Our Health and Environment

Here's what you need to know

Polluting our community’s favourite recreational areas

• Flat Rock Gully Creek flows from Artarmon Reserve, through Flat Rock Gully and down into Tunks Park – this water course is part of a wildlife protection area. Given the proximity of the planned construction site at either the Baseball Diamond or Flat Rock Drive and typical run-off flows, it is highly likely that Flat Rock Creek will be polluted.

• Northbridge Baths would likely be unusable for the period of the project and for some time after. Dredging the harbour floor will harm marine life and make a large portion of Middle Harbour waterways unusable.

Flat Rock Tip Site – the preferred tunnel route goes through an old tip and landfill site.

• The proposed route will cut through an old tip site. This puts residents and the environment at risk from surface & ground water contamination - this comes from disturbing landfill materials, such as asbestos and toxic chemicals either on the surface or below ground.

Damage to native fauna and flora – a fragile ecosystem

• Flat Rock has been extensively rehabilitated since its time as a tip in the 1980s. It boasts many species of native flora and fauna – pollution and disturbance will impact this fragile ecosystem which has taken decades of community and council work to recover.

Air pollution

• Fine dust particles entering the air in and around construction sites (Flat Rock Baseball Diamond/Drive and Cammeray Gold Course) and transport corridors (Brook St and Flat Rock Drive) pose a potentially serious risk to human health and the environment. The World Health Organisation classify silica dust from sandstone and granite processing as carcinogenic. Homes around the construction sites and transport corridors could easily be contaminated by dust (this has been reported in other areas), sporting teams playing adjacent may breathe it in and local school communities may come into contact.

• Smoke stacks are a huge concern with several stacks needed to service the tunnels across a predominantly residential area. Unfiltered stacks simply extract, condense and then disperse road pollution across an environment.  Adding more stacks to an area with many schools, pre-schools and hospitals on the Lower North Shore is a major concern.

Noise pollution – non-stop for at least five years

• Trucks, drilling, ground work and preparation activities mean noise along and around the construction corridor. Construction noise will be 24 hours/7 days. This will impact residents, students and local businesses. Noise pollution affects sleep, concentration, stress levels and health.

Loss of green space - community recreation and local sport will suffer

• Flat Rock Baseball Diamond and a substantial section of Cammeray Golf Course will be out-of-bounds if they become construction sites. Tunks Park may be contaminated due to run off from Flat Rock Creek.  

• Bicentennial Reserve (sealed courts and fields), Cammeray tennis courts, Cammeray Park football pitch and the skate park may not be safe to use due to noise and air pollution.