Uniting Charlestown

It is too large. I find it difficult to understand how a project of this magnitude is even being remotely considered in this location.
It is too close to an established suburban area.
The building heights are too great.
The traffic and parking problems that will result in surrounding streets will be a major issue. Getting out of Tiral St onto Dudley Rd is already difficult. Getting onto Pacific Hwy from Dudley Rd is also already difficult as the lights for traffic turning right are green for less than 5 seconds. Traffic bank ups are sure to occur.
There are other developments occurring in the area (Dudley Rd) which will also add to the burden on Dudley Rd.
Parking in Tiral St for residents will be badly impacted during construction and after completion. I suggest that resident only parking be established in Tiral St.
The noise from plant rooms and mechanical ventilation systems will severely impact neighbouring homes. At morning and night the area is relatively quiet and relaxing at the moment.
The entire footprint of the development should be moved west towards Dudley Rd to create a greater buffer between homes in Tiral St and the development.
We already have stormwater issues in Tiral St resulting in flooding, as the stormwater design associated with an aged care facility in Dudley Rd south of Tiral St was completely botched. This results in large discharges of stormwater from the street drain between 42 and 44 Tiral St. Perhaps with the money flowing into this new development, Lake Macquarie council will finally fix this.

Please find attached our submission to the project.

In summary, this proposal constitutes a major over-development of the site and I formally request that its scale be significantly reduced.
The RACF proposes 135 beds and 40 staff. There are 221 ILUs proposed, assuming 1.2 residents per ILU ie 265 residents and 133 private apartments assuming 1.5 residents ie 200 residents. It is therefore proposed to cram 640 people onto a suburban site. My major concern is the implication of such a large number of people on the amenity of surrounding residences and particularly on parking availability.
I note 409 cark parks are proposed. The assumptions on number of vehicles per ILU, and the numbers of staff and visitors are clearly too low.
The assumptions on public transport are misrepresented. The only bus route in easy walking distance is route 48, which provides an hourly service from Belmont to Warners Bay! The other stated routes are beyond a normal walking distance and completely impractical for staff travelling to and from work after dark. It is highly likely that most staff and visitors will drive to the site and provision of parking for these stakeholders is clearly deficient.
I visit my disabled daughter at 9 James St Charlestown second daily. Currently there are no issues re parking. This will become a major issue with the proposed new development because of the over capitalisation of the site and spill over of staff and visitors into surrounding streets. One has only to view the number of vehicles parking on the road outside the Hunter Health facilities and Amaroo Lodge on nearby Dudley Rd to understand the potential impact on surrounding streets from such a large development. Parking availability at the local Whitebridge shops has become problematic since the recent adjacent over-development in Whitebridge. I submit that occupants of the Uniting Care proposal will also seek to access this neighbourhood shopping centre further exacerbating the problem.
As a general practitioner I have visited many aged care facilities in the local region, and experienced the difficulty and frustration of finding available parking spaces when visiting patients. I am also very aware of the large numbers of nursing, administration and catering staff required for such a large undertaking. I believe these numbers are understated in the submission. 600 elderly people will be visited regularly by family and friends who will mostly require parking and many of whom will have reduced mobility. Some elderly partners will visit the aged care facility every day. The current standards stated in the submission, are obviously insufficient for the reality of aged care.
I believe that is important that the number of ILU's and private apartments proposed for the site be significantly decreased, and the number of parking spaces significantly increased to reduce the impact on the amenity for residents in the local community.

Case Number EXH-51053709 Uniting Charlestown.
This block of ground which was formerly a college and holds a great deal native trees as well as fruit trees and is home to a huge amount of wildlife with a huge variety of birds and several types of possums. This area should have been preserved and turned in to a park, so that it could be enjoyed by the local community and would also make more green space for Charlestown. So this development will be devastating to the area and will decimate the wildlife that has been home to it for a very long time. Also it will increase traffic in the area which joins on to a very busy intersection of Dudley Rd, Tiral St and James St Charlestown.. There should have been a better an assessment made and determine the impact on the wildlife in this area .

I Understand there is a great need for this this kind of development for now and into the future and support the idea. From myself and many other seniors I mix with, general feeling is we are not in favour of the height - massive towers proposed 13, 14, story's high. Fire within the buildings and evacuation would be a concern for all aged residents.
With planting of trees lining James Street & Tiral, would be sensible to have some trees that offer shade rather than simply palm trees as I suspect it will be a thoroughfare for many residents walks. Ascetically for residents living in the street, careful consideration of the type of trees you plant in the street scape should be considered. Meaning, not Palms, but attractive, lovely to look at and some shade.

The traffic infrastructure around this site is inadequate as it is, the extra traffic due to the increase of residents will exacerbate this problem.

The project in my opinion is way to large e.g., 3 x 11 Storey towers, 1 not even for aged care living so this is classed as a Developers Dream along with buildings for associated common facilities. Hairdressers, cafes, shops and a pool? more like a small "Trigaboff" Meriton than an aged care facility!
I moved here from Sydney to escape the madness and traffic to this safe and quiet street for my grandchildren, but this is going to create so much chaos with over 488 units! Not to mention losing all those beautiful trees that must be home to Kookaburras, Lorikeets, Magpies, Currawongs and Ravens also Blue Tongue lizards etc. will there at least be an environmental impact assessment done for our wildlife nests?