JUNE 2012 EDITION.pdf(6.5mB) - The Monthly Chronicle

POSTBOX
Sir,
Ron Koutchavlis of
herrybrook is dead
ight that two key points
n the ‘Third Track’
etition are noise and air
ollution from freight
rains. He’s right, too,
hat signatories include
any who deplore
rowing diesel traffic
long Pennant Hills Road.
or can anyone dispute
is point that noise
ollution is ‘already
here’.
TIDC – the State body
esponsible for the NWRL
n 2006 – officially
eported the alreadyxcessive
noise levels
long the Epping to
eecroft portion of the
ain North Line: In this
ection of existing track,
the current noise levels
already exceed the DEC’s
“Maximum Levels”. The
report also confirmed that
quadruplication and
reduced offset distances
can lift the future average
noise to 2½ times its
former level.
Significantly, the
maximum noise levels to
be imposed on residents
are not subject to any
effective regulation. The
government knows it
cannot meet ‘reasonable
and feasible’ criteria. The
loudest, most grating
component – wheel squeal
– is nowhere properly
addressed. Is that
omission due to
carelessness,
incompetence, bias or an
intention to deceive?
CROSS~tALK
KidsGames
Yes, it’s on again this year
–
KidsGames – the best kid thing on earth
Each year many excited children meet at
Thornleigh Community Baptist Church for a
week long holiday club based on sport, games
and the creative arts.
The sports activities are held at Headen Park –
weather permitting.
KidsGames are held in over 150 countries
throughout the world! And this holiday club has
an added ‘compassion’ dimension – the children
are encouraged to bring in small items to help fill
shoe boxes – these shoe boxes are then
distributed by Operation Christmas Child to
needy children in many countries.
Our local KidsGames will be held from
9th – 13th July from 9.00am – 12.30pm daily.
A number of local churches combine to run the
club where children from Year 1 to Year 6 have
lots of fun playing games, improving their skills in
soccer and other sports or being involved in
creative activities, as well as a Bible Discovery
time with stories, drama and small group
activities.
So don’t miss
out !
- registration is essential and places are limited -
contact Sue on 0438 841 868 for more
information, or pick up a registration form at
Thornleigh Community Baptist Church Office
15 – 17 Duffy Ave. Thornleigh.
2 — Monthly Chronicle, June/July 2012
It’s easy to pull the wool
over the eyes of a
community who do not
regularly grapple with
decibels. The government
buys time by masking the
permanent and
predictable damage
inherent in their plans –
relying on us not to ‘wake
up’ figuratively until we
are repeatedly woken up
physically, with the
damage already
irrevocable.
The ethical crux of the
matter is plain: we’ve
been systematically
deceived. Worse, we
leave the deception
unchallenged.
Plainly, the ‘public
consultation’ sessions –
which skim over damage
to health, well-being and
the environment – are a
well-orchestrated sham.
Dural
Antiques
Open 6 Days
Closed
Tuesday
Jewellery, Furniture,
China, Silver &
All Old Wares
Single Items &
Whole Estates
WE BUY & SELL
9651 2113
857 Old Northern Road
DURAL 2158
DISCOVER for yourself
Representatives of
Transport for NSW, under
pressure, identified their
short-sighted proposal as
predestined, with a
definite start date. We’re
being duped and run over
roughshod.
Our residents are not
selfish, as Mr Koutchavlis
claims. We actively
support the proposed
NWRL, for example. We
did, however, thoughtfully
and successfully campaign
against the profoundly
disfiguring ‘above-ground’
option that was the
government’s first
incompetent plan.
Residents were heard
because they had
responsibly informed
themselves about its ugly
foreseeable consequences.
There’s a known
solution, too, to the
government’s freight
problems – though there’s
no lazy ‘quick fix’. The
excellent solution is the
Western Option –
officially recommended
for an early start by the
late Mahla Pearlman. An
impatient freight industry
cannot brutally trample
health rights and quality
of life, to the detriment
of communities who’ve
scrupulously respected
their environment for a
century. The
government’s clumsy
proposal to retrofit a
Third Rail trivializes the
permanent physiological
stress and sleep disruption
that will result.
More importantly – for
the sake of the whole
State – the government
must live up to its
Preparatory School
Where children...
• Have fun and make new friends
• Develop self confidence
• Learn new skills
• Participate in school readiness
activities
• Experience professional teaching
15 Glenhope Road
West Pennant Hills
9894 6145
avowed goal of
accountability. We look
forward to the day when
Ms Berejiklian notices the
unethical nature of
‘consultations’ founded on
a hidden fait accompli,
and stops them dead in
their tracks. We applaud
Greg Smith for his
immediate recognition of
the problem.
A community gets what
it settles for. It’s only too
late if we don’t act now!
J.Cox
Cheltenham
Sir,
I am astounded the
Northern Sydney Region
of Councils (NSROC)
supported by way of a 16
page A4 coloured booklet
and 36 page ‘Supporting
Research Update by
PricewaterhouseCoopers’
based on the Hon Mahla
Pearlam AO’s 2007
review of the 2004 SKM
study, recommends two,
two lane tunnels to
connect the F3 and M2 at
West Pennant Hills.
Both the SKM and
Pearlman reports found
that regardless of the
tunnels a western
connection of the M7 to
the F3 near Somersby
should be completed by
2121.
This NSROC report did
not disclose that if the
tunnels were to be built,
the F3 and Hawkesbury
bridges would have to be
widened, speed limits
reduced and Pennant Hills
Road widened to six lanes
to James Ruse Drive.
Why waste money and
increase traffic delays on
Pennant Hills Road
whilst the NSROC
proposal is carried out
when a far better, quicker
and cheaper option exists
that would also cause
minimal traffic
disruption?
Peter Waite
Pennant Hills
Sir,
In response to Mr
Koutchavlis’ letter in last
month’s Chronicle, I also
had hoped that the
proposed dedicated
freight rail track would
give relief from the
number of trucks on
Pennant Hills Road.
On enquiry at a meeting
with Mr Justin Maguire,
Principal Manager Freight
and Regulation at
Transport for New South
Wales, Mr Maguire stated
that both road and rail
freight will increase
incrementally by 1.5%
annually, along the
north/south route. Trains
mainly convey containers
and trucks carry goods
directly to their required
destination.
We’d all love a magic
bullet to relieve Pennant
Hills Road, but this isn’t
it!
The main thrust of the
petition referred to, was in
fact to ask for the removal
of the exemption for
freight-related noise
pollution, either by rail or
road, within N.S.W... The
track through Pennant
Hills Station is flat and
straight...not a good
position to observe this
problem. Whereas on the
track winding up the
steep incline from Epping
all the way to Pennant
Hills, the noise pollution
can be unbearable.
Bronwen. Murray-Prior
Pennant Hills
Sir,
There could not have
been a more auspicious
date for release of the
news in May about
Australia’s involvement in
the Square Kilometre
Array (SKA). The
decision must surely rate
as the most important
event of this year, a
landmark in history that
will be remembered long
after all other recent
news stories are
forgotten.
The proposal envisages
the biggest and most
advanced instrument in
radio astronomy, a
technological leap of
hundreds of years. It is
the culmination of a new
branch of science that
started right here, in
what is known among
overseas scientists as
Hornsby Valley.
In the late 1940’s, the
(then) CSIR set up nine
radio astronomy stations
around Sydney, including
one at Hornsby Valley
from 1948 to 1955.
One of the many
pioneering projects here
was the 1946 Moonbounce
experiment, when
radio emissions directed
at the moon from
Shepparton were received
in Hornsby Valley and
provided an accurate
measurement of the
distance from Earth to the
Moon.
In 1952, the
International Union of
Radio Science Congress
was held in Hornsby
Valley, the world’s
birthplace of radio
astronomy.
The historic radio
astronomy array was lost
in a bushfire that swept
up the valley.
And what about the
date of last month’s news?
Because Monday 28th
May 2012 marked one
hundred years after a key
member of that team of
explorers, Ruby Payne-
Scott, was born in
Grafton.
The third woman to
graduate in physics at
Sydney University, and the
world’s second radio
astronomer, Ruby Payne-
Scott was a pioneer of
RADAR and radio
astronomy, described by
another leading physicist
as: “One of the best
physicists that Australia
has ever produced.”
The story about our
local hero was detailed in
the book by Claire
Hooker: Women in
Australian Science,
published by Melbourne
University Press, ISBN 0
522 85107 and sold in
ABC shops.
Gordon Limburg,
Mount Kuring-gai
Sir,
Commuter Parking in
Pennant Hills
So the NSW
Government is to spend
$170m on nine commuter
parking projects but not
including Pennant Hills.
The selection criteria is
not known but if it is
based on the availability
of State Rail land we
know that they have
different plans for
Pennant Hills. The
proposed new rail freight
rail track on the western
side of the station will
mean substantial
construction works, a
narrowing of Yarrara
Road, significantly
impacted commuter
accessibility, the loss of all
the significant tree growth
and the station one of the
best features of the
Pennant Hills centre
being lost.
Interestingly Hornsby
Council in its new LEP
work were proposing the
rezoning of the Pennant
Hills Hotel site to permit
the development of a
public car park. This idea
was subsequently
retracted with Council’s
Business Papers reporting
that “provision of public
carparking within the
Centre would be reviewed
as part of the Pennant
Hills Masterplan.”
In its 2009 Housing
Strategy, Council
concluded that the
Pennant Hills centre
required detailed
masterplanning because
“known traffic problems”
were a severe limitation or
prohibition to increased
residential density, but in
2010 they back-flipped
and approved 5 storey
residential development
in Fisher Avenue/Trebor
Road immediately
adjacent to the Pennant
Hills centre. Now in 2012
Council appears to be
suggesting that commuter
traffic and parking is
adding to the “known
traffic problems” in and
around the centre.
The mind boggles!
Brian Ash,
Pennant Hills
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