WORLD CLASS SUPER CLINIC SITE REVEALED

Dear NBN,

I would like to include you on the following letter I am emailing to Wyong Shire Council. NBN aired a report on 16.02.10. This letter relates to information regarding that report. The information mentioned in this letter has been found in the development application supporting documentation as found on the Wyong Shire website.

A public meeting is being held on site on Saturday 20th February at 10.00am.

Thank you and regards,

Mrs S Trigg

Letter to Wyong Shire Council is below:

17th February, 2010

Wyong Shire Council

re: Development Application Enquiry: DA – 1396 / 2009 – Development Application

Dear Sir / Madam,

We have concerns regarding the above Development Application which we would like to bring to your attention.

We have children that attend MacKillop Catholic College. As parents we have accessed this site from 2006 through to 2010. We have serious concerns for the safety of all concerned, particularly the children, with an increase in additional traffic, using the existing current roads, in and around the MacKillop Catholic College grounds.

We have accessed this site thousands of times over the last 7 years. The school has grown a lot so far, but is still not at its full capacity. Yet is is very surprising that the Development Application contained the following report: D02099576 (02/12/2009) Traffic Parking Report is based on one days traffic flow, on Thursday 5th November, 2009 and signalised intersection data from 21st October 2008. That doesn’t seem a justified amount of information, one days traffic flow and an old signalised intersection data, to base your analysis on for going ahead with this development, knowing that the school has not reached its full capacity even in 2010.

The Development Application contained the following report: D02099576 (02/12/2009) Traffic Parking Report
The following is quoted from the above report:

“The survey at the roundabout took place during AM and PM peak hours on Thursday 5th November 2009 while data for the signalised intersection are dated 21st October 2008. These surveys provided data for a typical analysis of the intersection in terms of its performance and capacity.”

It would be more appropriate to assess the flow of traffic to the site over numerous days. Including peak times of the year such as beginning of the school year, beginning of terms, at end of year concerts / ceremonies. It would be more appropriate to obtain signalised intersection data from a much more recent date and also from numerous occasions to show clear transparent figures.

We feel it is inappropriate of council and the developer to lodge such an application with the school year of 2009 drawn to an end, (received in the school office after school had closed for the year) and having objections being allowed to be made until early January 2010, conveniently when the school community was not available to comment. As a local resident I am aware of the ‘political power’ a facility like this can bring to an election campaign which is approaching us. This is evident in the media presence of NBN at the school this week with the a politician saying how great it is. Yes, this GP Super Clinic, facility would be a win for the community, but, only if it has been designed appropriately with all the stake holders needs considered and factored in. Why hide this development from the stake holders, and rush it through, so to speak, with the school community unaware – when the local community has already been waiting so many years for such a facility. It would appear it is being rushed through to hide something. Perhaps the basic needs of all stake holders are not been considered and allowed for in the management of this overall development. It has not been managed properly by Council in respect of the wider communities needs. It would be a shame to upset the people who vote for you.

MacKillop Catholic Community is an unusual site. It is a Kindergarten to Year 12 school with a parish church and presbytery, all on the one campus. It is boarded by a very busy dual carriage way called Sparks Road. There is only one access road into this campus. The “private road” as labeled in the Development Application contained the following report: D02099576 (02/12/2009) Traffic Parking Report. There is no surrounding suburban streets to assist with accessing the school to improve the safety of our most precious commodity, our children.

For the current year 2010 enrolments are between 400 – 500 primary school students, around 1000 High School students, numerous staff, numerous parishioners and numerous parents who access the site of MacKillop Catholic College on a daily basis. Of which 270 Primary Students are in years Kindergarten to Year 2. These students are our most vulnerable, they are perhaps too young to catch the bus, thus requiring parents to drop off and pick up, an increase to traffic flow, as well, they have minimal road safety comprehension. Interesting data released last year advised that children up to the age of 10 years old should be walked holding an adults hand in and around roads and car parks and to the correct side of the road that the school is on. This data also advised that children as old as 15 years of age do not possess adequate road safety skills and can walk out, after alighting the bus, in front of traffic.

There is no surrounding suburban streets to assist in accessing this very busy campus. At times, now, it is extremely dangerous with the number of vehicles (buses, cars, 4 wheel drives) that access the site and the nature of children moving around the site. Over the years, I have witnessed many a time where children have not paid attention and just walked out on the access roads. With the nature of children, they are not aware of their surroundings and don’t always pay attention to what is happening around them. Children are unpredictable. Vehicles and children do not mix well. As we have seen in the media, time and time again, a child has been run over or killed in and around schools. We feel that an increase in vehicles to the current site, using the current roads, will increase the likely hood of a serious accident.

The MacKillop / GP Super Clinic site is very similar to that of Wyong Hospital. Numerous people accessing the site with surrounding streets to access the site to help alleviate some of the access problems or to provide additional parking. When Wyong Hospital was being rebuilt plans had to be amended to allow for extra additional parking for the users of the site, customers and staff. Anyone who accesses Wyong Hospital on a regular basis now can tell you that there is not enough parking, it has not been that long since it had been re-built. Gosford Hospital is different as there surrounding suburban streets to allow ease of access to the site as well as allowing off-street parking. Perhaps there is not enough allowance for future growth in above mentioned Traffic Parking Reports as the company who prepared this reports claims to provide such statistics for other large medical facilities. Maybe the GP Super Clinic will outgrow its car parking in the near future too. Where will that leave this site?

The average age of the frequent customers that currently access Wyong Hospital and Kanwal Medical Centre is quite elderly. How such a horrendous access road from Wyong Hospital to Kanwal Medical Centre, containing two very sharp turns (one right, one left) has been allowed / approved and built is unthinkable. This road is extremely dangerous. There is also a child care centre near the left turn. This mix of elderly and difficult turns is not a good combination. An accident waiting to happen. Approved by Wyong Shire Council?

The Development Application contained the following report: D02099576 (02/12/2009) Traffic Parking Report
The following is quoted from the above report: “Considering that average stay of most outpatients will be between 30 to 45 minutes”
Most customers that access medical facilities are used to arriving very early for appointments to obtain a car park and they are also used to waiting for exceptionally long wait times as medical appointments run over time frequently. It is the nature of this type of business. If a problem is found, time is taken with the patients. We don’t believe the above allowance as found in the Traffic Parking Report is a true indication of “real” wait times experienced in medical facilities. You only have to listen to the local media, time and time again, to be reminded, regularly of the long wait times in our local medical facilities. We can not understand how the Traffic Parking Report author from St Leonards can have a true understanding of the growth implications and demands placed on our medical facilities locally.

We have observed that the carers of students at Kanwal Public School park in the neighbouring streets such as Craigie, Walker, Heathfield, Surrey, Avondale, Wiowera, Pearce, Rolfe, Hughes to ensure their children go to school safely, they walk the child from the car to school. We do not have that luxury at MacKillop, or perhaps you want us leaving our cars on Sparks Road? What a safety nightmare that would be.

We have been one of the families who have been at MacKillop since the beginning. We have supported the school through its construction faze and experienced the disruption and inconvenience that came with it for the end result was a much needed school in our local community. The local community could not cope with the growing population. The Broken Bay Diocese saw this and invested many years in planning and numerous amounts of funds to build the school that is there today which includes the traffic lights at the intersection at the entrance to the school and the surrounding roads. Isn’t it fortunate for our local community to have these traffic lights either funded in full or part by the Broken Bay Diocese and thus easing the burdon on council, federal and state funding for such infrastructure?

We think it is great to see the development of the local Warnervale area. It is such a much needed development. It is a unique time for the community. A chance to build a better tomorrow. MacKillop Catholic College has been built, approved by Wyong Shire Council, yes the GP Super Clinic is planned, yes the Warnervale Town Centre is planned. They are all great for the local community. But, now is the time to plan and manage these developments properly before it is too late. Wyong Shire Council is in the position to manage these facilities in the best interest of all stake holders. To have all the infrastructure, roads and safety needs available for all the community members / stake holders allowed for in the planning. Particularly the people who will use this site on a daily basis, safety for now and in the future. Perhaps you need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that suits everyone’s needs. Wouldn’t it be better to have a finished project that you can be proud of? To have a project that people will like and maybe vote for the politicians and council men and women who approved it and helped make it a successful facility for all community members and stake holders alike.

We would also like to let you know the following: Recently, we parked on the proposed site where the GP Super Clinic is going. This time we were surprised at how much more difficult it was to turn left onto the “private access road” to exit the site at the lights. There were lengthy delays, much more that had been previously experienced. We have concerns for customers leaving the GP Super Clinic wanting to turn left onto the “private access road” to exit the site at the lights in these busy times. These customers will have to give way to the right, at the roundabout, thus allowing all the school traffic right of way, at such busy peak periods (pickup and drop off). The customers will be waiting for long periods causing traffic jams within the GP Super Clinic car park. You may have to look at installing some sort of mechanism to allow school traffic to break and allow some GP Super Clinic customers to exit. This leads to the question of Emergency vehicles accessing the site at such busy periods. They will not have a speedy entry or exit, instead it will be filled with delay. Traffic will be unable to move out of the way to allow them access, as there is no other roads to any other access.

Wyong Shire Council is in a very important position. You get to be involved in shaping the future of this new community, the Warnervale area, to build a better tomorrow. To be put in the history books for helping develop this area. All we ask is, Lets get it right.

You will find that the community of MacKillop Catholic College, in general, is a supportive community and ultimately we are the neighbours of whoever you approve / allow to build next to the existing school. We hope you take the time to consider the views of all the stake holders concerned and re-think this development application. Ensuring that safety remains the priority for our children and of all current stakeholders and future stakeholders of this vicinity as it moves forward with future developments for the wider community.

A public meeting is being held on site on Saturday 20th February at 10.00am..

Thank you for your time and we trust you will look into this further. We would appreciate your feedback and regular updates regarding this development application by return email.

Regards,

Mrs S Trigg & Mr C Trigg

cc: emailed to Got Something to Say: on NBN Central Coast website: ttp://www.nbntv.com.au/index.php/2010/02/16/world-class-super-clinic-site-revealed/