BaptistCare Macquarie Park Masterplan

I am writing to express my serious objections to proposed BaptistCare Macquarie Park Masterplan. As a concerned citizen and stakeholder, I strongly believe that this masterplan will have a negative impact on the quality of life for those who live and work in and near the area.
Firstly, the size and scale of the project will cause significant traffic congestion in the area, particularly during peak hours. The additional traffic that brought by, according to the masterplan, the potential thousands of residents living in the 550-570 apartments and c.1000 students in the student accommodation, will put a strain on the already overburdened road network and public transportation system.
Secondly. the proposed project will have a significant impact on the local environment. The construction process will result in the destruction of valuable green spaces and will increase the amount of waste generated in the area. Due to overdevelopment, green spaces have been materially reduced along Epping Road since 2018. Also the overlong construction process will cause great amount of air, noise and dust pollution.
Lastly. I am strongly concerned about the idea of Vertical Village. I feel that it is not only unacceptable but also highly dangerous for the elderly residents in the facility, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of providing elderly residents with safe, low-density living environments that minimise their exposure to infectious diseases. High-rise buildings, with their shared spaces, elevators, and close proximity to other residents, pose an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of elderly residents during this pandemic. Furthermore, the high-rise component of the plan will also have a significant impact on the quality of life for the elderly residents. The additional stress and anxiety caused by the potential for exposure to the virus, combined with the difficulty of accessing essential services and amenities on higher floors and free open spaces for exercises or movements, will have a damaging effect on their well-being. In addition, based on the submitted Consultation Outcomes Report, only 3 members attended the drop-in session and 25 people attended the three information share webinar. This limited number of attendees cast a great doubt on the sufficiency of community engagement.
I propose that the master plan be revised to reduce the height and number of buildings, which will allow for the project to be developed in a sustainable and responsible manner.

This letter forms a submission to the SSDA. AMPC request that DPE take our comments into account in assessing the SSDA, in particular:
1. We request that DPE require the applicant to undertake a retail/economic impact assessment of the proposed 7,000m2 of retail (including a full line supermarket) on Macquarie Centre and other centres within 5km of the site. AMPC request the opportunity to review this retail impact assessment prior to DPE determining the SSDA.
2. In addition, having regard to the provisions of the Ryde Macquarie Park Development Control Plan (DCP) 2014 for the Macquarie Park Corridor (which recognises the importance of Macquarie Centre as the retail core of Macquarie Park), AMP Capital recommends that DPE requests the applicant to address the suitability of the site for 7,000m2 of retail, including a full line supermarket.

1. There is a lack of secondary and primary schools in the area, particularly with the growing high-density in the neighbourhood (take Kent Rd Primary for instance). This masterplan needs to fill a very large void in the Christian schooling sector, as there is an overflow of students coming from nearby Northcross Christian Primary School on Lane Cove Rd in Ryde who 1) really have no affordable independent Christian High Schooling to be able stay in the local Ryde area, 2) is a land locked school, 3) has so much demand with many students on the paid waitlist not being able to be offered a place. A Christian Secondary school (and Primary school if space permits) would be the perfect fit for the education lot in Baptistcare's masterplan and the Principal of Northcross (Catherine Horsburgh) has responded positively to the potential of expanding Northcross into the secondary years at the Baptistcare Macquarie Park site. Particularly as Northcross has Baptist mission and values, they would be a perfect partnership with Baptistcare's own core mission and values.

2. The provider you sign up with for the student accommodation should be a provider that cares for community living, to be in line with Baptistcare's own core mission and values such as "designing places not just spaces" (of which alot of accommodation providers, such as Iglu and Scape are, and if something similar were opened up by Baptistcare, this would be competing with the current Macquarie University Central Courtyard accommodation). There are great partnership potentials with existing neighbouring providers, who have long affiliation with Macquarie University and know this sector well and who are not land owners and are currently long-term tenants and would align with Baptistcare's mission and values such as Robert Menzies College which is a Christian ethos college.

3. I support an integration of this masterplan with the neighbouring properties to open up this space to be more a part of the community, by removing all boundary fences and inviting people to use this space to make it more of a community precinct rather than a segregated property (such as in its current state with fences that only the Baptistcare side can access) which would contradict the intentions of a community village which Baptistcare states that it seeks to: invite the young to old; attracting people for local shopping trips; and creating more spaces for human connection.

The above should be addressed and seriously taken on board by Baptistcare, I can be contacted for further consultation and take part in any focus group research.

Thank you for notifying Sydney Water of SSD-46561712. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact [email protected].