Fears schoolkids’ health will be at risk from Beaches Link tunnel
SPECIAL REPORT: School kids will be on the frontline of the northern beaches tunnel build, as a State Government report warns of more trucks and air pollution. Find out the real story and the alternative.
Manly
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A STATE Government report has revealed digging and construction of the Beaches Link tunnel would significantly affect the environment and potentially have an impact on residents’ health.
And for the first time a detailed map showing the preferred option has been released, with a tunnel entry within 500m of two schools.
The scoping report, released this week, found that Northern Beaches Secondary College Balgowlah Boys Campus, Seaforth Public School, aged-care facilities and residents would be detrimentally affected.
It said the nearby areas would be impacted by extra traffic, noise, dust and poorer air quality from an increase in truck emissions as work continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It also warned that the build could cause flooding around Burnt Bridge Creek, near the preferred location of one of the peninsula’s two tunnel entrances.
In one statement it said climate change risks during the operation included an increased risk of flooding impacts to road and tunnel infrastructure, which could lead to “total asset failure”, although Roads and Maritime Services said that could “never happen”.
The tunnel’s project team received more than 5000 submissions, with 25 major concerns outlined in the report.
The 7.5km Beaches Link tunnel, which would allow motorists to bypass Spit Bridge and cut 40 minutes in travel time between Brookvale and the CBD, would have two entrance points: Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation at the foot of Balgowlah Golf Club and the Wakehurst Parkway.
The tunnel would then go under Middle Harbour at Seaforth, exiting to join the Gore Hill and Warringah freeways.
Education Minister Rob Stokes reaffirmed his statement from June that there was “no way in hell” he would support pollution stacks so close to the schools.
Mr Stokes said the design — which did not indicate the positioning of exhaust stacks — was still indicative of the final plan and he would make representations at the “appropriate time”.
“The government has a duty to make sure that every child and every family is safe,” he said.
“That includes ensuring that air quality is maintained and that is something I will be focused on.
“I would not support a project that would see deterioration in air quality that would affect human health.”
Mother of two Jo Ingleton, 47, of Serpentine Cres, North Balgowlah, said she and other concerned residents had met with RMS project management to discuss their fears prior to the scoping report being released.
She said she was concerned about her children’s health and that of pupils at Seaforth Public School, which would be the closest school to the North Balgowlah entrance point.
“We told the RMS that we were not just concerned about ventilation stacks spewing out pollution and carcinogenic material but also the highway leading up to the tunnel,” Ms Ingleton said.
“We had hoped our concerns would be taken into account but it appears they have not changed their plans after consulting with us.
“I’ve got two small children and we have families in our street who send their children to Seaforth Public.
“Parents at local schools are concerned. We understand Seaforth’s kindy enrolment has decreased dramatically.
“And, as residents, all we have been offered to compensate for the impact is white noise machines and double glazing.
“We can’t sell and we are stuck here now.
“This will impact us for years. This feels like the cheapest option and we feel powerless to stop it.”
Of indigenous descent, Ms Ingleton said she was also worried about the potential loss of Aboriginal heritage sites, noted in the report.
“Make no doubt about it, these sites will be smashed through and roads will go over them,” she said.
While Ms Ingleton said she was not anti-progress and understood why people wanted a tunnel, she said it “really sucks” for residents.
For the first time the report also discussed the options for the underwater section, with one suggestion being an “immersed tube tunnel” sitting on the top of the harbour bed as well as a deeper tunnel through the rock under the harbour.
The scoping report found the “immersed tube tunnel” would have a bigger environmental impact on marine life as well as recreation on the water in Middle Harbour.
The report, which is one step in a long process for such a big project, also listed the top concerns from the community with the location of exhaust stacks being number one and the tunnel’s entrance points, number two.
And in what may concern some on the northern beaches it said faster connections would “substantially contribute to city shaping and development for the next century”.
Manly state MP James Griffin said there was no expectation the tunnel would bring extensive population growth to the peninsula.
The only aim was to speed up commuter times and give the northern beaches residents roads they deserved.
But he said it could lead to greater economic growth for Sydney as a whole.
“It’s not a trojan horse to increase the population of the northern beaches,” Mr Griffin said.
A spokesman for RMS said further investigations would continue before an environmental-impact statement was published and placed on public exhibition in the second half of 2018, along with final detailed plans.
He said the scoping report was standard procedure.
“Community engagement will be ongoing at each stage of the project as it progresses,” the spokesman said.
Residents can submit their views for consideration at whtbl@rms.nsw.gov.au.
THE CASE STUDY: ‘We are in limbo at the moment’.
North Balgowlah residents say they have been “left in limbo” since the tunnel’s announcement in March.
Routes released when the Beaches Link Tunnel was announced showed it going directly through Serpentine Cres. And houses in that street were among the first doorknocked by RMS officials speaking to residents in affected homes.
Andrew Plunkett’s home was one of many door knocked by the RMS. He told the Manly Daily he has had scant detail since. He said yesterday the scoping report was “still as vague as ever” and called on the RMS to release more information.
“All the maps and the leaked stuff show it is right down Serpentine Cres — if they really do know already why don’t they get on with it and buy us out so we can move on with our lives,” he said.
His wife Karen and their two children, James and Charlotte, were initially supportive of the concept, but said they would be devastated if they needed to move when the project was announced in March.
At the time, Mrs Plunkett criticised the consultation of the RMS. She said: “Two young ladies knocked on our door with a brochure.”
She said the women had no information for them, but took down email addresses and handed out a brochure.
“It felt like it was a tick of the box, because they were saying ‘oh yeah we have door knocked’ — well yeah you physically have, but there is no more information given to us than what you can find on the internet.”
The scoping report pointed to night time truck activity to cater to the huge amount of earth removed.
Mr Plunkett sarcastically said the idea of trucks roaming his street for night works was “delightful”.
“We are in limbo at the moment, we are still waiting to hear one way or another,” he said. “I am not really excited about the prospect of living next to a building site or losing my house completely.”
He urged the RMS to come forward with a plan sooner rather than later.
“To be fair they have kept a very consistent line that it will be early next year before they can give more detail,” he said. “It is still quite frustrating. Myself and my neighbours want clarification. We spend half our days wanting to know what is going on.”
WHAT IT MEANS FOR RESIDENTS:
TRUCKS will be removing excess material from the dig 24 hours a day, seven days a week for up to two years of the estimated five-year project.
It will cause increased traffic due to additional trucks and construction vehicles and inconvenience due to temporary road closures and traffic diversions.
Roads that may be impacted include Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation, Sydney Rd, Condamine St, Kenneth Rd, Balgowlah Rd, Frenchs Forest Rd, Ethel St, Wakehurst Parkway, Burnt St, Judith St, Kirkwood St and Warringah Rd.
Residents may also temporarily lose areas of public land required for workers or spoil storage and water activities may be restricted in Middle Harbour.
WHAT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT?
THE RMS said the tunnel would have a significant impact on the environment.
The report said trees would have to be felled and highlighted threatened and endangered species. Three threatened flora species recorded during field surveys include the critically endangered seaforth mintbrush, the endangered sunshine wattle and magenta lilly pilly and the vulnerable netted bottle brush.
Among the animals that may suffer include the superb fruit dove, grey-headed flying fox, powerful owl and rosenberg’s goanna. Increased incidents of flooding was highlighted as a possible outcome of the works, as well as water pollution during construction and loss of marine habitat and marine life.
ABORIGINAL HERITAGE SITES:
THE TUNNEL has the potential to impact on areas of Aboriginal and cultural heritage.
The majority of registered sites within and around the design development are rock engravings, shelters with art, middens and burials.
These types of Aboriginal heritage sites are highly significant in terms of their cultural and archaeological value and rarity in the Sydney region.
The report found the project had the potential to impact on areas of Aboriginal cultural heritage significance through direct disturbance and indirect disturbance through ground settlement or vibration impacts during construction, particularly tunnelling works.
A detailed assessment will be prepared.
THE ALTERNATIVE:
SMALL changes to the preferred option could have a big impact on residents, according to a campaign group.
Marco Corrent, of North Seaforth, has come up with some suggestions to minimise the impact of the tunnel on residents. His plans have won the support of Manly state MP James Griffin and hundreds of residents.
He would like to see the Wakehurst Parkway tunnel opening moved 500m to the north, away from homes. He would also like to see the portal at North Balgowlah covered with vegetation and the ventilation stack moved to the highest point of the ridge away from residents and schools.
Mr Corrent said he was disappointed his options were not in the scoping report.