MichaelR MP

Michael Richardson M.P. Member for the Hills

2020

Part Six

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allowing alfresco dining. A three-tonne limit would improve diner enjoyment. The model for this development is Willoughby Road, Crows Nest, which enjoys a cosmopolitan ambience without restricting through traffic. The money saved (more than $1 million) could be invested in the ring road, or in improved road maintenance. Interestingly, the cost of reopening Blacktown and Penrith Malls was put at more than $l million each.

Experts support the notion of maintaining traffic flow but reducing it from four lanes to two. In these circumstances, while some people would continue to walk across Old Northern Road, an overhead walkway could be provided between Castle Towers Stage Two and a revamped Castle Mall. This would help to tie the shopping precinct together without impeding traffic flow. A three-tonne load limit would keep big trucks out of the shopping centre.

17_pic.gif (125878 bytes)
Figure Seventeen: The two sides of the 'strip' could be
linked by an overhead walkway.

A particular problem for the Castle Hill Town Centre, however, will continue to be the sheer size of the shopping precinct, with the distance between the northern end of the extended Castle Towers and Cecil Avenue being well over a kilometre. The Castle Mall car park must be redeveloped to reduce the gradient and make parking easier. One exciting possibility is to locate a bus and/or light rail interchange here, together with a multi-level car park with spaces for commuter as well as shopper parking.

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RECOMMENDATION FOURTEEN: Old Northern Road should not be closed to through traffic and developed into a mall, but should be converted to two lanes of one-way northbound traffic crossed by an overhead walkway. Parking bays separated by trees and planter boxes should be provided on both sides of the street. There should be an opportunity for open air dining. The road should carry a three-tonne load limit. Terminus Street should be one-way south-bound; Pennant Street two-way.

RECOMMENDATION FIFTEEN: Castle Mall car park should be redeveloped as a bus interchange and multilevel car park, with parking space provided for both shoppers and commuters.

7.0 The Sydney Orbital

One of the most pressing roads needs in the Hills district is the completion of the Sydney Orbital, also known as the Liverpool-Hornsby National Highway link. This Commonwealth funded road will divert traffic - especially trucks - around Sydney and allow more transit lanes to be provided on local arterial roads to accommodate enhanced public transport services. It will relieve congestion on Pennant Hills Road - which is already operating at close to capacity - as well as enhancing job creation in Blacktown and the North-West Business Park.

A major concern for Hills residents is the route the road takes. A favoured option was connecting the M3 with the M2 through the Lane Cove River Valley, the so-called B2/B3 option. Unfortunately the Carr Government abandoned this corridor in 1996, making the Wallgrove Expressway linking Mount Colah with the Liverpool via Rooty Hill, Annangrove, Kenthurst, Dural and Galston the most likely contender. This route would cost more in both dollar and environmental terms than the B2/B3 Option, impacting severely on rural residents of the Hills as well as on native bushland. Federal Minister for Transport John Sharp has acknowledged that all routes for the northern section of the corridor "involve considerable engineering difficulties, with road construction being expensive and disruptive to environmentally sensitive areas."²⁶

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RECOMMENDATION SIXTEEN: The Commonwealth Government should build the Sydney Orbital, but well north or west of the existing route through Galston Gorge, as a matter of priority to relieve congestion on Pennant Hills Road and provide improved public transport outcomes on local arterial roads.

8.0. Improving rural roads

One of the biggest complaints made by residents of Baulkham Hills Shire is the state of the rural roads network. The roads are a disgrace, and their condition contributes to excessive wear and tear on motor vehicle suspension systems and a high accident rate (the road accident fatality/serious injury rate in the Castle Hill Patrol Area is the highest of any police patrol in the Cumberland/Nepean Region). Problems including pavement width, potholes and soft and deteriorating shoulders.

The poor condition of these roads has been a function of neglect by successive councils. Some roads in the RHDA are now being upgraded on a piecemeal basis, a hundred metres at a time, as s.94 funds become available, this process is at best haphazard and there are many heavily trafficked roads outside the RHDA, including Annangrove Road. Kenthurst Road, Bannerman Road, Pitt Town Road and Cattai Ridge Road, which will not benefit from s.94 funds and therefore can only be upgraded as a result of a change of policy by Council.

We recommend an additional $1 million per annum be spent on rural roads maintenance over the next five years to bring the roads identified on a priority list (including those cited above) up to acceptable standards. Council should also consider asking the RTA to accept responsibility for Annangrove Road (currently a Regional Road). We are opposed to the notion of raising rates to cover this expenditure, and believe the money can be found by freeing up some of BHSC's

²⁶ Personal communication, 21 June 1996

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substantial cash reserves, through profits from the orderly disposal of Council-owned land, and by identifying other ancillary cost savings through the re-establishment of a Wastewatch Committee. (Council's previous Wastewatch Committee was set up in 1987). Such a committee should function independently of Council, should have access to all financial records and other associated documents, and should report to Open Council so its findings and recommendations are made public.

RECOMMENDATION SEVENTEEN: Baulkham Hills Shire Council should boost funding for its rural roads maintenance programme by $1 million per annum over the next five years to bring roads outside RHDA up to an acceptable standard. Funding should come from cash reserves, the orderly disposal of Council-owned land, and internal savings by a reconstituted Wastewatch Committee.

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LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATION ONE: Federal, State and local governments should work together to ensure planning decisions for the Hills take into account the district's special character, location and lack of infrastructure.

RECOMMENDATION TWO: Urban consolidation programmes should focus on inner- and middle-distance suburbs and existing transport corridors, particularly railway lines.

RECOMMENDATION THREE: Baulkham Hills Shire Council should not provide for housing densities of an average 15 dwellings/ha and up to 45 dwellings/ha in the RHDA unless and until the State Government takes positive steps towards implementing a dedicated public transport system.

RECOMMENDATION FOUR: A high-capacity bus/rail interchange should be built above Epping Station to service buses travelling along the M2 motorway.

RECOMMENDATION FIVE: The NSW Government should expedite the construction of the Epping-Carlingford rail link, along with a multi-level car park at Carlingford station and improvements to the intersection of Oakes and North Rocks Roads, Carlingford.

RECOMMENDATION SIX: Buses should be used initially in the new release areas to develop transport nodes until a dedicated public transport is built, and subsequently to provide enhanced feeder services, preferably via mini-buses.

RECOMMENDATION SEVEN: The NSW Government should expedite the amplification of the dedicated bus lanes on the M2 Motorway as an O-bahn system.

RECOMMENDATION EIGHT: The NSW Government should take immediate steps to acquire a cost-effective light rail corridor connecting the RHDA and Parramatta, or monorail.

RECOMMENDATION NINE: The NSW Government should recognise that the desire to live in a detached house on a quarter-acre block of land among similar houses is a legitimate aspiration of many Australians.

RECOMMENDATION TEN: Planning for the RHDA should incorporate many of the principles of the 'new urbanism', including the re-introduction of grid pattern subdivisions, and connectivity between areas to encourage pedestrian traffic and public transport usage.

RECOMMENDATION ELEVEN: Safety routes, including the construction of footpaths where necessary, should be created around schools throughout the Hills.

RECOMMENDATION TWELVE: Medium-density housing in the Hills should be restricted to designated areas close to public transport nodes and/or employment.

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RECOMMENDATION THIRTEEN: BHSC and HSC should each set up an architectural review committee to set minimum standards for infill development and to improve environmental outcomes. While the committees' advice would not have the status of law, councils should be willing to back their judgement, based on a clearly enunciated good design code, in the Land and Environment Court.

RECOMMENDATION FOURTEEN: Old Northern Road should not be closed to through traffic and developed into a mall, but should be converted to two lanes of one-way northbound traffic crossed by an overhead walkway. Parking bays separated by trees and planter boxes should be provided on both sides of the street. There should be an opportunity for open-air dining. The road should carry a three-tonne load limit. Terminus Street should be one-way south-bound; Pennant Street two-way.

RECOMMENDATION FIFTEEN: Castle Mall car park should be redeveloped as a bus interchange and multi-level car park, with parking space provided for both shoppers and commuters.

RECOMMENDATION SIXTEEN: The Commonwealth Government should build the Sydney Orbital, but well north or west of the existing route through Galston Gorge, as a matter of priority to relieve congestion on Pennant Hills Road and provide improved public transport outcomes on local arterial roads.

RECOMMENDATION SEVENTEEN: Baulkham Hills Shire Council should boost funding for its rural roads maintenance programme by $1 million per annum over the next five years to bring roads outside the RHDA up to an acceptable standard. Funding should come from cash reserves, the orderly disposal of Council-owned land, and internal savings identified by a reconstituted Wastewatch Committee.

GLOSSARY
BCC Blacktown City Council
BHSC Baulkham Hills Shire Council
C21C Cities for the 21st Century
CSO Community Service Obligation
DoP Department of Planning
DUAP Department of Urban Affairs and Planning
HSC Hornsby Shire Council
ITS Integrated Transport Strategy
LRV Light Rail Vehicle
NWS North-West Sector
REP Regional Environmental Plan
RHDA Rouse Hill Development Area
RTA Roads and Traffic Authority

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Bibliography
Allison, C., "The Last Great Land Rush", The Northern Herald, 15 August 1996.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Transport Patterns and Preferences NSW October 1996.

Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch), Public Transport Policy, 1995.

Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch), Rail Expansion for Sydney's West, 1995.

Australian Labor Party ( NSW Branch), Urban Affairs Policy, 1995.

Baulkham Hills Shire Council, Kellyville/Rouse Hill Landscape and Urban Design Strategy, 1993.

Baulkham Hills Shire Council, Strategic Plan 1994/95 - 1997/98, March 1994.

Baulkham Hills Shire Council and Blacktown City Council, The Financing of Infrastructure for the Rouse

Hill Development Area: 5.22 Advisory Committee Submission to the New South Wales Treasury, 1994.

Greater Western Sydney Economic Development Board, Greater Western Sydney Planning & Transport Review and Priorities Study, November 1996.

Julie Bindon & Associates, Main Street Mall Study, 1997.

Langdon, Philip, A Better Place to Live, University of Massachusetts Press, 1994

Latham, M., "Liverpool in the 1990s: the Challenge of Economic Growth and Decline", Australian Planner, Vol.30, No.1, March 1992.

Maunsell Pty Ltd, North West Transport Links East Environmental Impact Statement, April 1992.

NSW Department of Planning, Cities for the 21st Century, January 1995.

NSW Department of Planning, Rouse Hill Development Area: Sydney Regional Environmental Plan No.19,#1989.

NSW Department of Planning, Sydney's Future: A Discussion Paper; October 1993.

NSW Department of Transport, Integrated Transport Strategy for the Greater Metropolitan Region, 1995.

NSW Department of Transport, "Light Rail: its Evolution and Potential for NSW', Strategic Transport Planning for New South Wales, August 1992.

Richardson, M.J., The Hills Public Transport Survey May 1996.

Rust PPK Pty. Ltd., Hills District Public Transport Study, November 1995.

Russell, M.," Knowles Warns Councils on Sprawl", The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 1996.

State Rail Authority of NSW, State Rail Strategic Plan 1994-2016: CityRail, 1994.

Troy, P., The Perils of Urban Consolidation: A Discussion of Australian Housing and Urban Development Policies, (Leichhardt: The Federation Press, 1996).

© Michael Richardson MP, 1997.

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Phone: 9634-7474 Fax: 9899-3340

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