibly, reappraised and re-submitted for consideration

EIS Submission Flat Rock Gully


I object the Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection.


For the following reasons:

• This project is an environmental disaster that will cause irreparable damage to the environment for an unnecessary and already outdate tunnel that has no scope for public transport options.
• With all the technology and all of the smarts we have in 2021, we should ONLY be building infrastructure that is innovative, sustainable and works with nature NOT against it. These 3 key points should be a mandate to all future infrastructure planning and development.
• Sydney should be city that is a leader of innovative and sustainable infrastructure, yet we are still stuck in the mindset of planning a city for what people needed and how people travelled around in the 1970’s.
• The EIS is incomplete, it is missing vital studies of all bushland including Flat Rocky Gully, there is NO mention of the multiple endangered species such as the Powerful Owl, 3 x bat species & the Grey-headed Flying Fox, plus the other14 threatened species that will all lose their homes and habitats in this area.
• The EIS fails to mention that there will be removal of the old growth and threatened flora species.
• The dive site in Flat Rock Gully must be moved to an already cleared and or developed area, there are plenty of them around, it is absurd that this was even a consideration.
• Surely an area that does not require so much sandstone to be dug out would make much more common sense.
• There is no impact study on the cause and effect for the future survival of native species with significant concern to, vegetation loss, no shelter and no food. The stress they suffer from noise and vibrations, no study on native species ability to breed under stressful conditions. What will happen to all of the insects, reptiles, mammals and birds? These species make up our ecological system without them we suffer too!!! It has been scientifically proven over and over again animals have emotions and yet they have not even been considered within the EIS?
• Mental health - Flat Rock Gully saved thousands during COVID when thousands of people, many families more discovered this peaceful and tranquil area. It has always been a refuge for locals to escape the hustle and bustle. John Barilaro stated on Monday January 04, 2021 “You have to think about people’s mental health, the desire to get out there and have aspects of a normal life, recreational aspects, sport, they all give us a sense of wellbeing. Reports come to my desk on the very sad outcomes when people’s mental health suffers. We’ll strike the balance.” My personal mental health is suffering severely over this project and the thought more bushland will be destroyed, more flora and fauna will die, the waterways will be dredged which will also kill sea creatures and sea plants – and us humans loose out on my green space and the quality of the water we drink and swim in will be jeopardised. I do not sleep well, I feel stressed and upset all of the time. What a massive contradiction stating that sport is good for our mental health while you are ruthlessly destroying our amazing nature areas.
• After the emotional scarring that millions of Australian’s are still dealing with after the 2019/2020 bushfires, we lost millions of hectares of vegetation and millions of native animals, we cannot continue to clear land and knowingly destroy over 3000 trees and native species for a vehicle tunnel. This has the potential to completely wipe out endangered native animals, or add more to the list of threatened and enlarged list – hasn’t NSW already caused the extinction rates to be the highest we have ever had in the last 5 years? It is a humans job to protect our wonderful bushland and animals, not treat them as though they in the way.
• This is lazy, cheap, immoral, unethical planning.
• Sydney’s Public Spaces campaign, currently there is a campaign lead by the NSW Government. It states “They are our streets, public facilities and open spaces. Public spaces are all places publicly owned or of public use, accessible and enjoyable by all for free and without a profit motive”. - United Nations. This campaign is another total contradiction when this project will cause long-term destruction to Flat Rock Gully, Manly Damn, Middle Harbour, Sydney Harbour etc etc.
• This project costs just as much as an overseas tunnel which links countries that are far longer, yet this tunnel is only 15kms long, so basically $1 billion but kilometre. We could use that on an extensive metro system, or a fast train to regional areas.
• The tunnel is only going to cause huge congestion at the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. Three tunnels into one another underwater has never been attempted anywhere in the world, this sounds extremely risky and dangerous, there will too much weight and pressure when vehicles are stopped for hours on end when there is crash or break down in one of the tunnels.
• Increased Pollution from open ventilation stacks is very worrying. The West Connex had 6 air pollution exceedance within the first weeks of opening, during COVID when it rarely had any traffic.
• Toxic chemicals dredged from the water will mean the water is unusable for years and years on end.
• Asbestos and other toxic chemical will be dug up at Flat Rock Gully.
• Paris Climate Agreement – the points above prove this project is not aligned to this agreement which Australia has signed up to therefore it cannot and should not go ahead.
• Traffic congestion Brooke Street, Naremburn and Willoughby Road, Willoughby are already over traffic capacity, diverting and adding thousands of trucks is for over 5 years is completely unpractical and very dangerous.
• Trucks carrying tonnes of sandstone will struggle driving up the steep ascents of Flat Rock Gully Reserve meaning they will be driving very slow, using lots of diesel to make it up the steep ascents, plus causing more danger to cars travelling around in and around them and pedestrians trying to cross the limited crossings within these areas.
• These suburbs have no access to this new tunnel, yet they are going to be used and abused for years to come to benefit wealthier areas.
• The target demographic of people who use their cars all of the time are Baby Boomers as it was a ‘status symbol’, Millennials however are far more environmentally conscious and would rather use public transport, car-share, cycling and walking. The Baby Boomer generation will be mainly retired in 12-15 years when this tunnel is completed, and it will not meet the needs of the next generations.
• Electric and self-drive vehicles, car-share, Ubers, trains, light rail, cycling and walking are the future of transport, therefore less house-holds will require ownership of their own car.
• Sydney-siders want and need better access to public transport.
• I will never use the M8 due to the horrific destruction of the environment and the 800+ plus houses that were destroyed, plus the on-going air quality issues this road has. If the Northern Beaches Link project goes ahead and causes the proposed destruction of the environment, I refuse to use it.
• The only people who will benefit from this tunnel are people who are to profit from toll roads who clearly have a complete disregard and lack of empathy to the damage it will cause.
• Sydney-siders would rather the previously proposed Metro project to the Northern Beaches, are far better modern solution that can transport thousands vs 1 person per car in hours of gridlock.
• Sydney-siders want the NSW Government to protect what’s left of our bushlands.
• You can replant trees, but you CANNOT replant insects, reptiles, mammals, birds and marine life, once they are gone it’s forever.
• Sydney-siders want viable sustainable and innovative transport options.
• If a tunnel must go in, then it needs to be done in a way that does not do so much irreparable damage to the environment as we are already in a Climate emergency.
• COVID-19 has changed the way everybody works, studies have shown many people will not be returning to offices, the studies and research in this EIS project are extremely outdated and do not factor in modern 2021 and beyond.
• Modern cities do not need more roads, modern cities require innovative and sustainable public transport systems, updates to existing roads or running tunnels under them makes more common sense.

I strongly, wholeheartedly, morally and ethically object to the Beaches Link and Gore Hill Freeway Connection.

Thank you for your time,
Benita Dwyer

References:
https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/News/2020/Sydneysiders-take-to-green-space-during-the-COVID-19-pandemic
https://cityhubsydney.com.au/2020/07/dusty-tunnel-causes-air-quality-breaches/
https://oeh.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3pHHeBSDkHRpuZf?fbclid=IwAR0OQbBIWi0CRNTwQh1A_WFnba2Dc_sZ7qQGe2hxeLuab1ntT9sT1rT7_U0
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydneysiders-the-nations-biggest-users-of-public-transport-for-work-commute-20171023-gz632p.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-20/clay-millennials-are-driving-the-shift-away-from-cars/5906406

A further comment about "dodgy accounting" which I hope is consistent with my previous submission is that while funds can be moved from account A to account D it is rather difficult to move a biological community from location A to location D, such as parts of the Duffy's Forest community, as even a simple grass playing field of manmade turf has grass, the microbes,fungi, worms and insects and worms that live in the soil where the soil at A is sandy and at D is a clay loam. It doesn't work so well. Moving a forest ecosystem is more akin to moving a whole suburb, as forests are not just a bunches of trees and some animals like a pet shop but a whole complex community. The cost of moving Mosman to Ingleside is the nearest equivalent engineering equivalent I can imagine. (My apologies to Professor Mark Westoby if I misquoted his example from a 1970s Ecology class at Macquarie University).
I also believe that the creation of a 6 lane dual carriageway along Wakehurst Parkway south of French's Forest is just the resurresction of the freeway plan from the late 1950's that was shown in the Sydney Area Transport Study from the mid to lat 1970s and totally unnecessaryexcept for spending of Federal Roads Funding which would be better spent on congestion reduction elsewhere (rail, trams even buses).
I note that there is no flood mitigation in any of the informantion that has been shown at meetings locally. Old work on Wakehurst Parkway back in the 1960s and 1970s led to flooding even when it wasn's supposed to. With minimal stream flows from the new roadworks I believe from local knowledge that flooding is highly likely just from walking locally. I think that there will be several major retailers and lots of residents upset about that likelyhood. I have heard nothing about flood abatement at all. A pity.