Minarah College

To whom it may concern

I support Minarah College being built in Catherine Fields as it will be excellent for the local community as the school is inclusive and gives back to the local community. I don't believe the school will have a major impact on the local roads as they have an excellent traffic flow plan.
I believe the school fully encompasses Australian values and participates in ANZAC Day and various fund raisers for the Council Cancer etc. Although the school is an Islamic school it is open to students and teachers of all faiths. It will also help to increase employment in the area by creating many new jobs.

I wholeheartedly support this project and wish it every success.

Thank you.

I Strongly Oppose the Minarah College Project in Catherine Field

This is incomplete as i was not given sufficient time to complete this - and all my comments don't fit in this box.
Submission relating to: SSD‐30759158
Based on the information provided in the EIS and Supporting Appendices, I object to the development.
I would like to express my great concerns over the application that is being lodged to build a school/college on Catherine Fields Road. I am totally against any school, of any type, being built in Catherine Field. It is a very small, quiet rural town and this is why I live here. I don’t want it to change or develop. Traffic has already increased since all these estates are opening around us and the opening of the road from Oran Park straight onto Springfield Road which has further impacted the traffic. I myself work in a high school and know the amount of traffic a school creates at various times of the day and evening depending on what is happening in the school calendar - buses coming and going for sports and excursions as well, and they want to also run events til 10pm at night, how is this ok?? What safety and security measures are being put in place. They have also expressed the hours of the school being much more extensive then they expressed in their very short, one time only ‘community zoom’ That they barely advertised. They have purchased three 5 acre blocks – that’s 15 acres that they will utitlised each and every day for long hours. They plan to run sporting and religious activities in and outside of school hours. This will create many problems, such as constant traffic – This will further damage our roads that are constantly filled with pot holes already – where the council has no intention of fixing the roads, parking – there will not be enough parking on site, there never is in schools, so the road and surrounding neighbours will have cars constantly parked on the side of the road and blocking their driveways just as what has happened at every school in the surrounding areas. The amount of car sports they are putting in wont even be enough for staff let alone visitors, students and people dropping off their kids for daycare. Furthermore this would lead to road safety concerns due to many factors. The traffic lights on Camden Valley way / Catherine field road and Springfield and Catherine field road – only let 3-4 cars out at a time – this will create a constant back up of traffic due to the increase in cars, trucks, buses (both during construction and when the school opens and afterhours) and can lead to people taking dangerous chances to get through the lights causing unnecessary accidents or fatalities. This is not fair on residence who did not move to this area to be bombarded with traffic and all the problems that comes with that traffic. Including more dangerous road –accidents, a 40km zone on a rural street, one lane each direction, where at every school I have ever seen no matter how much on site parking or long driveway they have causes cars to just stop ON THE ROAD waiting to get in to drop or pick up their kids. This would cause much distress for neighbour and road users who are trying to go about their business and don’t expect traffic jams everyday on a rural road! There is no shoulder or safe place to stop and the road is one lane each way- therefore not enough space for an increase in traffic that this school will provide 7 DAYS A WEEK.
We already have an increase of traffic on the weekends due to the softball/baseball teams that play on the weekends, that are crossing the road and parking all over the place near the sporting fields.
As per the Road Safety report -
All three corridors are currently unsafe for pedestrians in the current environment. There are no shoulders.The following key issues have been highlighted:
1. No pedestrian paths – making it extremely unsafe for both students walking/riding to school and if parents park outside and walk into school.
2. No pedestrian crossings – This cannot be placed on this rural road.
3. No bike paths of safe cycle ways
4. No/limited bus infrastructure
5. No level or even access, no kerbs, no drainage, or water retention,
6. Limited street lighting
7. Poor water catchment
All of these further state that it is not safe nor should these things be put on this road as it is a RURAL area that is not designed for a project of this magnitude.
There is extensive damage already on the roads, when they were just repaired about 3 weeks ago. It is again full of pot holes – and you have to drive all over the road to avoid them. The pot holes and damage will only increase with more traffic and accidents will happen as it is unsafe.


1 SEARs 3. Design Quality: Good design in accordance with the seven objectives for good design in “Better Placed”.
1.1 Background:
In regards to “Better Placed” on Page 12 warns about indicators of poor design outcomes, specifically:
“POOR ‘FIT’ AND NOT RESPONDING TO CONTEXT: A community’s sense of place can be undermined and existing attractors devalued when: Design has little sense of the ‘local’ character, materials or landscape”.
Page 19 also stated that:
“Good design in the built environment is informed by and derived from its location, context and
social setting. It is place‐based and relevant to and resonant with local character, heritage and
communal aspirations”.
1.2 Response:
The people who are developing this project did not speak with the local community on the design of the school at all or if it fits in with the landscape and has therefore rendered the development out of context of the local character. The evidence for this statement is basically that the development has failed to engage the local community, has failed to understand the local
heritage and has opted for a design that is foreign to the culture and heritage of the local community and farming background of the local area. For example:
Page 64 of the EIS states with respect to design: “Consideration of the three cultures (Aboriginal, Islamic and Fijian) with a key relationship with the school” The design of the school is not in keeping with the local community. No effort has been made to design the school to fit into a feature or the heritage of the local community, which is not Fijian/Islamic. According the ABS census 20211, over 70% of Catherine Field has an ancestry that is (in descending order) Australian, English, Italian, Maltese and Chinese. The development does not
consider a design that is consistent with the nearby historic "Oran Park house" and there has been
no effort to study any heritage in the local community, especially Raby House in Catherine Field
which has a pioneering agricultural history dating to the early 1800's.
 No attempt has been made to recognise the significance and architecture of Raby2 House, a Heritage listed homestead in Catherine Field, dating back to c.1820 for the original house and c. 1875 for the main house. We request the architecture reflect the rural heritage and rural nature of Catherine Field, to compliment the aboriginal heritage architecture.
 According to 2021 census data published by ABS3: In Green Valley, Fijian is represented as the third highest country of birth (excluding Australian). Fijian is not listed as an ancestry from anyone in Catherine Field4. In fact, over 70% of Catherine Field has an ancestry that is, in descending order, Australian, English, Italian, Maltese and Chinese.

Page ii
3.0. This states that the 2016 Census was employed to analyse the surrounding area of Catherine Field. Since this time (6 years) we have seen many emence changes to the local area that would have a considerable impact on this analysis and the impacts on the community at large and a better picture of the local demographics.

Page iii
4.0 Community Consultation.
It was stated that 945 flyers went out to let the community know about the school. But many residents, including those close to the site did not receive any notification at all, I do not believe that this many flyers went out at all. Or maybe they did it in a different LGA. The ‘session’ they advertised was extremely unorganized and changed at the last minute and no follow up was made to the residence that did not attend the session or who were given a flyer.
It also states that 17 neighbours were invited to another session, but they don’t know anything about this, where is the proof that this happened. I assure you if I was notified I would have attended. This can be further proved as we have had several meetings ourself with the local communities and get 50-100 people each time. People do want to have their say and make time IF they know about it.
The report also mentions stakeholder meetings and briefings, but provides no further details of these so called meetings. What was discussed? What has happened as a result.

Page 2: Bullet point Way of Life
The report says that the following impact categories should be considered.
Way of Life.
 Will privacy, peace and quiet enjoyment significantly change for the neighbours and the local area, particularly changes to people’s daily lives and activities during both construction and operation.
This has not been address at all. They claim minimal impact – this is being brushed under the carpet. This does not capture feedback provided to date in relation to the disruption of the existing lifestyle associated with Rural zoning of the land and the keeping of animals on properties.
This is a significant factor that I want addressed – we can survey the people that have a school built next to them of this size in a similar rural area and assess their concerns, I can assure you that these are very significant and frustrating circumstances they have to deal with every day. One person at our meetings explained they moved to Catherine field to get away from a school that was built right next to them in kemps Creek.
Continuous noise pollution in an extremely quiet area.

I would like to OPPOSE the proposed Minarah College.

I make no contributions to political parties.

Dear Nahid
I have many concerns regarding any type of development for this address;
* The fact that there is only one entry/exit for a school of this size, what happens if there is an emergency on campus and it’s also peak time for either start or end of school day.
* There are no sewerage facilities in Catherine Field, how would a pump out system work effectively and not add noise and odour pollution to neighbours.
* A school of this size would highly impact traffic flow, with most students being driven to and from school, the increase of traffic would further burden a road already struggling with increased traffic from the opening up of surrounding areas.
Having only one entry, if you are travelling along Catherine Field Rd and turning right into the school, with all the other traffic of car line and kiss and drop, how far will the traffic bank up while waiting to be able to turn. There are no plans to widen the road, so going around the cars waiting to turn will not be an option.
Also, the addition of heavy vehicles and traffic for construction purposes will cause further damage to a road that is filled with potholes and patches.
* As a rural area there are no footpaths, or kerb and gutters. There are no shoulders on the road for parking or waiting in line. The number of parking spaces will be inadequate for a school of this size, where will the overflow parking area be?
The number of spaces indicated for car line use, in my experience, will be insufficient. Where will the overflow for car line end up?
* A school that is open 7 days a week for significant hours per day does not fit in with our rural area. This application is of NO benefit to the community, we do not have a need for this in our community.
I ask that you carefully consider the ramifications of building this school on this site.

Also, my reason for this submission coming by way of email, is because the portal is useless, I’ve been waiting for an email to verify my registration for days, with no reply to date.

See attachment

as attached

Dear Mr Mahmoud,
Firstly please acknowledge the receipt of my submission, I am emailing you because I was unable to access to portal to deliver my views, despite numerous attempts. I informed my local member of this difficulty and have included him in this email.
I have no political affiliation and do not contribute money to any political party.
I would like my details to remain anonymous xxxxxxx.
I would like to lodge a formal objection to the proposed development SSD-3075915 Minarah College.
We have lived in Catherine Field for thirty three years, it is a quiet, small rural community, despite the development that is raging around us. I would like it to remain so.
There is no curb and guttering, no footpaths, few street lights and no sewage.
The enormous in crease in traffic that a large school will bring to our area is of major concern to me. According to the application more than 80% of students will travel from out of our area, this means there will be hundreds of cars on Catherine Fields Road all trying to turn into the school during a fifteen to thirty minute period twice per day. Even if there is a proposed turning lane there will not be enough parking on school grounds to enable free flow of traffic.
The condition of the local roads is appalling, Catherine Fields Rd has been closed multiple times this year due to flooding, there are numerous large potholes everywhere. Camden Council recently undertook repair of these, rain has followed and now there are new potholes that become larger each day. Increase in traffic will only make this problem untenable.
It is my understanding that there is no plan to improve the local roads in our area and I find that such a large development to be unsustainable for this area.
The application refers to community consultation, of which I feel there has been little. I participated in the online information session, where I felt many questions were left unanswered. We were told that we would be kept updated, but I never heard from the group again.
While I feel that there will be little impact of the increase in noise for me personally, I share my neighbours concern that those living close to the school will be disturbed by noise from both the construction and the operation once established. I also note that during the EIS one of the noise monitors mysteriously disappeared I feel this was very convenient and question why it wasn’t replaced.
It is my opinion that the establishment of Minarah College will have a profound impact on the way of life within the small central community of Catherine Field.
I thank you for the opportunity to express my objections to this proposed school and hope to be kept informed of the progress of the application.

Good morning
I have not been able to send a submission through the appropriate portal, as this portal does not work, therefore I am emailing my objection to the application.
I request that my private information not be disclosed.
I declare that I do not contribute to any political parties.
I oppose the above application.
Will this application have to meet all the criteria necessary for any proposal put forward to council? If so, there are many glaring reasons why this cannot go ahead.
The fact that there is no sewerage in this area, and probably not for some time, even with daily pump outs, how can a school of this size be serviced effectively, and not have an adverse impact on the surrounding residents. How could this problem be acceptable to all concerned authorities?
Traffic issues should be a high priority. The effects of adding numerous extra vehicles on a road that is already under strain will be a nightmare for residents who have chosen a rural lifestyle. Catherine Field Rd (and surrounding roads) are poorly maintained, patched and full of potholes..as far as I’m aware there are no plans to either improve or widen the road. Surely, the safety of everyone is paramount and this proposal would not be acceptable.
The risk factor and the logistics of having only one entry and exit road will be horrific.
I am a grandparent who has over many years experienced morning and afternoon drop off/ pick up. There will be nowhere for the overflow of cars to stop, creating a bottleneck at the entry point…..what if there’s an emergency and rescue vehicles cannot access the campus, or an evacuation, what will happen then?
I don’t see any other schools in the area with only one access point, how can this comply with regulations of safety?
Flooding issues have not been addressed. All applications for building works have to adhere to stringent rules concerning flooding, especially if this encroaches neighbouring properties.
The hours of operation and the use for 7 days a week are not normal for a school, Catherine Field has an existing public hall and sports field, with areas to park.
The area is rural, there are no pedestrian footpaths, no kerb and gutters, the road shoulder is not an acceptable area to park while waiting for students, or as an overflow car park for employees and year 12 students with licenses. This would be hazardous for a road with a high traffic flow.
I believe there are many, many reasons for this proposal to be rejected. I urge everyone involved to do your due diligence and be as concerned as the community of the risks in accepting this application.

The proposed school will be a valuable addition to the South Western Sydney region - providing Islamic youth with a faith based school and quality education facility.