PlanningAlerts

22 Comments

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1. To Whom It May Concern,

   This application goes against the existing 400m rule for these planned sewerage works. There are too many houses in close proximity for this application to be accepted.

   Also, approx 1000 school children have to pass 60 Avondale Rd. each day to attend school at 119 Avondale Road.

   Johnston Property Developments can build on their own land way up on the other side of the old airport where there are no existing houses!

   PLEASE reject this application!

   Sincerely,

   Bernard G Howard

2. As a long term resident I oppose this development. It is too close to existing homes. There is plenty of space within the estate. It was one thing to see the estate develop but another dimension has been entered into and exploited by this proposed sewerage works! ENOUGH.

   C. Booyens

3. I agree with the other comments, there are a lot of residents nearby and there is ample land on the existing development.
   I think this application should be strongly rejected.
   It is also in a flood zone and will affect other water systems.

4. i strongly object to this development. it is too close to residents on Freemans Drive, Avondale Road and not to mention the school. further its proximity to a natural water course would be of high concern WHEN an overflow occurs. Johnson Group should be made to build this well away from established residences or upgrade existing sewage infrastructure.

5. I OBJECT to this development. I am stunned that a developer would put in an application for a major infrastructure in an area that has so many residential houses. I own a home very close by on Freemans Drive. Surely something of this nature needs to be declared long before any new development takes place. The developer has plenty of land that is not near existing residences. Please reject this application.

6. We strongly oppose this development as it is well inside the NSW guideline of a 400 metre buffer from existing housing, and may add noise, odour & gas pollution and further visual pollution to housing already affected by fallout from the power station and by the noise and dust pollution occasioned by the recent development of the Watagan Park Estate.
   The Estate covers a large area which should be able to encompass the sewerage treatment plant needed to meet current and future needs.
   Please reject this application
   Ros & Ted Chapman

7. Utility Infrastructure Facility. Is this a fancy name for a sewage treatment plant?
   My grand children live within metres of this proposed development. Has any one considered the
   potential exposure to the surrounding properties from sewer gases(rotten egg gas) that will be omitted from such a facility. The major components of sewer gas are, Hydrogen Sulfide, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Ammonia and other biological agents. Health effect of H2S are at.0-10ppm Low range= irritation of eyes, nose and throat. 10-50-ppm MOD range = Headaches, Dizziness, Nausea and vomiting, Coughing and breathing difficulty. 50-200ppm High range= Severe respiratory tract irritation, Eye irritation/ Acute conjunctivitis and Convulsions. Hydrogen Sulfide is 20% heavier than air so this invisible gas will collect in depressions in the ground. At 100ppm a persons ability to detect the gas is effected by rapid temporary paralysis of the olfactory nerves in the nose leading to loss of sense of smell.Prolonged exposure to lower concentrations can also result in simular effects.
   I am not in favour of this development. I believe my grand children's health is a risk due to the close proximity of this proposed development.The fact that Hyrogen sulfide is a toxic gas.Why build such a facility so close to residential properties. There must be an alternate site that can be considered. council need to consider the residence already living in the area.

8. I would like to strongly object to the development of a sewerage treatment plant at 60 Avondale Road. My nephew and his family live approximately 100 meters from the boundary of this proposed building. NSW Government guidelines suggest a buffer zone of at least 400 meters from residential areas. This is because of likely noise, odour and possible chemical hazards.

   I am a long term resident of Cooranbong and think that a sewerage treatment plant located in the middle of a residential zone is completely inappropriate.

9. Objection to the proposed stage development by Johnson Property Developments of a Sewage Treatment Plant at 60 Avondale Road (Lot B, DP 391418) Cooranbong Lake Macquarie City Council DA 1844/2013 By Mr Paul and Mrs Sonia Rankin, 79 Avondale road, Cooranbong, 2265. The DA 1844/2013 appears to be in two parts. The first part is for the demolition of a house and outbuildings at 60 Avondale Road. We have no objection to the demolition of the house and outbuildings. However the second stage of this DA concerns the development of a Sewerage Treatment Plant and we have strong objections to the development of the sewerage treatment plant. Our residence at 79 Avondale Road is 244 m from the proposed Sewerage Treatment Plant. The NSW Department of Planning Best Practice Road Guidelines April 2010 Recommends a Buffer Zone of at least 400 m around Sewage Treatment Plants. In the case of this proposal there are in the vicinity of 190 houses with in 400 m of the proposed development. Our preferred outcome would be that the developers of the proposed North Cooranbong Development are required to connect to the Marconi Road (Dora Creek) Sewerage Treatment Plant operated by the Hunter Water Board. If this outcome cannot be achieved can we please request that in the consideration of this proposal that the New South Wales Department of Planning Best Practice Owed Guidelines be enforced and that if a Sewerage Treatment Plant is established then the recommended buffer zone is enforced. Yours sincerely, Paul and Sonia Rankin

10. To Whom It May Concern, Re: Cooranbong Lake Macquarie City Council DA 1844/2013

    As long-term residents of Cooranbong, we oppose the DA for a privately owned and operated sewerage treatment facility/Utility Infrastructure Facility at 60 Avondale Rd, Cooranbong for the following reasons:

    1) This DA flouts the NSW best practice guidelines for such a facility with regards to exclusion and buffer zones as they apply to numerous existing residences nearby that would be within a 400 metre exclusion zone. Our home would only be 600 metres away from the proposed facility.

    2) By applying to locate the proposed facility (known to emit some poisonous gases) at 60 Avondale Rd, this DA presents the potential for unnecessary risk to the health and safety of many existing Cooranbong residents, including the 1000+ children who go to school nearby at 119 Avondale Rd.

    3) There may be a detrimental impact on local flora and fauna and a watercourse that feeds into the existing Avondale Springs development, not to mention the drop in value of surrounding properties potentially affected by: odour, poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulphide, unsightly structures and any light or noise pollution associated with the operation of a sewerage treatment facility.

    4) We ask Lake Macquarie City Council to consider the following options:

    i) requiring the Developer locate the facility elsewhere within the Watagan Park Estate that it will service, complying with the NSW best practice guidelines for exclusion zones. Apply the guidelines to existing residences as well as proposed developments within the estate.
    OR
    ii) requiring the Developer to organise sewerage connection to the Marconi Road facility, again complying with NSW best practice guidelines.

    Thank you for your consideration.
    Wesley and Lisa Thomson

11. To Whom It May Concern,
    Re: Cooranbong Lake Macquarie City Council DA 1844/2013

    We have strong objections to development application listed which includes the development of a sewerage treatment plant at 60 Avondale Road. We are long term residents of Cooranbong who live just outside the recommended 400 metre buffer zone, but there are many long standing residences well within 400 metres of the current development proposal.

    We have concerns about the certainties of noise, odour and possible chemical hazards. We are also concerned about where the run-off would go from this plant. Will there be limits set on gas and noise pollution and how will these be enforced in both the short-term and long-term?

    In addition it would appear that having such a treatment plant under private management rather than governed by the Hunter Water Board adds much uncertainty about ongoing maintenance, both long term and short term. In light of this :

    1. Could you please provide details of how management and maintenance of the system will be carried out.
    2. Could you please provide details of the expected discharge rates now in the future and where it will be discharged to.
    3. If the water is being discharged to the environment or community, what are the allowable BOD and nutrient loads and how will these limits be monitored and enforced, and by whom?

12. As someone who lived in Cooranbong for many years, I was recently appalled to discover that Johnson Property Group developers are planning to install a sewage recycling plant at 60 Avondale Rd. I understand it is planned to be built and operated by a private water utility (licensed under the Water Competition Industry Act).

    Stage 2 of the Johnson Property Group Development Application would go to this company rather than the council and it would also undertake the environmental impact statement. This appears to me to be a conflict of interest. The private company maintains there is no odour or noise. Every utility has the possibility of breakdowns and in the case of Cooranbong, houses are back to back with the boundaries of the proposed site.

    A similar utility exists at Pitt Town but in quite different circumstances. I believe the local Pitt Town community do not have respect for JPG.

    I find it hard to understand how the Seventh-day Adventist Church, who is the beneficiary of this housing development, would even consider building a sewage plant, of whatever kind, so close to a long time established residential area. It would have to affect the value of land and have other possible environmental effects, minimal or otherwise.

    My brother and his family live about 100 meters from this proposed utility and I would like to strongly object to the council consenting to this concept.

13. To Whom It May Concern,
    Re: Cooranbong Lake Macquarie City Council DA 1844/2013

    My wife and I object to the DA on the grounds that we have great concerns that any uncontrolled release from this proposed site will impact on the waterways that flow into to our lake in Avondale Springs, we have already had run off from the excavation works that have taken place at the Watagan Gardens Development which is silting up the entry to our lake.

    Why does the sewage from this development need to processed on site? when there is a perfectly good facility located nearby at Marconi Rd which has recently undergone a major upgrade? How can Council be confident that JPG will maintain this site and prevent odours and spills/leakage into the surrounding area? Hunter water are the proper Authority to deal with the Sewage generated from the Watagan Gardens Development.

    I also note the concerns of the residents that are within 400 metres of this proposal; how could Council ever consider such a Development when it does not comply with the recommended 400 metre buffer zone?

14. We have recently found out about an application (DA 1844/2013) for the council’s consent to demolish buildings at 60 Avondale Road, Cooranbong and to agree to the concept of a waste water and sewerage treatment and recycling plant being built and operated at 60 Avondale Road, Cooranbong. We were not notified by letter. I imagine letters were only sent to people who may be affected by the demolition of buildings at 60 Avondale Rd. However, we feel we will definitely be affected in some way by the building of a sewage treatment facility which would be only approximately 100 metres from our property.

    There is very little detail in the application concerning this facility and how it would be operated and managed. We have recently been informed that a company, Flow Systems, would most likely be the company to build and operate this facility. This company operates a facility at Pitt Town and Johnson Property Group has stated that the Cooranbong facility would be similar to the one on the Vermont Estate development at Pitt Town. A representative of Flow Systems said he would most likely be asked to speak at Cooranbong if there was a community meeting.

    Flow Systems is a private sector water utility (licensed under the Water Competition Industry Act). They have told us that Stage 2 would be considered for consent by them, not the council, and an Environmental Impact Statement would also be prepared by them. They stated that there would be no noise (one resident at Pitt Town near the water treatment facility has said there is a slight buzzing noise at night) or odour and there would not have to be a buffer zone.

    However, guidelines do have to be followed with private sector utilities, including various factors such as any environmental impacts on a community, any transformation of a locality, any reduction of the aesthetic quality or value of a locality. We believe that building a sewage/water recycling facility in Avondale Rd would have a negative impact on the community in the above ways.

    Further research seems to indicate that there is a possibility of breakdowns in these facilities, particularly including sewage overflows. (The EPA recognises “that there are conditions under which a sewage overflow may be difficult to avoid” - Licensing Guidelines for Sewage Treatment Systems - Environment Protection Act 2003.) Licence application forms also include sections where the applicant has to show they have incident/emergency plans and disaster recovery plans.

    On the site at Avondale Road there are houses right on the boundary of the proposed facility. The Pitt Town area development is also quite different to Cooranbong. The few local, established people at Pitt Town live in a rural zone across a road adjacent to the new waste water facility development there. Here at 60 Avondale Road, the building is to be placed in the midst of a long-established residential area. Also those purchasing blocks on the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town know that there is a waste water treatment plant on the estate and they can choose a block as close or as far away as they desire from the treatment facility. The existing residents in Avondale Road, and those on Freeman’s Drive backing onto the site have no such choice.

    Apart from possible odour and noise we are also concerned about possible chemical hazards. This facility will treat the waste water and pump it back to the new development. In the application by Flow Systems for a similar plant at Wyee it states that: “A variety of chemicals including sodium hypochlorite, alum, etc. will be used for treatment process purposes, disinfection and membrane cleaning.” My wife is a respiratory scientist and is well aware of respiratory problems caused by chemicals.

    We have a young infant and another child due in a few days and we do not want to be forced into a situation where the building of this facility could possibly make our home environment not only unpleasant but harmful. We feel it is entirely objectionable to consider the building of such a facility in this residential area.

15. As a Cooranbong resident, I object strongly to the proposed sewerage plant on Avondale Rd. Developing a new estate is one thing but to then throw in a proposal to deal with the effluent without it having been part of the initial planning, is not good foresight. To suddenly launch a proposal of this nature displays a certain contempt towards the local residents. A sewerage plant will always have an environmental and social impact on those who live nearby.

16. Re: Lake Macquarie City Council DA 1844/2013 - Objection

    My wife and I are residents of the Avondale Springs Estate which borders Freeman's Drive, Cooranbong.

    We object to the granting of the DA 1844/2013 for the following reasons:

    The lake in the Avondale Springs Estate has already been silted from the excavation works on the Watagan Estate land.

    There is no guarantee that during prolonged periods of rain effluent from the proposed STP would not enter the Avondale Springs Lake.

    Further, there is no guarantee that there will be no leaking of effluent during the STP's equipment failure. There is the possibility of such failure at any time and particularly after a few years.

    Who is responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the STP?

    Finally, the appropriate entity for an STP is the Hunter Water Board

17. To whom it may concern

    As a long term resident in the Cooranbong area, I have watched development occur under JPG and have been dismayed by the devastation of native flora and disappearance of associated fauna.
    For obvious reasons or odour , proximity to homes and no doubt heavier traffic, I strongly object to the installation of a sewage treatment facility on Avondale road.

    Mr Graham Booyens

18. OBJECTION TO PROPOSED STAGED DEVELOPMENT FOR A UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE BEING A SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT AT LOT B, DP391418, 60 AVONDALE ROAD COORANBONG

    As a Cooranbong citizen I strongly object to the proposed staged development application for the utility being a sewage treatment plant at 60 Avondale Road

    Insufficient factual information is given to assess realistically.
    A plant that is 8 meters tall will detract from the values of the community.

    Positioning of the proposed plant gives no consideration for many who will be subjected to either sight, smell or noise factors that will diminish their current standard of living and create health hazards.

    Owner and developer have, in reference to this DA, both clearly written " we would not want to see the establishment of a facility that will result in significant detriment to the community" yet this is exactly what the proposed plant will do.
    
    Properties will likely be devalued as buyers on hearing that a sewage plant is nearby will on this knowledge alone be negatively influenced. Mere perception that a sewage plant is nearby will seriously affect property values.

    Documentation reveals that the Hunter Water Board's Marconi Road Sewage facility is able to service the area. It now is apparent that the developer is out to save money to the detriment of nearby residents. There is no justice in this.

    We stridently object to this development application. We respectfully request that consideration be given to the health and quality and lifestyle of residents in the area; further that a more suitable location be found, well distanced from established homes and from the environmentally sensitive riparian zone where spillage and overflow has the potential to affect downstream water bodies including Avondale. Springs .

19. To Whom It May Concern,
    Re: Cooranbong Lake Macquarie City Council DA 1844/2013

    As residents of Avondale Road with 3 small children and another due in 5 weeks, my husband and I strongly oppose the proposed staged development application for the utility being a sewage treatment plant at 60 Avondale Road. We live less than 100m from the proposed development site, and are concerned about the impact that noise, chemicals and odour might have on our young family.
    Please deny this application for rezoning and development, and ensure a more suitable location (i.e. away from residential housing and schools, and well away from flood zones) is found should a new treatment plant really be necessary.

    John and Christie Venegas

20. RE: DA 1844/2013 (Utility Infrastructure Facility & Demolition, 60 Avondale Road Cooranbong)

    To whom it may concern,

    As the owner of a property on Avondale Road, I formally object to this proposal on the grounds that it contravenes Government guidelines for buffer zones, and in doing so, significantly increases the risk to the health and safety of existing residents as well as the school children who travel through this area.

    In addition, the nature of this facility and proximity to major environmental regions (for example, Avondale Springs lake and associated waterways) demands the highest level of diligence and assurance and in it's current form this proposal is an obvious failure.

    Short of commercial interests, there are NO broader benefits to the community within this proposal. In fact, the probable impact to the community of this proposal in it's current form is almost entirely negative.

    Thank you for your time and consideration.

21. To who it may concern

    My wife and I were considering purchasing a residence close to family that live near Avondale rd. lucky we know people in the area that pointed the da out to us. This development will effect the value of all sourounding residences due to the health concerns and environmental impact that it will have. We will also be reconsidering where we send our children to school due to its location.

    The development should not proceed with such concerns when there are clear alternatives as mentioned in the above comments.

22. This treatment plant must not be constructed with this proximity to residential properties.

    I have six of my family living with 75 metres of this proposed site. This thoughtless heavy handedness by council and developers in partnership is wrong.

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