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North East Link XURBAN XURBAN North East Link Landscape & Visual Assessment Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement For: North East Link Project July 2019 | Final XURBAN North East Link Landscape & Visual Assessment Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement Client North East Link Project Project No 15100 Version Final Signed Approved by Allan Wyatt Date 15 July 2019 XURBAN Suite 1103 | 408 Lonsdale Street | Melbourne 3000 | Victoria | Australia ABN | 18831715013 Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement Landscape & Visual Assessment XURBAN Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 Expert Evidence – Practice Note 1 Name & address 1 Qualifications & experience 1 People assisting 1 Instructions 2 Facts, matters and assumptions 2 Declaration 2 Further work 2 Summary of key issues, opinions and recommendations 2 Landscape impact 2 Visual impact 2 Recommendations 3 2. Public submissions 4 3. Methodology 5 Scale of effects 5 Single viewpoint 5 Project scale 6 4. Landscape setting 8 Landscape character areas 9 Loss of open space 10 5. Visual impact – publicly accessible locations 14 Number of viewpoints 14 Viewpoint locations 14 Yarra River 14 Eastern Freeway corridor 15 Koonung Creek 15 6. Visual impact – residential locations 16 Highly impacted residential properties 16 Medium impacted residential properties 17 Low impacted residential properties 17 Residential impacts 17 7. Design elements 19 Bridges and elevated structures 19 Ventilation structures 20 Landscape 20 Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement Landscape & Visual Assessment XURBAN Photomontage landscape 21 Loss of privacy 21 8. Project lighting 22 Existing lighting background 22 Light spill 22 Overall impact 22 9. Construction 23 Loss of parkland 23 Early planting 23 10. Request for further information 24 Mapping of affected properties 24 View lines to proposed structures 26 Photomontages 26 Wire frame imaging 26 Printer output scale 27 Extent of visual impact scale 27 Viewpoint selection 28 Visual impact of road portals 28 11. Conclusion 29 Landscape impact 29 Visual impact 29 Table of figures Figure 1 Panorama 5 Figure 2 80O field of view 6 Figure 3 Photomontage 6 Figure 4 Project Context (UDS, p3) 8 Figure 5 Landscape character areas (Technical Report H, p36) 9 Figure 6 Open space within each character area 10 Figure 7 Koonung Creek existing landscape 15 Figure 8 VPF Photomontage Year 0 (Technical Report H, p262) 16 Figure 9 Existing view across the rear boundary 16 Figure 10 VPJ (Technical Report H, p272) 17 Figure 11 VP46 Photomontage (Technical Report H, page104) 19 Figure 12 Mullum Mullum Creek ventilation structure (UDS, p88) 20 Figure 13 Photomontage reference photos Federation Square 27 Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement Landscape & Visual Assessment XURBAN Annexures Annexure A Allan Wyatt – Curriculum vitae Annexure B Instructions Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement Landscape & Visual Assessment XURBAN 1. Introduction The full findings of this study were included in the Environment Effects Statement (EES) in ‘Technical Report H – Landscape and Visual’, dated April 2019 and summarised in ‘Chapter 16 – Landscape and visual’ of the EES as well as Chapter 27 which included the environmental performance requirements (EPRs) and those applicable to landscape (LV1, LV2, LV3 and LV4). The LVA was an iterative process, which both informed aspects of the Urban Design Strategy (UDS) as well as assessing the visual and landscape impacts of the project based upon the requirements and benchmarks set out in the UDS. I adopt the Technical Report, in connection with this statement, as my written expert evidence for the purposes of the North East Link Inquiry and Advisory Committee’s inquiry into the environmental effects of the Project. I have further reviewed the environmental performance requirements relevant to my area of expertise. Expert Evidence – Practice Note I acknowledge that I have read and complied with the Guide to Expert Evidence (dated April 2019). In compliance with this Guide, I provide the following information. Name & address Allan Wyatt – Landscape Architect XURBAN Suite 1103, 408 Lonsdale Street Melbourne, Victoria, 3000. Qualifications & experience I am a registered Landscape Architect with over 30 years’ experience, and I have a Grad.Dip.L.D. from RMIT (1980) and I am a member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects. I have given expert evidence on landscape, urban design and visual impact assessment at the former Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and VCAT and provided expert evidence before panel hearings in Victoria. I have also given expert evidence before Planning Appeal bodies in NSW, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and New Zealand. A Curriculum Vitae is attached as Annexure A to this report. People assisting The LVA Allan Wyatt of XURBAN was the lead author and worked with Landscape Architects and Visual Assessment experts at GHD to undertake a Landscape and Visual Assessment (LVA) of the North East Link. People assisting in the preparation of the LVA included: • Laura Farrell – Senior Landscape Architect AILA, Landscape Strategy Consultant, GHD • Emma Davis – Senior Landscape Architect AILA, Landscape Strategy Consultant, GHD These specialists, as well as members of the stakeholder communication and social teams were also involved in the selection of indicative viewpoints that were assessed in the LVA. Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement 1 XURBAN Some of the viewpoints were also identified by Councils, following the Technical Reference Group (TRG) meeting. This report I was responsible for the preparation of this Expert Witness Statement (EWS) and sought assistance from GHD in the provision of GIS based areas as well as lengths etc used in this report. GHD and Urban Circus provided the photomontages used in the LVA and prepared the additional photomontages requested by the Panel. Instructions Allan Wyatt of XURBAN has been engaged following the lodgement of the EES, by Clayton Utz acting on behalf of North East Link Project (NELP) to prepare an Expert Witness Statement which addresses the Technical Report and which responds to issues raised in the public submissions which raise issues concerning landscape and / or visual impact. My instructions dated 28 May 2019 are attached to the Statement in Annexure B. Facts, matters and assumptions I have received a copy of all the submissions on the EES as well as a summary of those submissions which were made in relation to landscape and visual impact. I have read the submissions and recategorized the themes that are applicable. Declaration I have made all the inquiries that I believe are desirable and appropriate and no matters of significance which I regard as relevant have, to my knowledge, been withheld from the Panel. Further work Since the preparation of the LVA I have sought areas of public open space that are impacted by the project, either during construction, or once the Project is operational. Additional photomontages are also being prepared in line with the Panel’s request for photomontages from viewpoints which have a medium to high rating. Summary of key issues, opinions and recommendations Landscape impact The LVA assessed the impact of the temporary loss of parkland during construction as high and this rating is reflected in the concerns raised by submitters. The LVA has also recognised that this is temporary, albeit for up to seven years, and that the areas of parkland lost are much less once construction is completed. The LVA and UDS have also suggested strategies for some immediate mitigation measures during construction. After construction, the creation of additional parkland in the land bridges and the rehabilitation of construction areas will return much of the alienated land to the community. Visual impact One concern, that is not supported by the assessment, is the notion that significant visual impacts accrue because of the width of the Project when viewed in the project documents where it appears as from a birds-eye view. Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement 2 XURBAN When viewing the Project from ground-based viewpoints the impact is often that of the closest noise wall. These are generally no higher that a two or three storey building and well within the range of vegetation to filter and screen views. Also, when one travels a short distance from the Project’s edge, intervening vegetation, built form and topography can and will screen most views. The immediate impact is greatest from immediately adjoining residential properties and roadways. The impact from existing open space depends upon the extent of planting between the viewer and the noise wall. The most un-screened views are those across sporting fields or other large open expanses of grass. Recommendations Two recommendations arise from this work and the response to submissions. These are: • Ensure that any section of Koonung Creek that is not under the roadway (where a culvert will be required) is re-created as a naturalistic creek environment. • Ensure that in sections where canopy trees cannot be used to screen noise walls that creepers be considered as a potential visual mitigation measure. Allan Wyatt – Expert Evidence Statement 3 XURBAN 2. Public submissions I have reviewed the public submissions and the key themes that arise from these submissions are: • Concerns/comment about adequacy and/or accuracy of assessment and the methodology. • Concerns/comment about characterisation of landscape setting and the visual character of the area. • Concerns/comment about visual impacts from open space areas. •
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