44 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga, NSW

How can we accommodate yet another stress in the shape of a nursery school adding to the traffic on Fox Valley Way. The problems we already face are horrific when the SAN
medical offices are finished and accommodated, the SAN nursery school, the second part of the SAN school and the SAN Wahroonga Estate come into being. Campbell Drive is not an alternative route it is a very dangerous road with many blind driveways. We are being surrounded with new developments along the Pacific Highway. When is enough enough??
We have NOT made a donation or gift of any kind to a Councillor or Council employee.

Well, here we go again!!! Another development on Fox Valley Road,. KMC when is it going to STOP!!! The Council must not approve this development. The residents are not being treated fairly with all the approvals of recent times on Fox Valley Road and the Comenarra Parkway. Traffic issues are already at breaking point and don't give us the line that the new improved Fox Valley roadway is going to be our savior, RUBBISH!!!
The Councillors must vote to disallow this project due to the many reasons that have already been put forward for the most recent DAs along Fox Valley Road.
With so many Child Care Centres looking to be build one would have to wonder if the Government subsidies, paid directly to Child Care owners, may be too high.

This is an R2 residential error, characterized by a multitude of heritage properties. A development of this kind would not be supported by me for the following headline reasons:-
1, Lack of privacy - increased development and occupants on the adjoining block to my property
2, Concerns on storm water run off down the slope to lower properties
3, Impact to the Blue Gum Forest to the rear of this proposal and impact of ridge line development
4, Traffic and congestion on an already accident prone roundabout. Additionally the number of cars that will use my driveway to turnaround during drop off and pick up
5, The development is not sympathetic to single dwelling and heritage properties in the local vicinity
6, Shadow and light restrictions to adjoining property
7, Noise of outside playtime when enjoying quiet garden

Here is another proposal for development in broad terms unsympathetic with the residential character and use of this immediate neighbourhood. It doesn't take town planning expertise to recognise the phenomenon of the domino effect: where an unsympathetic development is constructed the adjacent residents are understandably more likely to sell, leading to further adjacent development proposals until whole areas are re-developed. The phenomenon can be seen along the Pacific Highway in nearby Warrawee and, over a longer period of time, around Hornsby Hospital. Fox Valley Rd is particularly vulnerable to this, with the hospital-related developments further down towards the Comenara Parkway. If the heritage-listed houses in this precinct are to have any meaningful value (aesthetically and historically), it is by remaining in the context of other residences, not sitting eventually marooned and surrounded by care facilities (including aged care) and ancillary services.Child care facilities have recently been constructed in nearby Heydon Ave (and applied for near the Comenara Parkway, it is understood). Plus the traffic is already diabolical on this road, whilst approving a child care centre next to a busy roundabout seems counter-intuitive.

As a local resident and regular user of the road and adjacent pathways, I oppose this development. This is a residential area, not suitable to a 96-place childcare centre. Traffic is already heavy along Fox Valley Rd, and diverting traffic for pick up / drop offs into Ada Ave South, a steep and residential road, is not appropriate.

Development at either end of Fox Valley Road (development at the SAN, development along the Pacific Highway) is already causing congestion, and will only worsen as these existing approved developments are completed. Adding further traffic to this is unsustainable, and will inevitably divert more traffic into nearby suburban roads, drastically reducing the amenity and safety for families and residents in the area.

This property should remain as a residential block of land, and not be developed into a commercial childcare centre.

This proposed child care centre is in an R2 low-density residential area. There is already a proposal for a multi-storey development adjacent at 46 Fox Valley Road, the impact of the two developments will be horrific in an area of heritage beauty and low density residences.

The Department of Land & Environment's Child Care Centre Guidelines Aug 2017 state:
The planning objectives of this Guideline are to:

• ensure that child care facilities are compatible with the existing streetscape, context and neighbouring land uses
• minimise any adverse impacts of development on adjoining properties and the neighbourhood, including the natural and built environment

The 7 points raised by neighbouring property owner, Jeremy Follett, demonstrate the proposed development will be in breach of these guidelines. Privacy, shadowing, noise, traffic congestion, not being in sympathy with the existing (heritage & residential) environment, and not being in sympathy with the natural (critically endangered blue gum high forest) environment.

Fox Valley Road is set to become choked by traffic with the proposed development of the SAN childcare centre, school and apartments.

The development of a child care centre on a busy roundabout is fraught with danger. The proposed outdoor play area right at the roundabout puts children's lives at peril.
Let's learn from recent history:

https://wamberal.net/2017/12/15/childcare-centre-danger/

April 6, 2017 Truck smashes into child care centre – Ferntree Gully
August 11, 2015 Car crashes into child care centre - Hoppers Crossing
January 12, 2016 Miracle escape as car crashes into child care centre
July 20, 2017 Children and staff left “shaken up” after car crashes into Preschool
December 16, 2003 Car smashes into child care centre
21 February, 2016 Man dies after crashing into child care centre
October 26, 2011 Lucky escape as car crashes into child care centre
June 12 2017 Channel Nine NRL commentator investigated over car crash
May 2014 Little Zahlia slides away from trauma of car crash
February 3, 2012 Several injured after car crashes at Mansfield Primary school
February 9, 2017 Car ploughs through childcare centre in Macquarie Park
November 7, 2017‘Scene of carnage’: Two children killed after car crashes into classroom
December 2017: Tadpoles Early Learning Centre on Church Rd in Taigum, Brisbane where an elderly driver ploughed into a child care centre.
Nov 2017: Banksia Road Public School where 2 children died
2003: Roundhouse Childcare Centre, Fairlight where a car ploughed into a child care centre, trapping 2 toddlers underneath before bursting into flames

NSW guidelines specify child care centres should only be built where "the type of adjoining road (for example classified, arterial, local road, cul-de-sac) is appropriate and safe for the proposed use". On a busy, accident prone roundabout, I would highlight this is not the place for a child care centre where potentially 96 children will be at risk.

As a resident local to 44 Fox Valley Road, I strongly object to this proposed development. While there are numerous reasons to object, the key ones I would like to stress are:
1 – As noted by others, the surrounding area is zoned residential, and this residential nature is threatened not only by this proposed development of a high volume commercial property in isolation, but the precedence that it would set. As council would be aware from objections to recent similar proposals, local residents are strongly opposed to altering the residential nature of the area in which they have chosen to live.
2 – The impact on local traffic and residents. Others have already noted the current state of traffic on Fox Valley Road, let alone with current in-progress and already approved developments around the SAN hospital. The traffic impact assessment (carried out over a single day in February 2018) makes conclusions as to the impact on road network; congestion etc. based solely on this development and fails to take into account factors such as existing approved developments.
The report concludes, “under the projected future traffic demands expected to be generated by the development proposal, the Fox Valley and Ada Avenue South intersection will continue to operate at a Level of Service “A”, with negligible increases in average vehicle delays”.
Such a conclusion based on a single day’s observation is questionable at best. The entrance to the car park is on Ada Avenue South and at peak times, particularly in mornings, there is a majority of traffic flow from right to left along Fox Valley, which will cause significant delays at the roundabout for cars exiting the centre, not to mention local residents.
The report notes typical vehicle flows in Ada Avenue South of 50 vehicles per hour during peak times. It goes on to state the proposed development will generate 79 vph during these times, and with the car park access being on Ada South, you can only assume this additional load will be borne by this steep residential road and in fact increase traffic flows by 158%! Surely by any reasonable analysis this is an unacceptable imposition on local residents?
While the proposal may cater for an acceptable number of car parking spaces based on guidelines there will obviously be times when it is at capacity, and in addition there will be people who chose not to use it and just park on the street instead (a ‘quick getaway’ during busy periods!), further imposing on local residents.
3 – Safety. The roundabout at the Fox Valley / Ada Avenue intersection is already an accident blackspot (perhaps council should enquire internally how many times the signposts on the roundabout have been replaced!), and this proposal will only exacerbate the existing issue. And placing a child care facility on such a busy road cannot be viewed as a safe environment!

KMC recently approved a 126-places childcare center at the corner of Comenarra Parkway and Fox Valley Rd, does South Wahroonga need another 96-places childcare center? Certainly NOT. Current traffic along Fox Valley Rd is already very congested simulating a long stretched carpark. When SAN medical consulting building is completed, the SAN high school and the SAN Wahroonga Estate come into realisation, can a residential Fox Valley Rd accommodate such a high volume of excess traffic? Besides all the issues raised by other comments, the health of these very young children should also be taken into consideration. These very young children of the 2 centers will not be breathing fresh air from the Lane Cove Valley instead they will be breathing fumes from the congested bumper-to-bumper traffic of Fox Valley Road, Comenarra Parkway, Ada Ave, Lucinda Ave, and all the back and side streets connecting to Pacific Hwy and Pennant Hills Rd when all the frustrated drivers of the congested traffic try to take advantage of all the back and side streets. Of Course, we, the local residents are heavily disadvantaged by these congested traffic from other suburbs and areas using Fox Valley Rd and Comenarra Parkway as their thoroughfare.

Each development of this kind will contribute to the principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is binding for subsequent cases with similar issues or facts (setting a precedent)

Ku-ring-gai Council is still failing to answer questions by public about congestion and the safety of the Fox Valley road as it is now, let alone in the near future.

While I understand the need for Childcare centers and schools in Sydney, particularly with our ever-increasing population, I agree completely with the comments made by other residents.

This Liberal Government passed the SEEP (Educational Establishments & Childcare Facilities) 2017 in which under S 35 development associated with a school may be carried out in a prescribed zone (that is, it can be carried out in ANY zone). This clause IGNORES the natural expectations of residents who purchased land in a location of whose neighbors prior to this SEEP could NOT establish a school.

I live in Billyard Avenue, a street with two primary schools. One, KNOX Preparatory school which takes up the entire block of Sutherland to Cleveland Street and two, St Lucy's Catholic School for the disabled. St Lucy's has placed TWO DAs before Council to expand their facilities. In my view both proposals are unacceptable and should be refused on the basis of negative traffic impact, negative heritage impact AND negative environmental noise impact. As with the proposal for this Childcare Centre, traffic in Billyard Avenue is oppressive & dangerous during pick up and drop-off time, with Knox & St Lucy's parents parking on one side of the street and Knox Buses parked on the other. Somehow, cars traveling in both directions are meant to safely pass each other, the Knox Buses and the pedestrians, many of whom are children.

This SEEP has presented a major headache for Council planners who now have to balance local Government regulations with this Liberal Party legislative pronouncement that Schools can be developed in any zone. It is time for both Liberal politicians as well as School Administrators and Childcare operators to take into consideration in their planning the needs of ordinary people who have to live with these organizations. The potential in both the St Lucy's application and this application for traffic accident is high. Both applications should be refused. In both cases, the educational institutions could either re-locate or set up in another location in which they will not have a negative impact on the amenity of the neighbourhood.

Please be aware that the NSW Liberal party passed an amendment this year to the EPA Act (1977) which severely limited the decision-making power of Councils to approve Development Applications. I understand that DAs under $5M can be decided by Council staff, while DAs over $5M are decided by a Regional Planning Panel. In the case of Kurringai Council, the Regional Planning Panel is North Sydney Planning Panel, the Chairman of which is Mr Peter Debham, former leader of the NSW Liberal Party. (Please correct any misinformation here)

Everybody understands the need for schools to expand and for the development of new schools and childcare centers. However, such development often does not take into account the very real need of ordinary people who have to live with the negative impact of these developments, including lowering of property prices. Often, planning bodies are not provided with alternative EVIDENCE in the form of expert reports to counter the "Big Guns" produced by schools. I advise the residents affected by this development to form a Citizen/Residence Committee and pool resources to fund counter reports, particularly a Traffic Engineer, an acoustic engineer and if in a heritage area, a Heritage Expert.

I have not made a donation or gift to a Councillor or Council employee or any Council or Shire in NSW.

All residents in the Fox Valley Road area will be impacted if this development application is approved. Once the already-approved developments are completed, there will be a huge increase in traffic congestion both in peak times and during the day. The 127-place child care centre on the corner of Fox Valley Road and The Comenarra; the enormous specialist centre on the opposite corner with parking for several hundred cars; the school with an enrolment of 1200; and the Wahroonga Estate plans for 200 units with 363 car spaces have the potential to add thousands of vehicle movements to an area lacking the infrastructure to cope with such traffic. At the moment, 44 Fox Valley Road is a private residence with minimal impact on traffic. The vehicle movements required by a child care centre with 96 children, plus staff, plus service vehicles would place an unacceptable strain on the busy and dangerous roundabout servicing the centre. The traffic figures for a single day which form part of this proposal do not take into account the unbelievable development already approved for this low-density residential area. Likewise, the traffic figures used to support the application for the child care centre at 172-176 The Comenarra were highly questionable. They were based on some form of modelling, but resident checks for peak-hour vehicle movements over a period of time produced figures far in excess of those presented, often double the number.

Council must take into account the conclusions of the IHAP panel which approved The Comenarra child care centre, as follows:

'Generally, the future traffic implicaions for this vicinity in the light of the scale of the proposed developments in the locality will need to be carefully monitored by all relevant authorities to take account of community concerns.'

Like George Gleeson, I wonder if the very generous subsidies being paid to child care centre owners have triggered this rash of applications for centres which do not take into account the impact on neighbouring residents, traffic congestion, the amenity of the area or the suitability of the site for such a centre. One of the desired qualities for these centres is an outlook onto a park. A busy roundabout or a congested intersection is certainly no park.

I trust that the councillors representing The Comenarra Ward are as diligent in opposing this completely inappropiate application as those representing Killara were in saving the Marion Street Theatre.

I have not made a donation or gift to a Councillor or Council employee.

It would seem that this whole development juggernaut will plow on unhindered by the real concerns raised by locals, and those who may have to traverse this soon to be compromised intersection. The addition of yet another potential traffic complication on the corner opposite the Health Centre seems to be unbelievably short sighted. When all this is completed and people are having to deal with the inevitable consequences - there will be no possibility of dealing with the problem other than by cutting this location out of the usable road system.

As residents of Ada Avenue South and having young children, and in close proximity to 44 Fox Valley Road, we strongly object to this proposed development of a 96 place child care centre.

This proposed development would be both detrimental to our quality of living and the local amenity.

While there are numerous reasons to object, the key ones we would like to articulate are:

1. Diminished safety and drastically reduced amenity for families and residents in the area. Even under current development and traffic loading it is impossible during peak times to cross Fox Valley Road at the roundabout as there is no designated pedestrian crossing or pedestrian safety barriers. On a daily basis the crossing of Fox Valley Road is a major concern for families with children attending local schools.

2. Significant traffic and congestion on an already accident prone roundabout. Demonstrated with the increased level of car/truck crashes over the last twelve months and further noted by the flattened/damaged roundabout signage due to these crashes.

3. Additional parking congestion on Ada Avenue South by childcare staff - for a 96 place centre potentially a minimum of 20 additional staff cars parked on the street on any given day (if the centre works on split shifts for staff this number could potentially double). Furthermore, our driveway would be constantly used as a turning point during drop off and pick up timings.

4. Single entry/exit point for Ada Avenue South residents(at the roundabout at 44 Fox Velley Road) – The proposed development would further constrict the only entry/exit point to all residents of Ada Avenue South, Adelong Place, and Dennis Avenue causing a significant bottleneck. At peak times during the day residents are already restricted to enter the significantly congested Fox Valley Road being bumper to bumper through the roundabout (at the intersection of Ada Avenue South and 44 Fox Valley Road) caused by heavy traffic connecting between the Pacific Highway and Pennant Hills Road/Comenarra Parkway.

5. The development is not sympathetic to single dwelling and heritage properties in the local vicinity and being of residential use.

6. Oversupply of childcare facilities in the local vicinity including:
a. The recently constructed and opened childcare centre at Heydon Ave (part of Warrawee Bowling Club) having capacity for over 90 children;
b. KU preschool centre located directly on Fox Valley Road;
c. The recently approved 126-place childcare centre at the corner of Comenarra Parkway and Fox Valley Road;
d. Also noting that Abbotsleigh and The San Hospital already have early childcare facilities at their own sites.

We strongly appeal to the good sense of the Council in their outright rejection of this proposed 96 place childcare development at 44 Fox Valley Road.

Sincerely
David & Petra Mumford