ETTT Noise Presentation Saturday

The ETTT are holding an Information Session on ETTT Operational Noise and Vibration issues on Saturday 31 May in the Beecroft Community Centre from 10:00 to 12:00 am.  All welcome!  Come along and see what the future has in store for Beecroft and Cheltenham.

Lyne Park - NWRL DECIDED to change its use?

The Trust is hearing that NWRL are planning to build a kids' playground at Lyne Road Reserve. This  park has been  designated an off leash dog park.  How is this going to work? People playing football, throwing frisbees, dogs running around (all on the main part of the park). Where is the playground being installed? What about parking issues? Has the NWRL consulted with the residents in Lyne Road & Boronia avenue?  

Our correspondent lives in Lyne road and says she was only advised about this by the Northern District Times.

NWRL must learn to consult, not notify.

"Rail Noise Unacceptable" said Gladys

The article below is an extract from the State Government's Hansard in 2012, prior to the change of government and Gladys being appointed Minister for Transport. 

Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN (Willoughby) [6.12 p.m.]: I raise a very important issue in the Willoughby electorate, that is, the noise experienced by local residents from the Epping to Chatswood rail line. Many local residents have contacted my office about the impingement on their quality of life since the new rail line opened. Many residents who have lived along the North Shore rail line for decades said that the noise from that line had not bothered them. Yet since the new rail line has opened, every 15 minutes they experience noise at a level that affects their quality of life. Some residents work from home, and many residents have said they have been unable to open doors or windows since the new rail line opened. It is an unacceptable situation. One would expect that a new rail line opened in 2009 would be more sensitive to environmental issues and more considerate of the impact on residents than a rail line opened a century ago. More than 400 residents have signed a petition about the noise, and I understand many others will sign.

Wongala Development Application

DA 448/2014 has been submitted seeking to add an extra level above No 3 Wongala Crescent to provide living accommodation over the shop, with a terrace.  The  BCCT is considering the application and has not yet determined its position.  However as the proposal will be out of sight from the street, screened by the existing shop frontage, it seems an acceptable proposal.
Any objections to this DA need to be submitted by 4 June.

JRPP Refuses the DA for The Module

The JRPP unanimously agreed with Hornsby Shire Council's recommendation, and refused the DA 545 application for a 140 residential unit on the corner of Hannah Street and Beecroft Road. 
Greg Smith gave an excellent speach against the proposal, as did Councillor Michael Hutchence.  Bernadette Azizi and Robert Browne were also present. Ross Walker gave a ten minute speach on behalf of the Trust, and eleven other local residents contributed, all opposing the development. 
The applicant suggested they could "tinker" with the design to make it more acceptable, and asked for a deferral rather than refusal. That is what happened with the UnitingCare proposal on Hannah Street, which was accepted on the second hearing, partly due to a decline in the level of protest.
A lesson for the future was the importance of maintaining the level of objection.  There were something like 250 objections to the initial proposal last year, but only about 50 objections to the modified design issued early this year.  I am sure most people who had originally objected assumed that their earlier objection still counted, but the applicant used the lack of protest to imply increasing acceptance of this proposal.  So in such important matters it is vitally important to keep up the volume of protest at every opportunity.

JRPP Hearing on the Module development

The decision process for the Module Development starts at 5pm at the Hornsby Shire Council buildings Thursday 15.  Even if you don't intend to speak, be there to support those who do!

For information Hornsby Shire Council planning department recommended the application should be refused, on a large number of issues.  However the JRPP has the power to ignore that recommendation.  The Trust remains convinced that this is a bad design and if allowed to be built it will severely damage the viability of the Beecroft Shopping Village.

You can read the Council's reasons for refusal at:

http://hsconline.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/appenquiry/modules/DocumentMaster/ViewDocument.aspx?key=5SrBRP8qTf0%3d&size=416256

Concerns about JRPP Hearings

The Trust received the following advice about JRPP procedures:
A GIPA application to the Dept of Planning disclosed the JRPP did not consider any verbal submissions or a written submission submitted to the JRPP hearing at Hornsby Council on 13 December 2013 about 110 units in Trebor Road.  There were no audio recordings made on 19 December.  The JRPP decision noted the names of the speakers but nothing about what they said.
For the 15 May hearing on The Module, it is suggested that everyone submits five copies of what they read out to ensure their concerns have been recorded and hopefully taken into account, both in this and any later hearings on the Application.

This concern arises from the way the Uniting Care development in Hannah / Copeland was decided.  After a stream of verbal submissions were given, all against the proposal, at the first hearing, the matter was deferred to a second hearing.  The Panel chairman had not been present during the first hearing and therefore had not heard any of those oral submissions. Despite this the chairman cast two votes (his own and a casting vote) in favour of the proposal.  
The Trust complained about this but were advised the chairman is not under any obligation to follow convention  and give a casting vote in favour of the status quo.

New Committee for the Trust

At the first meeting of the Trust since the AGM, the following positions were agreed:

 

President              Kent Ross

Vice-President      Ross Walker

Treasurer             Peter Hewitt

Secretary             Colin Johnston

 

Committee:         David White,

                           Carolyn Watt,

                           Michael Stove,

                           Barbara Davis,

                           Julienne Lynch,

                           Peter Snelgrove.

 

Appointment M2-F3  Bill Woods

NWRL Meeting at Cheltenham Rec Club

The Trust organised what was meant to be an information meeting in which North West Rail Link authorities and the Government could explain why the NWRL is being built with metro style instead of double decked rolling stock compatible with the rest of the NSW rail network.

 

Rodd Staples gave a good description of what is being built, already under construction.  Unfortunately he did not answer many significant questions, such as "how long will the Epping to Chatswood tunnel be out of use during conversion to metro?"  Buses will be needed throughout the conversion period, with road transport already a disaster along the Epping/Macquarie/Chatswood route.

 

Wishing to inform the local population the Trust had opened the meeting to the general public, and it was well attended, with standing room only at the back of the hall.  Unfortunately it seems many who came had political agendas and little interest in the NWRL.  Some had clearly come to heckle, waving placards and yelling abuse that was unrelated to the reason for the meeting.  As local MP Greg Smith commented, "There is a lack of human courtesy here tonight and I'm amazed that people from Beecroft and Cheltenham could be so rude." 

Certainly some of the protesters seemed to have come from outside our area.  The lesson for the Trust must be that for future open public meetings we should require evidence that people attending are either members of the Trust or are resident in the 2119 post code area.

 

The other lesson must be, surely, that there is no point now protesting about something already under construction.  The Trust has been  flagging this issue, and trying to raise public awareness, for well over a year and sadly the general population took no interest until it was too late.