Western Harbour Tunnel outlet outcry
It’s been called a ‘chicken nugget,’ but the proposed Western Harbour Tunnel (WHT) ventilation outlet is causing more than a few clucks.
The draft WHT Place, Design and Landscape Plan has been put on exhibition and is the first time residents have seen the proposed 30-metre unfiltered ventilation shaft, which will funnel fumes out of the new 6.5 kilometre under-harbour Rozelle to Cammeray tunnel. Transport for NSW (TfNSW) says the ‘commanding structure,’ positioned in between the north and southbound carriageways undernearth Ernest Street, is a ‘welcoming element’ to the tunnel.
“It’s ugly, it’s overscale, it’s intrusive,” is how North Sydney Mayor Zoë Baker describes the shaft. “But really the aesthetics are the least of it, because what it’s going to do in terms of environmental impact for the thousands and thousands of people who live around it and study around it is indescribable.”
Mayor Baker said council was urging the State Government to vent the outlet, even though none of the other Sydney tunnels are filtered – unlike in countries like Japan. “When you know the technology exists and you’re not implementing it, it seems absolutely contemptuous of public health not to do so.”
The area has dozens of schools and child care centres in close proximity, including Anzac Park Public School less than 500 metres away. “It will be pouring pollution onto the most dense education precinct in the country,” Mayor Baker said.
Also of concern has been the reclaiming of 5.3 hectares of public land to build the Warringah Freeway upgrade, the WHT and Beaches Link. While TfNSW said it was ‘excited’ to be able to give back parkland no longer required for the Beaches Link, local resident Hugh Murrow said there was not enough green space allocated for the community. Mr Murrow, who chairs the Bay Precinct, said the ventilation building, which was another bulky facility near the outlet, should be submerged. “The community has lost all this green space and the effort to submerge the buildings and return (it) as green space would be very small.”
Mr Murrow also said the ‘shunting’ of Neutral Bay traffic into the tunnel would be ‘far worse’ than the chaos of the Rozelle Interchange, with much greater volumes of traffic. A spokesperson for TfNSW said the WHT was ‘designed to integrate with connecting traffic corridors.’ “Reviews of the network’s performance will be carried out 12 months and five years after the WHT opening.