I own 14/15 King Street Balmain approx. 80 metres from the tunnel location in NCA 11.5. I am very concerned that Noise and Vibration due to boring work will impact my property even at Dba 30-40 levels. And the stream of heavely laden tipper trucks rumbling constantly through the narrow heritage streets of Balmain is horrible to contemplate. I have little confidence in the Risk Analysis that deems the impact of work 24/7 will be LOW after mitigation down from HIGH, particularly after reading that the assessment of the Water Quality impact from the dredging of marine contaminants has been deemed secret "commercial in confidence."
Broadly I believe that a road tunnel that will spill thousands of cars into the area cannot be deemed Sustainable Development and is a 1960's attitude to what a liveable city should be. Public transport must be the preferred option. After the COVID 19 disaster funds for infrastructure must be wisely spent not splurged on a bottom-less pit.Funneling more cars means merely moving the traffic-jam as proven time and again round the World.
Air quality will be a major issue with exhaust stacks merely dispersing the toxic emissions in the atmosphere. The recent World's worst air quality due to the bush-fires and hazard burning are forecast to occur more regularly. We are in different times and we must recognise this. The tunnel ventilation cannot be allowed to proceed without filtration. Monitoring only is not adequate particularly as the tunnel will be a privately run toll road. It defies belief that they would close the road if pollution above "acceptable" levels is detected.
Arguing that a motorway is a sustainable transport solution is disingenuous. A privately run toll road has as it's business model to maximise traffic volumes not limit them. This ignores the broader public interest in pollution and emission controls to minimise the imminent Global Warming crisis.
The decision to hide the contamination of marine sediments behind the cloak of 'Commercial in Confidence' makes all the claims in the Risk Analysis suspect. What are we not being told in other areas as well?
Sydney is suffering from cumulative impacts already so we don't need another huge and unnecessary disruption with huge traffic impacts.

I object for the following reasons:
Unfiltered smokestacks adjacent to a school is a health hazard. This will increase society health costs and reduce quality of life for decades to come.
Public transport alternatives must be fully explored. This would be in line with sustainability priorities, especially in light of recent bushfire season and predicted future risks. The project as it stands will increasef traffic and reliance on cars.

I object to the outrageous expenditure of the proposed project.

I object to the lack of community consultation - the refusal to postpone the EIS objections despite social distancing principles being implemented is a perfect example of this!

I object to the fact that no business plan has been released to public.

I object to the fact that stacks are to be unfiltered in a residential area - my 2 siblings are asthmatic are will no doubt be impacted our close proximity to the proposed stacks.

I object to the loss of community space in our area and impact that heavy vehicle/machinery movements will have on our lives over the construction period.

The financial, social and environmental costs of this proposed project are unfathomable. The fact that the business plan is being withheld from the population show the government is aware that this is the case.

I object wholeheartedly to this project and insist that the NSW Government consider alternate options such as metro, light rail or heavy rail. They must consider the fundamentally flawed nature of this proposal.

I object strongly to the Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade (SSI-8863) project works on the basis that explosives for rock-blasting likely to be stored at the Cammeray Golf Course work site.

I am a resident of Cammeray and work in the Sydney CBD, my husband works in North Sydney and our children attend Anzac Park Public School and a childcare centre in Crows Nest. I strongly request that a condition of approval for this project is that assurance of safety is provided for local residents, workers, students, teachers and road users.

Good Evening,

I am writing this proposal to object to the Tunnel Project in relation to the issue of what will become of available parking on the intersection of Alfred and Bent Street, Neutral Bay. I have just bought an apartment and moved into the area under an expectation that there would be a reasonable amount of parking available. As it would have been communicated to you via other residents in other objections, the parking in this vicinity is limited enough as it is. In some cases, depending on the time of day, it can be a lottery as to whether you can find a spot or not. There are individuals that use our parking area for other means than simply living local or seeing other local residents. For example, it does not take long to walk from our area to North Sydney Station and avoid (most likely) having to worry about parking fees.

The following proposal that has been put forward by the Planning Committee for the Tunnel will severely amplify the difficulty in finding available parking within the area. Adding to that, our area already is very close to the Warringah Freeway and a proposal of this nature will only result in poorer air quality in our area. Adding to that, noise would become a further factor too because there would be more avenues from where noise can be generated. It is disappointing that the proposal has not considered enough the concerns of the residents that live within the nearby area and is more tailored towards residents that do not live in the local area. I believe that you should instead place greater concern on the local residents that have to live in this environment on a 24/7 basis rather than improving the lives of residents from the Northern Beaches by a few minutes.

Even though the proposal is meant to improve overall traffic conditions, it will only further serve as a bottleneck in our neighbourhood thanks to a few particular factors:

1) Further limited parking within the local area.
2) Increased difficulty at accessing the Military Road Ramp exit coming back from the City.
3) Public transportation issues because there would be more individuals using their cars from the Northern Beaches than taking the bus.

In summary, the proposal will not only cause environmental issues and parking problems, the end result of the tunnel will only heighten traffic and congestion issues within our local area and serve only as a hindrance to our overall quality of life. I urge you to reconsider this proposal and put forward as your primary concern, the residents of the local area that reside here.

Yours Sincerely,

A Very Concerned Local Resident

Hi
I wish to add to my earlier submission.
I object to the Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade because it will have a serious impact on my property and my quality of life.
During construction when the Warringah Freeway is closed, traffic volume in Bent St (where I live) is estimated to increase from 30 cars/ hr to 280 cars/hr (EIS Traffic and Transport App F) . My bedrooms face the street.
My property (Receiver ID 12752) is identified as having noise impacts from the project and is identified as needing noise mitigation measures. I oppose the project, but should it go ahead request that my unit which faces the street, receive noise mitigation treatment. The document seems to give conflicting information as to which unit is entitled to noise mitigation measures.

I object strongly to the Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade (SSI-8863) project works on the basis that there is no reference in the EIS on the impact of this project works on climate change and liveability in Sydney. This is unforgivable given the current ecological and air quality impacts in Sydney due to air polluting factors such as vehicular exhaust and more recently wildfires.

I am a resident of Cammeray and work in the Sydney CBD, my husband works in North Sydney and our children attend Anzac Park Public School and a childcare centre in Crows Nest. This project will result in the loss of an underground reservoir and aqueduct beneath Cammeray Golf Course, due to the major building works for exhaust pumping station. This aqueduct is a North Sydney Council initiative and major irrigation source fthat sustainably waters several open green spaces in the area such as Tunks Park and Primrose Park. It also contains underground rainwater tanks which will be lost as well. This will have a major local environmental impact.

The exhaust stacks are also designed to be up to 30m (100ft or 10-storeys) on Ernest St flyover, Rozelle, Artarmon and Balgowlah. This will be a huge feature of the North Sydney horizon and is being hidden in the EIS visual images with artistic impressions of large trees (which are not in plan) and painting the stacks the same shade of green.

I strongly request that a condition of approval for this project is that a solution must be found to retain this invaluable environmental resource.

As a parent of children that attend Anzac Park Public School. I find that your proposal is completely inadequate and ultimately won’t help to ease up congestion. There are better options available but they do require more planning and investment such as increased public transport.

The following are key points to why I object to this project:

The lack of a Business Case
The lack of consideration or assessment of alternative transport avenues
The lack of Filtration for TWO Exhaust Stacks built as a single unit, very near to our school APPS.
Truck movements in our local streets
The shutting down of access points to the Warringah Freeway for North SydneyLGA residents who will bear the brunt of the Projects for no gain.
The loss of Green spaces in an area containing a CBD [ Nth Syd]
Double Tolls on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Freeway& Sydney Hbr Tunnel
The massive increase in volume of traffic on local roads creating massive congestion permanently as people have to reroute their daily journeys as access to freeway limited, rat running to avoid double tolls etc etc
The 6 years of construction and its impact on Nth Syd amenity for no gain whatsoever only untold permanent loss of amenity
Loss of Cammeray Dam which provides water through droughts to many of Nth Sydneys parks & green spaces.
Total ravaging of the North Sydney LGA to address a choke point flowing form Artarmon .

The RMS themselves agree that NSYD loses heavily.

These points are very clear and it is imperative that this project should consider the implications that will follow; most importantly it will ultimately lead to a huge loss of money being spent needlessly.

As we manoeuvre our way through this pandemic it would be better to put this money into use for when we actually need it. Building more roads for more cars is very regressive thinking, we are now is the 21st Century it is time to put t use our ability to think beyond the easiest measure.

If we are to build a better NSW then let’s do it by ensuring that we invest the money into worthwhile projects that bring real solutions to the communities NSW state government serves.

I object strongly to the omission of any filtering in the emission stacks near my residence and nearby schools. I can offer no alternative as I am convinced that filtering is ESSENTIAL.

I strongly object to the lack of provision for a train line to be included in the proposed harbour tunnel. A good public transport system is essential. The tunnel will bring more cars into an already congested city.

I strongly object to the widening of Berry Street, North Sydney and the significant increase in traffic congestion in that major business centre.

I strongly object to the permanent loss of green space and trees in Anzac Park, Cammeray golf course, St Leonard’s Park and Berry Bay. This loss could be alleviated by the construction of parkland over the freeway as has been done in other countries.

I strongly object to the loss of the Park Street tennis courts. This loss could be overcome by putting the construction support facilities underground.

I object strongly to the Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade (SSI-8863) project works on the basis that over 26,000ha in green space in the North Sydney LGA will be lost, including the removal of thousands of trees during these works.

I am a resident of Cammeray and work in the Sydney CBD, my husband works in North Sydney and our children attend Anzac Park Public School and a childcare centre in Crows Nest. This project will be taking public open space such as St Leonards Park, Cammeray Golf Course, and Flat Rock Gully during the construction. And the SE corner of Anzac Park will be permanently taken for realignment of Cammeray Ave due to widening of freeway. One third of Cammeray Golf Course, which is 3ha, will be taken to become a pumping station for exhaust fumes generated by vehicles exiting at North Sydney and Cammeray. This pumping station comprises six tennis court sized sheds on Cammeray Park, which is not reasonable or normal to build in a modern city.

The loss of trees and green space in this area will be devastating. The “vegetation cleaning” includes mature trees and no mention of their replacements being located anywhere or equivalent or enhanced tree cover elsewhere. Trees provide a critical resource for increasing air quality, temperature reduction (especially in heat islands), not to mention health, psychological and ecological benefits. In fact, NSW has a Green Grid strategy has an objective to connect green spaces, but this is becoming worse in North Sydney. In this project we will further lose the connection between St Leonards and Cammeray Park. There is currently a 210 m distance between Anzac Park and Cammeray Golf Course. With construction, the distance will widen to 330m with the removal of part of Cammeray Golf Course.

In similar projects overseas, initiatives such as landbridges over freeways and green overpasses have been designed to reconnect the green spaces. Examples include:
- Central-Wanchai bypass - corridor link with urban greening over a filtration system
- CopenHill - Waste-to-Energy Plant with public recreation space (ski field) over infrastructure
- Boston Big Dig - this project created more than 120ha of new parks and open space, including 11ha where the existing elevated highway stood, 42ha at Spectacle Island, 16ha along Charles River, and 3ha as part of an expanded Memorial Stadium Park in East Boston. More than 2,400 trees and 26,000 shrubs were planted at Spectacle Island. Another 2,400 trees and more than 7,000 shrubs were planted.
- Houston Memorial Park - green space link over motorway

Here in Australia, we also have a landbridge over an old railway in Brisbane. And in the Western Harbour Tunnel project, the Balmain Interchange will received increased parklands of 10ha.

I strongly request that conditions of approval for this project are:
1. an equal or greater area of green space be created locally for all public open space taken by the project, including landscape cover over the freeway between Anzac Park and Cammeray Golf Course and across Ernest St to Jefferson Jackson Reserve.
2. the Cammeray pumping station design is modified to be below ground like the Lilyfield pumping station.
3. independent monitoring for replacement of tree cover including mature trees.