DA 38/2013 - Wongala Crescent & Chapman Avenue

A sad conclusion to the BCCT's objection to this DA is:

 

The Council should note specifically in its decision that the notably flexible concessions it has intended, in this instance, should not be regarded as a precedent by which the Beecroft town centre DCP is compromised at the outset

From the Trust’s perspective, the Hornsby Shire Council has erred significantly in its overly generous interpretation of the key principles of the DCP for this precinct. It is a sad and regrettable situation that those principles and the future quality of development in the town centre of Beecroft may be subject to compromise. This was not the intention of the Councillors, staff, community or Trust representatives who worked diligently for hundreds of hours to frame those DCP principles, only a couple of years ago.

Rail Wheel Squeal at Beecroft

This report on Transport NSW website discusses rail wheel squeal noise:
http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/b2b/sydneytrains/publications/2013%20Q1%20SydT%20EPL%2012208%20AoA%20Update%20v1.0.pdf
One paragraph says:
"Tranport for NSW Freight and Regional Development, in conjunction with Sydney Trains, has recently implemented best practice rail lubrication on the Main North railway line, including at Beecroft. Following implementation, the number of AoA exceedances reported to train operators has increased. Noise, however, has not increased, and the recent lubrication has reduced both the incidence and severity of curve squeal."
The report does not appear specifically to quantify the effect of recent lubrication.
Some 900 trains were monitored July through September, containing 151,558 axles of which 3,332 exceeded the authority's Angle of Attack criteria, believed to identify "wheel squeallers".  The report discusses corrective actions taken on "repeat offender" rail wagons, saying "repeat offenders" were identified and inspected in Septemer.  But this number of wagons discussed as being in that category seems to be tiny compared to the number of wagons that are heard to squeal as they go through Beecroft.  Let's hope things are improving.
Either way it is good to see action is being taken.

Tree Destruction at Cheltenham railway station

A public meeting will be held at The Crescent near Cheltenham railway Stn at 4:00pm this Wed 13 Nov 2013.  Those calling the meeting point out that

"Every single piece of vegetation between Sutherland Rd and The Crescent, Cheltenham NSW 2119 is being removed, inside and outside the rail corridor. WILL the large trees BE REPLACED WITH MATURE SPECIMENS?? - some of the trees are at least 150 years old and nobody alive today will see them regrow to their original size."

F3 - M2 Information Meeting 18 November

RMT invites members of the BCCT to a Community Information Session on Monday 18 November 6:30 to 8:00 pm at the Cheltenham Recreation Club.
RMT points out that the preferred design will not be known until early 2014, but this information session will cover location, entry and exit points, and which if any properties might be impacted.  Further information meetings are intended.