Meeting Name

Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 Advisory Committee

Quorum: 8

Date

1 June 2023

Time 5:00PM

Venue

Level 12 Boardroom, 126 Church St Parramatta / MS Teams

Chaired By

Anthony Newland, Group Manager Infrastructure Planning & Design  (Delegated by the CEO)

Attendees

Committee Members

·       Councillor Dan Siviero

·       Councillor Paul Noack

·       Alisa Huang

·       Daniel Green

·       Dr Shima Taheri (Remote attendance)

·       Jin Young Lee

·       Lynda Calder (Remote attendance)

·       Shant Ohannessian

·       Suntharalingham Senthilanantha (Remote attendance)

·       Steven Brown

·       Raj Sharma

 

Staff

·       Ian Taylor, PLR Interface Manager – Infrastructure Planning and Design

·       Sandra Martin, Project Officer - Infrastructure Planning & Design

 

Guest Speakers

·       Megan Haberley, Senior Manager Environment & Sustainability TfNSW

·       Sarah Shaw, – Acting Senior Manager, Engagement and Business Support TfNSW

Apologies / Leave of Absence of Committee Members

Apologies

·       Gail Connolly CEO

·       Lord Mayor Clr Sameer Pandey

·       Clr Donna Davis

·       Clr Patricia Prociv

·       Saif Islam

Committee Convenor

Anthony Newland

Secretariat

Vandana Saini (Remote attendance)

HPRM Reference

F2022/01409

 

 

 

 

No.

Item

1

Acknowledgement of Country

The City of Parramatta Council acknowledges the Burramattagal Clan of The Dharug, the traditional owners of land of Parramatta and pays its respects to the elders past, present and emerging.

2

Welcome & Apologies

 

The Chairperson welcomed attendees to the meeting.

 

The Committee received and noted apologies from:

·       Clr Donna Davis

·       Gail Connolly CEO

·       Lord Mayor Clr Sameer Pandey

·       Saif Islam

3

Disclosure of Interests

 

Nil

4

Acceptance of Minutes of Previous Meeting - 9 March 2023  

Outcome

The Committee confirmed the tabled minutes.

5

Update on the Current Membership criteria

 - LM of the day

- Chair of the Committee

- Introducing new members

Information

Anthony Newland welcomed the four (4) new PLRS2 Committee

Members.

·       Raj Sharma

·       Lynda Calder

·       Steven Brown

·       Jin Young Lee

 

The Committee members introduced themselves and shared their common knowledge and association with Parramatta Light Rail.

 

The Committee was also informed that,

·       Council welcomed Gail Connolly PSM as the new CEO of City of Parramatta on 8 May 2023.

·       One of the actions undertaken by Council in response to the SafeWork Improvement Notice was to expand CEO’s role to Chair most of the Committee meetings. The CEO/Delegate will now be the Chairperson of the PLRS2 instead of the LM of the day as per the ToR.

·       LM Donna Davis resigned from the Office of Lord Mayor effective 5:30pm 22 May 2023. She will continue to be a Councillor until the next local government election in September 2024.

·       Council at its Extraordinary Council Meeting, 22 May 2023 elected a new Lord Mayor, Clr Sameer Pandey.

·       The PLRS2 Committee Membership has been affected by the resignation and appointment of the LM.

 

·       LM Clr Sameer Pandey and Clr Donna Davis will now be the PLRS2 Committee member.

·       The Committee Membership will be effective immediately

CEO/ Delegate (Chairperson)

LM of the Day                                                                                                        3x Crs
1x Cr Alternate
10x Community reps

 

The Committee noted the updates provided.

6

EIS Submissions & Amendment Stakeholder Briefing

·       TfNSW Presentation

·       Question Time

Presentation & Discussion

Sarah Shaw, TfNSW and Megan Haberley, TfNSW presented PLRS Stage 2 Project.

 

The key highlights were:

·       PLR Stage 2 Project Overview

·       PLR Stage 2 linking communities : Parramatta River, Parramatta CBD, Camellia Town Centre, Olympic Park and Carter Street Precinct

·       Enabling works : Bridge connection between Melrose Park and Wentworth Point, public bridge over Parramatta River, Construction expected to start in 2024 subject to planning approvals.

·       Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Exhibition

·       An 38-day EIS exhibition was undertaken in 2022 and submission were received via online DPE Portal.

·       During the exhibition period there were numerous opportunities for face-to- face engagement with the project team, extensive use of Virtual Engagement Room and EIS Portal and stakeholder engagement with various groups such as Greater Parramatta Group, CoP, Bicycle NSW, ATAC and more.

·       Discussion on key EIS submission topics

·      Melrose Park to Wentworth Point Bridge:

1.      Alignment options: Relocating further west of the amended alignment is not viable due to various reasons as stated in the EIS statement.

2.     132kV Transmission Line Options: There are significant issues and risks in undergrounding the transmission lines.

3.     Closure of Ermington Boat Ramp for upto 3yrs: The community raised various concerns regarding the closure of the ramp for such a long period of time. In response, the project team will work with the market to minimise the impact in this location and come back with better options and also consider alternative boat ramp locations.

4.     Construction timing: The construction program would continue to be refined during detailed design development and construction planning.

5.     Operational Noise: The operation noise and vibration review will be undertaken in detailed design to confirm the need for mitigation at receivers.

6.     Route options – beyond Lidcombe & Sydney Olympic Park : Of the four options the shortened Lidcombe (Corridor 5) was selected as the original as it has the potential to attract the highest demand overall.

7.     Wentworth Point Options considered and preferred alignment is confirmed

8.     Green Track: The Project is committed to continuingly investigate additional locations to provide green track in consultation with Council and Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA)

9.     Wire – Free Operations: TfNSW is committed to review opportunities to provide additional wire free sections.

10.   Active Transport Links: New Active Transport Links (ATLs) shared walking and bike riding paths will be constructed parallel with the light rail tracks for most of the alignment with connections to be provided to existing active transport infrastructure.

·       Next steps

·       Submissions are currently being reviewed and the amended EIS will be published and exhibited.

·       Consultation with PLRS2 Committee will continue.

The Chair opened the floor for discussion.

 

The Committee keenly interacted and raised questions on various topics such as social media posts count as submission, options for 132 Kv line deviation, staging carpark closure, narrow South St, avoiding biodiversity, delay in infrastructure, funding and more.

 

The staff from TfNSW responded to the questions and took the Committee suggestions on board.

Outcome

The Chair and Committee thanked Megan and Sarah for the presentation.

7

Council presentation of EIS concerns

Discussion

Anthony Newland and Ian Taylor presented a summary of the EIS Amendment report V/s Councils concerns and TfNSW suggested course of action

 

1.      CBD Turnback – Macquarie street

2.     Cut & Fill requirements – Spoil Retention

3.     PLR Stage 2 interface at Hope St with Melrose Park North

4.     Extended Construction Hours

5.     Wire Free Update

6.     Green/Premeable Track – Locations

7.     Archer Park

8.     Camellia foreshore to Rydalmere alignment

 

Next Steps: Staff recommendation

After Committee’s approval to the suggested course of action Council will recommend the submission to DPE and escalate matters to the Executive and TfNSW as necessary.

 

The Committee approved the staff recommendation.

 

The Committee thanked Anthony Newland and Ian Taylor for the detailed explanation of the issues/suggested course of action in the EIS Amendment report.

Outcome

·       The Committee can provide their feedback/ comments offline to the Council staff.

·       Council staff to circulate Council presentation to Advisory committee along with a table to insert feedback

·       Council staff to collate the feedback and circulate the final draft of the recommendations to the Committee for noting.

8

Incoming Correspondence

Discussion

Ian Taylor advised the Committee that Council received two separate letters requesting advocacy regarding the following Options to keep:

Option 1 : The original preferred Stage 2 Alignment – north of Parramatta River

Option 2: To go through Thackrey St (south side) to Park Road (north side) then across the river.

Option 3: Alignment through Industrial Land (south side) to John Street (north side)

 

Council conducted various workshops with stakeholders in 2021 where they explored a number of alternative alignment options.

 

Options were reviewed and EIS said that:

Option 1: Not supported by TfNSW in favour of alignment south of River along Grand Ave:

·       Adopted as preferred alignment and was developed as an outcome of a comprehensive options process

·       Supports Camellia precinct for significant urban renewal and transformation in the future

 

Option 2: Considered by TfNSW but discounted in favour of preferred alignment due mainly to cost and impacts. Preferred alignment removes any potential conflicts of the river crossing at Park road

 

Option 3: TfNSW considered similar route to preferred alignment but discounted in favour of preferred alignment. Fewer interactions with industrial properties.

 

Next steps: Staff recommendations

Council staff seek Committees’ acknowledgement of Stakeholder workshops , agreement to EIS justification and approval of staff to write letter to residents thanking them for submission and outline EIS discussion about chosen alignment.

 

The Committee approved the staff recommendations.

Outcome

The Committee thanked all staff for the presentations.

9

General Business

 

Nil

10

Next Meeting Date

 

TBA

 

Meeting Closed:  7:57PM