Your opportunity to lodge an objection to the “Australian Technology Park Redevelopment” closes 29 February.

The redevelopment will see more than 10,000 jobs move to the ATP, in a small number of giant buildings, with no significant increase in parking or other measures yet announced to help people get to these jobs.

ARAG will be lodging an objection, and we encourage you to do so too.

To lodge an objection:

1. visit http://www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=7317
2. scroll down to “Making a submission”
3. provide your details
4. either: enter your submission in the box provided, or upload your submission as a pdf
5. answer the remaining questions
6. click Send Submission

In your submission, it’s sufficient to say that you Object, or that you Support the project.  But it’s best if you raise the issues that matter to you.

For example, you may be impacted by any or all of the following:

• overshadowing that will impact large sections of Henderson and other nearby streets during the day
• light pollution that will impact many of the same houses at night
• loss of privacy, with offices looking into peoples windows and back yards
• loss of heritage items, and loss of access to heritage items
• loss of public space
• increased illegal parking and overparking – both during construction, and once these buildings are occupied

And you might be concerned about how the 10,000+ workers are going to get to the ATP when our roads are already full, our trains are already full, Redfern Station is already over capacity, and we are about to have to deal with thousands of new residents in developments that are already planed but not yet delivered.

Mirvac, the lead developer, are having an information session on Wednesday 24 February, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, at  ATP Locomotive Workshop, 2 Locomotive Street Eveleigh. (Enter through bay 8, then go up to Meeting Room 7ABC on Level 1). Or call 1800 743 436 or email talkatp@jpaurban.com.au.

The South Sydney Herald has a good piece on the ATP Redevelopment that we recommend you read: http://www.southsydneyherald.com.au/update-on-atp-redevelopment/

For more information on any of these topics, and others, you can consult the EIS, which is available at the Major Projects website: http://www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=7317

It has about 110 sub-documents.

Possibly the most important documents are:

• the ‘SEARs‘
• The State Significant Development Application Environmental Impact Statement (SSDA EIS)

The SEARs is important because it says what the rest of the EIS needs to include. For example, the SEARs requires:

• adequate baseline data;
• consideration of potential cumulative impacts due to other development in the vicinity; and
• measures to avoid, minimise and if necessary, offset the predicted impacts, including detailed contingency plans for managing any significant risks to the environment.

The SSDA says what is going to be built, and is supposed to address all the points required by the SEARs. The SSDA is perhaps the main document in the EIS. At 112 pages, it’s not a short document. But it’s not the complete EIS.  All of the 110 or so sub-documents are also part of the EIS. Fortunately, you don’t have to read all 111 documents before you can make a comment.

If you know that the project is going to have an impact on your life, that’s all you need and you can and should lodge an objection.

And if you find anything interesting, let us know at info@arag.org.au, and we’ll share it around.