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State Significant Development

Determination

St Luke's Grammar School - Senior School Campus and Sports Centre

Northern Beaches

Current Status: Determination

Interact with the stages for their names

  1. SEARs
  2. Prepare EIS
  3. Exhibition
  4. Collate Submissions
  5. Response to Submissions
  6. Assessment
  7. Recommendation
  8. Determination

The change of use and alterations and additions for two buildings to an educational establishment. Proposed re-purposing includes office spaces, learning spaces, auditorium, pool and sporting complex.

Attachments & Resources

Notice of Exhibition (2)

Request for SEARs (5)

SEARs (2)

EIS (47)

Response to Submissions (22)

Agency Advice (9)

Amendments (9)

Additional Information (3)

Determination (5)

Approved Documents

There are no post approval documents available

Note: Only documents approved by the Department after November 2019 will be published above. Any documents approved before this time can be viewed on the Applicant's website.

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Enforcements

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Inspections

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Note: Only enforcements and inspections undertaken by the Department from March 2020 will be shown above.

Submissions

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Showing 1 - 13 of 13 submissions
WaterNSW
Comment
PARRAMATTA , New South Wales
Message
Thank you for allowing WaterNSW to comment on SSD-10291.
The proposal is not located near any WaterNSW land, assets or infrastructure, therefore we have no particular comments or requirements regarding the proposal.
WaterNSW requests the Department continues to consult with WaterNSW for any development that may impact on our assets, infrastructure or land, using the email address [email protected]
Regards
Justine Clarke - Catchment and Asset Protection Adviser
Brett Gardiner
Object
DEE WHY , New South Wales
Message
I object to the project without giving serious consideration to the traffic and management of the additional students to the school. I live in Tango Avenue and currently are unable to leave my premises by car during the morning and afternoon starting and finishing time of the school. The traffic due to the current increase of students is unbearable and a safety concern. Tango Av is a tight suburban street not designed to take the traffic during this time including government bus etc. The increase of students 600 to the Harbord road site will add additional off street parking concerns for residents. Off street parking of additional High school students, teacher and visitors to the school. The school designs need to cater for an additional drop off zone rather the using Tango avenue which is clearly overused now for the primarily school component. An overall traffic management needs to be considered including Headland and Harbord Road intersection (lights) drop off and entry requirements to Pittwater Road entry and exit moved to say Pittwater Road with traffic light management.
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY
Comment
QUEANBEYAN , New South Wales
Message
Please refer to attachment.
Attachments
Name Withheld
Object
NORTH CURL CURL , New South Wales
Message
St Luke's Grammar School has been undertaking a seemingly endless process of building and enlarging the school to the point it is a complete eyesore in the area. The new building towers over the neighbourhood, reducing or removing views, and is completely out of place in a residential neighbourhood.
School traffic in Headland Road causes absolute chaos with other road users frequently breaking the law by crossing over the double white lines in an attempt to pass the school car queues. Parking is also a huge issue. The neighbouring streets Quirk Street and Tango Avenue are both also severely affected by school traffic, parking issues and noise.
I mention these issues because the school now has new plans to expand even further to very large areas on the Officeworks site and also at 224 Headland Road for the new senior school campus.
Student numbers are going to be increased by 578 additional students. Parking spaces are going to be reduced. This will inevitably cause more traffic, more parking issues, more rat-running and more noise, despite what the Varga Traffic Planning Assessment Report concludes.
It is verifiably incorrect for the TRAFFIC AND PARKING ASSESSMENT REPORT to say 'Peak traffic activity during the morning drop-off period typically occurs between 8:10am – 8:25am. Although this is a busy period, drop-offs are quick and efficient, there is no waiting and delays are minimal, if any.'
In fact the reality is that traffic queues are very long, causing gridlock and traffic chaos as cars that want to turn into Quirk Street from Headland Road from the west are frequently banked up down to Harbord Road, and those approaching from the east are banked up way down Headland Road.
It is also very dangerous as a pedestrian trying to cross the road at these times.
The school’s impact on the local area is unacceptable, yet building size and capacity increases and student numbers increase.
There are no traffic lights at the intersection of Harbord Road and Headland Road, but there should be. Traffic gridlocks are common with cars trying to turn right from Harbord Road into Headland Road and cars in Headland Road trying to turn right into Harbord Road causing large holdups, again at odds with the Varga report.
We, as local residents, are severely affected by school traffic. It appears no consideration is given to residents as the school continues its relentless mission of expansion of buildings, building size and student numbers, all of which impact the neighbourhood.
James Bonner
Object
DEE WHY , New South Wales
Message
Attachments
Name Withheld
Object
NORTH CURL CURL , New South Wales
Message
Application No SSD-10291

I OBJECT to the submission due to nothing being done about the traffic and parking in Headland Road and at the intersection of Headland and Harbord Road.

The traffic is already horrendous in Headland Road. As the study points out there is over a 2 minute wait to get out of Headland Road in the morning making the level of service an F and it is projected to become worse. The saturation is greater than 9. This means I can’t get out of my driveway because the traffic is at a standstill and the queue of traffic in the morning goes from my house all the way along Headland Road and Harbord Road to Pittwater Road. The delay to turn right into Harbord Road from Headland Road in reality it is up to 8 minutes. As you can imagine a stream of cars turning left into Headland Rd stops the cars turning right into Headland Rd so it leaves the cars in Headland Rd waiting till last.

The sports centre having just 39 car parks means that having the street already clogged with parked cars during the school day, the street will be full in the evenings and weekends. If 2 teams are playing then another 2 teams having a game there will be 4 lots of cars being parked and that will be far more than 39 cars.

The study mistakenly shows that there is parking on both sides of Headland Road but this is not true. The road is steep on the blind corner so even though it is not sign posted as no parking, people realise it is unsafe to park there. There have been two deaths already from a truck and a ute where their brakes have failed.

Headland Road from Harbord Road to the school is a narrow, steep suburban street that can not cope with the amount of traffic generated by the school as it is now.
Name Withheld
Object
NORTH CURL CURL , New South Wales
Message
I strongly object to the ongoing and expansive development of St Luke’s campus.

I live on Headland Road opposite the new junior school and have had to endure two years of construction works, resulting in a huge eyesore of a building which was erected with zero consideration for the surrounding built form of the neighbourhood, the R2 low density residential zoning, or the topography of the site. Indeed the slope was used to squeeze in an additional storey which wouldn’t have been allowed on level ground. It is an eyesore, visible for miles around, at the top of the hill. In addition to this, every day of the school term we endure an hour of continuous traffic at the drop off peaks in between 8-8.30am and 2.50 -3.20pm. It is verging on intolerable. The recent addition of a megaphone with which to announce each junior school child’s parent’s arrival to the entire neighbourhood has created intrusive noise pollution as well as the traffic queues of cars sitting chugging out exhaust fumes along the road for an hour a day.

In regards to this new extension of the school's business model, the applicant has commissioned Varga to again conduct its traffic impact assessment. Varga has consistently relied on a single observation day and hugely underrepresented the traffic impacts of St Luke’s developments and state that currently “peak traffic activity during the morning drop-off period typically occurs between 8:10am-8:25am. Although this is a busy period, drop-offs are quick and efficient, and delays are minimal if any. Peak traffic activity in the afternoon typically occurs between 3:00pm-3:15pm, and is associated with the junior school finishing times of 2:55pm (for Kindergarten to Year 2) and 3:05pm (Years 3 to 6). There are typically no queues in Tango Avenue outside this 15 minute peak period in the afternoons”. As a neighbouring resident I absolutely dispute this. The morning traffic builds from 8am and I cannot get out of my driveway between 8 and 8.30am on a school day. I have to take my son to daycare every day and have to reverse out of my driveway into a queue of cars and buses everyday, which is very stressful and has been perilous. Lots of kids who walk to St Lukes cross at the Quirk St junction with Headland Road and it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident involving impatient drivers. In the afternoon the traffic queue starts around 2.50pm and the road is not clear until 3.30pm. The Varga traffic study is absolutely incorrect to say that there is no queue at the senior school finishing time. Indeed it is mostly worse, with all those inexperienced p plater students driving as fast away from school as they can, showing off to their mates with no regard for the general public.

As optimistic as the Varga consultants’ study has proven in the past, even they predict that traffic at the existing 210 Headland Road site will get worse under this new development, stating that “Application of the above traffic generation rates to the 1,000 students proposed on the existing school campus at 210 Headland Road indicates that there will be nett increase of 25 drop-offs during the morning school peak hour, and a nett increase of 22 pick-ups during the afternoon school peak hour”. This is an increase of 20% in traffic flows by their own admission.

How much more are the poor residents of this community expected to just put up with? An additional 20% traffic on top of the gridlock we endure daily is just unacceptable.

The Environmental Impact Statement states that
“Impacts to traffic on Headland Road as a result of vehicles not being able to turn right out of 800 Pittwater Road.
The Traffic and Parking Assessment Report includes an assessment of the impacts on the intersection of Harbord Road and Headland Road. This intersection currently operates at Level of Service (LoS) A during the morning and afternoon school peak periods. Under the projected future traffic demands expected to be generated by the proposed development, the Harbord Road / Headland Road intersection will continue to operate at LoS A.“
i.e. poor traffic outcomes currently will lead to continued poor traffic outcomes from the site. This is just during operation. During the no doubt years of building work the traffic will be much worse, with many heavy vehicles utilising the junction of Headland Road and Harbord Road to negotiate between the sites. It is impossible to turn right out of Headland Road on to Harbord Road during the morning and afternoon peaks at the moment, and large vehicles which block two lanes will stop other traffic turning left. This will inevitably lead to more traffic queues backing up Headland Road, adding to resident’s misery.

In light of the poor outcomes for local residents please reject this planning proposal.
Northern Beaches Council
Comment
DEE WHY , New South Wales
Message
Thank you for providing Northern Beaches Council with an opportunity to comment on the State Significant Development (SSD) application which seeks approval to a senior campus and sports centre for St Luke’s Grammar School.
Attachments
Biodiversity and Conservation Division
Comment
PARRAMATTA , New South Wales
Message
Please find attached EES comments
Attachments
Name Withheld
Object
NORTH CURL CURL , New South Wales
Message
It's a nightmare trying to get to Headland Road and get out of it when in the mornings
it's bumper to bumper.

The afternoons are also terrible to turn right into Harbord Road at the end of Headland Road.
It takes 15 minutes to get 200m.
And a sports center!!! It will create heaps more traffic and there are not enough car spots in the street already,
so the street will be clogged in school hours as well out of school hours.

600 new people! 300 new cars.
Not many use public transport.
This needs to be fixed!

Thank you
ROADS AND MARITIME SERVICES DIVISION
Comment
PARRAMATTA , New South Wales
Message
See the attached response
Attachments
NSW Rural Fire Service
Comment
SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK , New South Wales
Message
Attachments
Brian Twemlow
Object
NORTH CURL CURL , New South Wales
Message
I am concerned that this project will result in additional traffic movement into and out of 224 Headland Road which is diagonally opposite to my residential address and additional unsightly road safety signage, complementary to the existing forest of signs which crowd the footpath outside my home. I would like to point out that Headland Road is used as a "rat run" by motorists wishing to avoid the plethora of traffic lights on Pittwater Road Dee Why. Also due to the lack of traffic control lights at the intersection of Headland and Harbord Roads, traffic during school arrival and departure times is often backed up Headland Road leading to frustrated motorists taking risks to leave Headland Road.

Pagination

Project Details

Application Number
SSD-10291
Assessment Type
State Significant Development
Development Type
Educational establishments
Local Government Areas
Northern Beaches
Decision
Approved
Determination Date
Decider
Director

Contact Planner

Name
Brent Devine