Loreto Normanhurst School Redevelopment (Concept Proposal and Stage 1)

I object to the application as proposed in SSD 8996 as I believe it will have a significant detrimental affect on the surrounding residential precinct and while revisions have been made to ameliorate the impact of the proposal on the adjoining residential precincts it is considered that there are still matters particularly in relation to traffic which have not been adequately addressed.
It is indicated that the Concept Plan is a plan to 2047. Usually when a concept or masterplan is prepared the associated infrastructure required is clearly delineated and committed to the project before it commences.
That is not the case in this instance. The Concept Plan is predicated on numerous assumptions and while the various stages of the Plan will/would be reviewed at development application stage it is concerning that at this time there are some essential components such as a clear traffic plan that are missing
If this proposal proceeds I repeat my previous request that Hornsby Council be approached to install signage and linemarking advising drivers not to block residents’ driveways as this would not only facilitate entry to mine and my neighbours’ driveways but would also improve safety and assist in reducing traffic congestion with cars queuing onto Pennant Hills Road behind us.
A detailed objection is attached.

I object to the development, please see attached letter for further details.

My objection is in the attached file: "Objection Loreto SSD8996 IMC 20210307.pdf"
The file "Traffic Photos in Osborn Rd PHR NR FR.pdf" is an attachment to that objection

Please find attached my submission objecting to SSD 8996, namely the proposal by Loreto Normanhurst to redevelop its premises, including increasing its student number cap by 75% to 2,000 and increasing onsite car parking to 433 spaces (including replacing the current 60 space Osborn Road main car park with a 200-space car park).

Loreto has lost its social license to operate in this community.
Minister Stokes should commission public hearings/public meetings to gauge the depth of community anger and resentment

Ms Aditi Coomar
Planning Services
Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
GPO Box 39
SYDNEY NSW 2001
By email: [email protected]
Cc: Alister Henskens SC MP [email protected]
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Normanhurst NSW 2076

5th March 2021
 
Attention: Director – Social and Other Infrastructure Assessments
 
Dear Ms Coomar,
 
LORETO NORMANHURST SCHOOL REDEVELOPMENT (CONCEPT PROPOSAL AND STAGE 1), 91-93 PENNANT HILLS ROAD NORMANHURST (SSD-8996) – OBJECTION
 
I write to you to object to the above proposal and hope that this objection is sincerely considered.
 
I am not opposed to Loreto to grow and develop. However the size of the development and the street consideration in looks and traffic needs to be addressed
 
Mount Pleasant Avenue is a dead-end street with a large nursing home at the end that host many elderly drivers both residents and visitors
The street has no traffic lights. It is one of only a few on Pennant Hills Road that offers motorists no other alternative route out of the street, once in it.
Here are my main concerns:
• Mount Pleasant Avenue is already a traffic nightmare during school operating hours. Ours is a narrow street made worse when Loreto teachers and students park on both sides of the street, effectively turning MPA into a one-lane street. Loreto doubling their numbers will make this much worse.
• Residents already find it hard to exit their homes onto MPA with cars from Loreto parked right up to their driveways. Loreto doubling their numbers will make this much worse.
• An oversized new boarding house on the street, a tripling of the junior school facing our street, a new childcare centre on our street, a new staff carpark with courts built on top on our street, and most concerning, a new link road that results in all drop off and pick up traffic from Loreto exiting onto MPA. This is an enormous cost for one street to bear.
• The intersection between MPA and PHR is problematic. A five foot high brick fence at the corner severely restricts visibility of oncoming traffic. PHR drops down for first 50m looking north from MPA makes visibility worse. The geometry of the intersection means drivers turning left from MPA face a little to the south and have to look back over their right shoulder at an acute angle to see oncoming traffic. The intersection between MPA and PHR will not cope with the increased traffic this development will result in. We fear a serious accident may eventuate.
• Increased traffic will impact access for emergency vehicles on this street – a particular concern given the aged care facility at the end of our street and our close proximity to bush
• Our children’s safety is at risk. Students attending Normanhurst Public School, Normanhurst Boys and those walking to the bus stop outside Loreto are already at risk when they cross from one side of MPA street onto the other. Loreto doubling their numbers will make this much worse.
• There will be at least 4 more entrances and exits to be built on the street with cars and trucks using them in large numbers.
• The proposed buildings are unsightly, too large and out of keeping with the residential zoning of our street.
• if this was your street would you oppose it for the same reasons as mentioned above?
 
As the school plans to almost double their numbers, their traffic management plan and Green Plan are grossly inadequate.
 
In summary, I object to the Loreto Normanhurst amended proposal. The increased traffic would make an already problematic traffic situation even more untenable for residents of Mount Pleasant Avenue and Osborne Road and its five feeder streets, all of which are cul-de-sac roads.
 
Declaration – I have not made a political donation in the last two years.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Greg and Allison Ford

Austin Hukins
xxxxxx
Normanhurst 2076

4 March 2021

Loreto Normanhurst School Redevelopment (Concept Proposal and Stage 1), (SSD-8996)-Objection

As a resident of xxxx I wish to lodge an objection to this proposal.

Whilst I acknowledge the amendments which have been made in this proposal these do not solve the basic traffic problem in the narrow Osborn Road with its five feeder streets. The increase of the parking spaces to 463 highlights the problem. There would be chaos in Osborn Road with the increased traffic entering from and exiting to Pennant Hills Road during drop off and pick up times, special events and sporting days. The proposed amendments do not solve this problem. This could be critical when emergency vehicles need access.

In summary I object to the proposal because of the resulting traffic chaos in Osborn Road and the danger which it could cause.

Declaration: I have not made a political donation in the last two years.

Yours sincerely,

Austin Hukins

Please find attached my submission objecting to SSD 8996, namely the proposal by Loreto Normanhurst to redevelop its premises, including increasing its student number cap by 75% to 2,000 and increasing onsite car parking to 433 spaces (including replacing the current 60 space Osborn Road main car park with a 200-space car park).

Ms Aditi Coomar

Planning Services

Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

GPO Box 39

SYDNEY NSW 2001
By email: [email protected]
Cc: Alister Henskens SC MP [email protected]
Sam Daoud

3/3 /2021
Attention: Director – Social and Other Infrastructure Assessments
Dear Ms Coomar,
LORETO NORMANHURST SCHOOL REDEVELOPMENT (CONCEPT PROPOSAL AND STAGE 1), 91-93 PENNANT HILLS ROAD NORMANHURST (SSD-8996) – OBJECTION
I write to you to object to the above proposal in the strongest possible terms.
Nobody denies Loreto a chance to grow and develop. But why is the development so big?
Loreto are proposing to almost double their school size in the coming years. Their traffic management plan includes creating a flow of traffic from Osborne Rd, through their school and out onto Mount Pleasant Ave. Both streets are dead-end streets. There will be then considerable flow-on effects for other Normanhurst streets, causing traffic delays and threatening the safety of the community. The thousands of school children that walk up and down Normanhurst Rd will be most at risk.
Here are my main concerns:
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With no traffic lights and a banning of the right hand turn from Mount Pleasant Avenue, hundreds of cars that would have otherwise turned right onto Pennant Hills Rd to go to Hornsby/Waitara will be funnelled down Normanhurst Rd. This road is already a traffic nightmare with a shopping centre at the bottom of it and two schools in the vicinity (Normanhurst Boys and Normanhurst Public School). Local traffic could be delayed by 30-60 minutes should the increased traffic from Loreto be funnelled down Normanhurst Rd. The situation will get worse over time as Loreto grows and grows.
The intersection of Pennant Hills Rd and Osborn Rd is already very dangerous. Northbound traffic from Osborne Rd to Normanhurst Rd and southbound traffic from Normanhurst Rd to Osborne Rd or Pennant Hills Rd currently creates a tricky situation. Add in hundreds more cars forced onto Normanhurst Rd due to the changed traffic conditions and it is a recipe for disaster. The situation will get worse over time as Loreto grows and grows.
Increased traffic will impact access for emergency vehicles on our streets.
Our children’s safety is at risk. Students attending Normanhurst Public School, Normanhurst Boys and those walking to the bus stop outside Loreto are already at risk from Pennant Hills Rd and the morning and afternoon traffic from the schools in the area. Loreto doubling their numbers will make this much worse.
The proposed buildings are unsightly, too large and out of keeping with the residential zoning of Normanhurst.
[ADD ANY ADDITIONAL CONCERNS HERE]
Loreto’s traffic management plan and Green Plan are woefully inadequate.

In summary, I object to the Loreto Normanhurst amended proposal. The increased traffic would make an already problematic traffic situation even more untenable for residents of Mount Pleasant Avenue, Osborne Road (and its five feeder streets), Normanhurst Rd, Denman Parade, Buckingham Ave and Malsbury Rd and other streets in the neighbourhood.

Hanne Christensen and Jorgen Christensen 1 March 2021
xxxxxxx
NORMANHURST NSW 2076

LORETTO NORMANHURST SCHOOL REDEVELOPMENT
Application No SSD -8996

We object to the proposal because of impact of the increased traffic because of:
• The planned intake of additional 75% more students will cause more traffic on Osborn Road, which is already extremely busy in the morning and afternoon hours. This results in long queues on both Osborn Road and Pennant Hills Road. Currently we experience waiting times of 20 minutes at the traffic light at Pennant Hills Road, Osborn Road and Normanhurst Road. An increase will make this catastrophic in cases of emergencies.
• There currently is no alternative road to getting out of Osborn Road as the exit to Pennant Hills Road from Nepean Avenue has been closed for several years and a passage through the school grounds is not existing anymore. It is nonacceptable to not having any alternative for exit in case of emergency even now.
• Building of new parking will also increase the traffic as all traffic will go through Osborn Road.
• More traffic will increase the possibility of traffic accidents and pedestrian safety.
Some alternative ways of traffic must be included in the proposal.
Some options could be:
• that traffic lights be established at Mount Pleasant Road to Pennant Hills Road intersection. That traffic to the school and delivery and collection of children can also be accessed from Mount Pleasant Road.
• An accessible connection is established between Osborn and Mount Pleasant Road.
• Establish extra lanes on Osborn Road from and to Pennant Hills Road.
• Possibly reopen the access from Nepean Avenue to Pennant Hills Road and establish traffic lights.
• There may be other options which we haven’ thought of at this point in time. The costs to do this could be covered by the Loreto School and included in the proposal

We haven’t given any political donations and disapprove that if so it should have any impact on the acceptance of the proposal.

Suzanne Shields
xxxxxx Normanhurst 2076

I strongly object to application SSD-8996.

I have lived at the above address for over xxx and happily co-existed with Loreto until the last few years. There has been a growing problem with traffic in local streets with each iteration of Loreto development and growth. If approved, SSD-8996 will exacerbate an existing significant problem and wilfully ignore local residents’ concerns.

Part of Loreto’s planned redevelopment includes increased parking at the school but this will not help the traffic situation in any way. The redevelopment also includes a no-through road and green travel plan but these will not take traffic off the local streets. It would, in fact, significantly add to the traffic. With the proposed expansion of enrolments, traffic congestion will become even worse and an already poor traffic situation will become dire.

It would be negligent for this application to be approved until the current problems with traffic have been successfully eliminated.

Loreto’s sense of entitlement is quite overwhelming as the school simply does not appear to care about local residents. Osborn Road is not a private road belonging to Loreto. It is a narrow, local street (with five feeder streets) lived in by ratepayers. At school peak pick-up and drop-off times there is no way an emergency vehicle could quickly enter Osborn Road and attend to an emergency in either Osborn Road or the five feeder streets that have Osborn Road as their only way in or out.

The various traffic reports commissioned by Loreto try to demonstrate that the streets near the school currently work satisfactorily and can support the proposed development but the residents, with their lived experiences, know much better. Residents are angry with the peak school time traffic now and know it becomes a choked mess whenever there is a school event taking place eg every Saturday with sport traffic as well as various other school functions.

Some suggestions to help with the traffic problem could include:

1. not allowing buses in Osborn Road. Buses should drop students off at Pennant Hills Road. This is particularly viable now that North Connex has opened. There is an overbridge connecting one side of the road to the other and students would be completely safe. There is also room for a bus layby outside the school with only a relatively small amount of work required by Loreto to make it operational. I am aware that RMS has decreed traffic can no longer enter Loreto from Pennant Hills Road but that is a decision that could and should be easily reversed.
2. Parents/caregivers should only be allowed to pick up/drop off children at Loreto unless they have some sort of permit eg child with disability or very young child or similar. Perhaps they should pay for the privilege of picking up/dropping off children? Most children should be arriving by Loreto bus or public transport. Loreto already has a bus fleet in operation picking up students and this bus program can be expanded to make it the foremost way students arrive and depart the school. Normanhurst train station is also near to the school as well as various public bus stops.

Creative thinking needs to be employed and I have yet to see any from the vast amount of documentation Loreto has produced. My two outlined suggestions are environmentally sound, workable and practical solutions unlike the ‘greenwashing’ and other suggestions that the Loreto redevelopment report contains.

I’d like to see Loreto commit to reducing the school traffic on local streets by 75% by the end of 2022. If they reach that goal that demonstrates their good faith and commitment to solving the traffic issue. Then, and only then, could SSD-8996 be looked at in a more positive light.

Please find attached my submission objecting to SSD 8996, namely the proposal by Loreto Normanhurst to redevelop its premises, including increasing its student number cap by 75% to 2,000 and increasing onsite car parking to 433 spaces (including replacing the current 60 space Osborn Road main car park with a 200-space car park).

Please find attached my submission objecting to SSD 8996, namely the proposal by Loreto Normanhurst to redevelop its premises, including increasing its student number cap by 75% to 2,000 and increasing onsite car parking to 433 spaces (including replacing the current 60 space Osborn Road main car park with a 200-space car park).

See attachment

Attached

Dear Ms Coomar,
I live in xxxxxx. Please find attached my objection letter to the Loreto Normanhurst School redevelopment.


Regards,
Mohana Yamasani.

Ms Aditi Coomar
xxxxxxx

Elke Wagener
xxxxxxxx
Normanhurst NSW 2076

8/3/2021

Attention: Director – Social and Other Infrastructure Assessments

Dear Ms Coomar,
LORETO NORMANHURST SCHOOL REDEVELOPMENT (CONCEPT PROPOSAL AND STAGE 1), 91-93 PENNANT HILLS ROAD NORMANHURST (SSD-8996) – OBJECTION
I write to you to object to the proposal in the strongest possible terms.
I am greatly concerned about the traffic impact on Osborn Road, which is already unacceptable during drop off and pick up times on weekdays and also during weekend sporting events.

The proposed development includes an additional large underground carpark in Osborn Road which will exacerbate the existing problems in Osborn Road:
• Unacceptable traffic conditions for residents of Osborn Road and its 5 feeder streets. Osborn Road is a very narrow suburban street and is already blocked back into Pennant Hills Road by school pick up traffic, both buses and cars, as well as staff and students exiting carparks into Osborn Road.
• Compromising safety of the local residents and also the students and staff of Loreto as timely access for emergency vehicles (Fire trucks, ambulances, police, SES) can’t be guaranteed.
• Hampering future residential development due to road infrastructure having been rendered beyond capacity. Under State Planning schemes there is increasing housing density in the streets that depend on Osborn Road for their sole access. The increasing number of residents’ vehicles has not been taken into account in Loreto traffic plans.

Loreto Convent currently has internal roads which can be used to transport its students from Pennant Hills Road to the various carparks rather than loading up Osborn Road. Additionally, buses travelling in northerly direction along Pennant Hills Road can load and unload students at the bus stop near the overhead bridge.
Both of these options have been proposed to Loreto at previous meetings in order to alleviate the congestion in Osborn Road. Sadly, these suggestion have fallen on deaf ears. Loreto has shown no interest in their neighbours’ concerns and safety.

If Loreto wants to increase its student numbers, then the school must provide the infrastructure to allow this. It is not reasonable to expect the local residents to have their suburban street turned into an accessway to an additional large underground carpark increasing at times already dangerous traffic conditions.

Please see accompanying photos from February this year.

Declaration – I have not made a political donation in the last two years.

Yours sincerely,
Elke Wagener
Photos sent separately as unable to load them.

Attached

Here are my main concerns:

Mount Pleasant Avenue is already a traffic nightmare during school operating hours. Ours is a narrow street made worse when Loreto teachers and students park on both sides of the street, effectively turning MPA into a one-lane street. Loreto doubling their numbers will make this much worse.

Residents already find it hard to exit their homes onto MPA with cars from Loreto parked right up to their driveways. Loreto doubling their numbers will make this much worse.

An oversized new boarding house on the street, a tripling of the junior school facing our street, a new childcare centre on our street, a new staff carpark with courts built on top on our street, and most concerning, a new link road that results in all drop off and pick up traffic from Loreto exiting onto MPA. This is an enormous cost for one street to bear.

The intersection between MPA and PHR is problematic. A five foot high brick fence at the corner severely restricts visibility of oncoming traffic. PHR drops down for first 50m looking north from MPA makes visibility worse. The geometry of the intersection means drivers turning left from MPA face a little to the south and have to look back over their right shoulder at an acute angle to see oncoming traffic. The intersection between MPA and PHR will not cope with the increased traffic this development will result in.  We fear a serious accident may eventuate.

Increased traffic will impact access for emergency vehicles on this street – a particular concern given the aged care facility at the end of our street and our close proximity to bush

Our children’s safety is at risk. Students attending Normanhurst Public School, Normanhurst Boys and those walking to the bus stop outside Loreto are already at risk when they cross from one side of MPA street onto the other. Loreto doubling their numbers will make this much worse. 

There will be at least 4 more entrances and exits to be built on the street with cars and trucks using them in large numbers.

The proposed buildings are unsightly, too large and out of keeping with the residential zoning of our street.



As the school plans to almost double their numbers, their traffic management plan and Green Plan are woefully inadequate. 


In summary, I object to the Loreto Normanhurst amended proposal. The increased traffic would make an already problematic traffic situation even more untenable for residents of Mount Pleasant Avenue and Osborne Road and its five feeder streets, all of which are cul-de-sac roads.

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NORMANHURST NSW 2076
Friday, 5 March 2021

Attention: Director – Social and Other Infrastructure Assessments

Dear Ms Coomar,
LORETO NORMANHURST SCHOOL REDEVELOPMENT (CONCEPT PROPOSAL AND STAGE 1), 91-93 PENNANT HILLS ROAD NORMANHURST (SSD-8996) – OBJECTION
Once again the residents of Osborn Road have been given scant notice of Loreto Normanhurst development proposals. Two weeks is a very short time to read and analyse the lengthy documents delivered online.
I write to you to object to the proposal in the strongest possible terms.
Even at the current school size of 1,150 students, residents suffer unacceptable traffic chaos at drop-off and pick-up times, during school ceremonies, and during weekend sporting events. This traffic chaos impacts Osborn Road and its five feeder streets Currawong Avenue, Rivertop Close, Nepean Avenue, Wendy Avenue and Dunbar Close alike.
After reviewing the Loreto response to submissions, I noted the statements below with greatest concern as they are completely unrealistic:
‘A provision has been made within the concept plan for a future carpark providing up to 200 spaces located at the P3A carpark.’ – ‘The Osborn Road/Pennant Hills Road/Normanhurst Road intersection is shown to perform at an acceptable level of service in the concept plan post development model.’
The key points of my objection are:
• More students = more car parks = more drop-offs / pickups = more traffic chaos – Approving 433 car spaces and replacing the current 60 space Osborn Road main car park with a 200-space car park is beyond comprehension. No through-road, green travel plan or other solution will fix the resulting traffic chaos.
• Increased queuing on Osborn Road and at traffic lights – The amended travel plans for school traffic, which include more queue spaces for drop-off and pick-up, are totally inadequate to cope with even a fraction of the proposed increase. Already today, traffic nightmares and long traffic queues on Osborn Road are a regular occurrence. In addition, queues regularly form on Pennant Hills Road (PHR) where left- and right-hand turning traffic approaching Loreto forms queues due to the frequency of the traffic lights which impacts on the PHR traffic flow.
• All school traffic, apart from Early Learning Centre traffic, to be funnelled into Osborn Road – Doing so will inevitably cause a massive logjam of traffic in Osborn Road, with cars either queuing to take the ‘through road’ or driving to the drop-off/ pick-up P3A carpark. There cannot possibly be any other outcome than traffic chaos despite the modelling and predictions. This is further compounded by the fact that according to NSW road rules legislation, right-hand turning traffic exiting from the P3A car park as well as from the slip road must give way to Osborn Road traffic. Increasing pick-up and drop-off lanes will not alleviate this situation due to the increase in traffic movements generated by increased student intake.
• Even more traffic in Osborn Road due to closure of Pennant Hills Road (PHR) school gate – Even before the stage 1 development, more cars will enter/ exit Osborn Road as a result. This will lead to over 80% of current traffic coming into Osborn Road, which places pedestrians and especially the elderly and young children walking at risk.
• ‘Green Travel Plan’ is a complete fantasy – Whilst Loreto Normanhurst makes the ‘Green Travel Plan’ a key point to change travel behaviour, it is unenforceable. As such, a proportion of school parents, students and staff will continue to commute as they wish, which is most likely by car.
• Compromising emergency access – The queuing of traffic in Osborn Road by students and parents waiting to enter and exit P3A carpark could severely compromise emergency vehicle access in the event of bushfires or a medical emergency.
• Protection of remnant Blue Gum High Forest and wildlife – Osborn Road is narrow and cannot be widened due to protected remnant Blue Gum High Forest and wildlife.
In summary, I object to the Loreto Normanhurst amended proposal as the increased traffic would make it even more untenable for residents of Osborn Road and its five feeder streets as well as Mt Pleasant Avenue both of which are cul-de-sac roads.

Declaration – I have not made a political donation in the last two years.

Yours sincerely,

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