Rapid Transit Rail Facility

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing you this email to object to the proposal to build a Rapid Transit Rail Facility at Tallawong Road, Rouse Hill.

Name of application: objection Rapid Transit Rail Facility at Tallawong Road, Rouse Hill

Application number: SSI-5931

Brief statement: I object to the proposal to build a Rapid Transit Rail Facility at Tallawong Road, Rouse Hill

Reasons: Noise it will create, pollution to the area; meaning pollution from the trains, but also the building needed will ruin the area. It should be a residential area, not an industrial area. The value of my house will decrease with a stabling yard and Rapid Transit Rail Facility at the end of the road.
Infrastructure changes to the area which are needed to support a Rapid Transit Rail Facility will decrease the value of my house. The infrastructure needed will change the residential look and feel into a industrial look and feel.

I have made no political donations in the past 2 years.

ATTN: Director, Infrastructure Projects

I am writing to voice my concerns with the proposed Rapid Transit Rail Facility, Tallawong Road Rouse Hill.

As a resident of the fairly new suburb, The Ponds, I am extremely concerned about this project and the direct effects to home owners in the adjoining suburbs.

Please understand that I am not against the Norwest Rail Link project. The train line will provide much needed transport and jobs to the area. And I understand that the a stabling yard and workshop facility needs to be built. My concerns are in the design and location of the Site.

Before purchasing land at The Ponds, I did the most extensive search on the land I knew how. I visited the Blacktown Council office and viewed pages and pages of pdfs about local development proposals. I read about the then proposed Norwest Railink, but never heard or read anything about the massive site to house and maintain a capacity of 45 trains - and definitely nothing of any railworks to be bordering onto The Ponds.

The purchase price of land in The Ponds certainly does not match that of land next to such a facility, and while a trainline will help improve property prices, an adjoining trainline and stabling/maintenance house with all the noice, pollution, grafitti, and of course the visual impact will surely hinder the long term property value of the suburb. It must also be noted that land in The Ponds is still being sold with no mention of this.

The structure will be enormous; 36 hectares, 30 metres high. It may not only block the view of the blue mountains, but most certainly won't fit in with the idyllic setting we were lead to believe in the advertising when purchasing land at The Ponds. Furthermore, positioned at the top of a hill, the Site will be seen from near and VERY afar.

The facility will be open 24hrs - and although the advertising states that there will be "no train horn testing within the maintenance and stabling facility", I am still concerned about noise and pollution. What about those screeching break sounds that are so common on trains?? And who is to say that these time restraints may be lifted after the facility reaches capacity.

Another concern is in the type of people a train stable may attract. Documentation states that the site will be a secure facility. I really hope that great measures are kept to ensure this happens. The last thing our new suburb needs is graffiti and the like bringing down property prices and vandalising our many parks.

The illustrated site plan of the proposed site shows a tree line of only one or two trees deep - certainly not hiding the monstrosity at all. I hope that new considerations will be made to revise this plan so that all sides of the site will include additional landscaping, thickening trees, and noise barrier fencing. I understand that land is expensive, and purchasing additional land to do this will be difficult, however I strongly feel that it is a necessary mean.

Kind regards,
Sarah
Resident

Reasons: Noise it will create, pollution to the area; meaning pollution from the trains, but also the building needed will ruin the area. It should be a residential area, not an industrial area which uses heavy machinery.

There are no local shops, mail office or even a mailbox or a bus stop anywhere near my home, so I don't understand how someone got the idea to put in an industrial complex which uses heavy machinery in an area that will be surrounded by residential properties.

The value of my house will decrease with a stabling yard and Rapid Transit Rail Facility at the end of the road.

Infrastructure changes to the area which are needed to support a Rapid Transit Rail Facility. The infrastructure needed will change the residential look and feel into a industrial look and feel.

Working and having grown up in Western Sydney I firstly note my general support for the Northwest Rail link. While this is a trivially small piece of public transport infrastructure in comparison to the scale of government-driven urban growth in western Sydney, it is nonetheless a welcome one.

However the proposed rapid transport facility is a classic example of the comprehensive planning failures in Western Sydney. The proposal fails to meet a number of statuatory and planning requirements. Most of these relate to the fact that the preferred site is clearly not suitable for the proposed facility. It is clearly neither large enough nor sensibly sited. The RTRF would provide stabling for 45 trains, but the subject site is a mere 35 ha! The site encroaches significantly into the vegetated floodplain of First Ponds Creek to the west, and abuts existing rural lands proposed for future residential use. There is less than 20 m buffer provided between this proposed major industrial facility and low density residential areas.

Of course, dare we raise the ongoing joke which is DP&I's plan to create the future Hambledon Rd running along - i.e. directly above - First Ponds Creek. That such a plan was seriously entertained is evidence of how poor western Sydney's planning has become. And at no time have the officers at Blacktown Council responsible for the management of the public reserve which is the western bank of First Ponds Creek been consulted - I wonder what their view, and that of the public, may be on this plan?

To return to the present proposal. The Marsden Park option is clearly the most appropriate location, within a future industrial area (not a residential one), away from major creeks and so forth. It is distressing that despite repeated entreaties by Blacktown City Council (refer p 53 of the EIS), the sensible location for this facility has been ruled out. The *only* reason given in the present EIS for this option being abandoned is that DP&I (including the Growth Centres Commission) have failed to reserve this option from development, making it an expensive exercise. The NSW public cannot be expected to accept such poor planning.

The Rapid Transit rail facility should be located at the sensible end of the Northwest Rail link, at Marsden Park. Further, this location happens to provide a suitable, sensible, and available (if expensive) location for such a facility.

If the Tallawong Rd option is pursued serious consideration must be made for compensating the impacts of this choice. Predicted noise levels for construction are for moderate to high exceedances of the NMLs, but more concerningly for operational noise *every* time period exceeds the noise criteria - by as much as 10 dB. This is notwithstanding that the background noise level assessments were conducted while roadworks were operational - not a legitimate baseline for an assessment.

All the 'give-away' noise mitigation controls have been proposed. However no *serious* mitigation has been put on the table. The site is not large enough to readily accomodate the proposed facility, let alone noise mitigation infrastructure. Transport for NSW therefore leave themselves no valid alternative than to acquire adjoining properties for provision of the necessary noise mitigation structures to bring noise levels to complying levels.

I seriously doubt that any of the decision makers responsible for this exceedingly poor planning will be at risk of dealing with the consequences - day and night. It is the community who will suffer.

WHEN WILL WE GET DECENT PLANNING FOR WESTERN SYDNEY?

My concern is regarding 3 things: The size of the train holding yard for the rail link. The 'way of life' and 'overall environment' being portrait to young families in all publications concerning the sale of land by Allam Homes (Kalina) and Landcom/Australand does not match the visual outcome of a massive holding yard on top of a hill as per current proposal. You can't have it both ways, sell land at a premium price and advertise it as 'high living standard/premium living' and then come along after most of the area has been sold and say' Oh by the way, you know that Northwest rail-link we are building? We're building a massive eyesore that can be seen from virtually anywhere of the entire suburb! I'm all for the train-line but I think the exact location of the holding yard should be re-considered.
Secondly, I am concerned about the level of security to protect the trains against graffiti artists and vandalism which will be provided. Will there be one guard sitting in a little hut at the front of the main gate at night or is their full video surveillance or guard dog patrols to deter would be troublemakers? There should be some reassurance to the local community in that department. Thirdly, the noise and pollution issue that may arise is a major concern. How much further away from Schofields Rd can this yard be located. If more land needs to be bought, so be it. Heck things like this can be improved, look at the recent Sydney Water Rates issue in the area which has been resolved for the better. Looking forward to some positive movements on these issues.

we bought our block of land and built in the kalina part of the ponds 2 years ago. not once was there any mention of this contruction site or any word of a massive train shed going in. We moved over 2 hours away to move to this area we where promised family safe environment. this not only will bring down the value of our property but bring crime and people that dont live in the area to our doorstep. If you continue with this monstrosity of a train shed we will be forced to sell our house at a lower market value and move back to where we came from. I ask you to please consider all the families that have bought and built in the ponds on the understaning that there was a train line and widning of the road.

Please feel free to contact me on XXXX XXX XXX.

Regards

XXXX

Please rethink the location of this project

Attention: Director, Infrastructure Projects
Major Projects Assessment
Department of Planning & Infrastructure NSW

Re Submission Application Number SSI-5931

I object to the proposed 36 hectare train stabling and maintenance facility on the following grounds: -

· This is a major industrial facility in a rural residential zoning area
· The site is within 300 metres of a protected recreation reserve consisting of Cumberland Plain Woodland and less than 200 metres from my property that consists of 2.5 hectares of Cumberland Plain Woodland
· Critically endangered wildlife species exist in the immediate environment
· The creation of additional storm water together with the discharge of waste water into First Ponds Creek and the planned destruction of the existing riparian corridor will increase the risk of flooding and erosion of properties along the creek line
· The baseline noise levels for the proposed site are meaningless because they relate to noise levels taken during the upgrade of Schofields Road that has continued day and night
· The predicted noise levels for the facility are well above acceptable levels in a residential and recreational area
· Transport for NSW has removed Cumberland Plain Woodland since acquiring two thirds of the site
· While the nearby population density is increasing rapidly the corresponding recreational green space amenity is being reduced and replaced for all time with a 36 hectare major industrial facility

I have enjoyed living on my land for 53 years. Because I live at the bottom of a valley, two natural watercourses converge on my land before joining First Ponds Creek.

When I first arrived I was surrounded by woodland, most of it regenerated from lightly grazed farmland that was no longer used. During that time I have seen most of the surrounding Cumberland Plain Woodland cleared in spite of an existing Tree Preservation Order.

I have retained my Cumberland Plains Woodland and to date have recorded and recently registered 101 species of birds, including water birds. I have also registered many species of flora and fauna including the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Land Snail. My land is about 200 metres from the Cudgegong Road Recreation Reserve and there is a wooded corridor between.

I have been allowing natural regeneration to occur wherever possible and am applying for a Grant for Regeneration of CPW through the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Authority. I plan to share this grant with a co-member of the Blacktown Bushcare Volunteers.

The area designated for the train stabling and maintenance facility is a water catchment for the Hawkesbury River that eventually nurtures the mangrove forests that are just one of the breeding grounds for our coastal fisheries.

Some of the land in this catchment area has been used for pig, cattle and poultry farming and some for market gardens. In the absence of proper local government supervision, a mix of effluent and chemicals has degraded the ground water.
Not surprising then that soil and water samples are of low quality.

There is an urgent need to restore degraded riparian corridors on private as well as public land and prevent further degradation of waterways large and small. Transport for NSW cannot use a degraded creek measurement as a baseline for further pollution while the community and local governments are in the process of restoring the catchments to health.

The destruction of natural woodland and the reduction of the riparian corridor at The Ponds have reduced the natural sponge that existed previously. The additional storm water created has the potential for flooding Second Ponds Creek in a heavy storm despite the recycling facility.

The Transport for NSW train stabling and maintenance facility has no apparent water recycling provision and there is no explanation of how the water treatment will be undertaken before release into First Ponds Creek.

It has not been demonstrated that a constant flow of excess water into First Ponds Creek will not have a detrimental effect on wildlife.

In the event that the water treatment fails to deliver clean water, there is no evidence of a back-up facility.

Valoha Prager BSc Dip Ed
26 Oak Street
Schofields NSW 2762

Email: [email protected]

Does not look that different to the expanded rail maintenance centre at Clyde (rational design and layout) with the only difference being that you intend to place it in the middle of an expanding surburban area whilst Clyde remains within an established industrial area. The original routing through Riverstone to Vineyard would have enabled the site to be situated in an expanded industrial area rather than impinge on medium and high density housing (tends to question whether the clowns responsible for the rail duplication/Schofields Station/Schofields Footbridge folly are involved with this) - shame really.

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