The Hon. Duncan Gay MLC Minister for Roads and Freight NSW Leader of the Government GOVERNMENT Leader of the Nationals Legislative Council

PQ14/0101 3

Ms Ronda Miller Clerk of the Legislative Assembly Parliament House Macquarie Street NSW 2000

Dear Ms Miller

Thank you for the petition lodged on 5 November 2014 by Mr Barry O'Farrell MP, Member for Ku-ring-gai, seeking a review of the current NorthConnex tunnel design proposal, and to move the northern ventilation stack and portal into a non-residential area.

The NorthConnex tunnel will drastically ease traffic congestion in Sydney by removing around 5,000 trucks daily off Pennant Hills Road. Emissions from trucks using the tunnel will be reduced by up to 80 per cent in comparison to using Pennant Hills Road . This is because the tunnel will enable continuous travel with no traffic lights, less travel time and a flatter gradient for a smoother ride. This will improve safety, local air quality and noise amenity along the corridor.

The NSW Government's main priority is to ensure the NorthConnex project is safe for the local community and tunnel users, during its construction and operation.

The NSW Government has established an Advisory Committee on Tunnel Air Quality. The purpose of the committee is to provide a whole-of-Government understanding of the scientific and engineering issues informing road tunnel ventilation, design and operation based on NSW, national and international experience. The committee brings together key agencies involved in development and regulation of motorway tunnels in NSW, including the NSW Chief Health Officer.

The Department of Planning and Environment (OPE) independently assesses proposals under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, in consultation with relevant State Government agencies. The assessment process is public and transparent, with formal opportunities for agencies, local Government and the public to provide comment.

OPE required the NorthConnex project to conduct a health impact assessment, with reference to the enHealth Guidelines for assessing human health risks from environmental hazards. It also required the NorthConnex project consider any applicable advice from the Advisory Committee on Tunnel Air Quality.

Level17, 52 , Sydney NSW 2000 Phone: (61 2) 8574 5500 Fax: (61 2) 9339 5534 Email : www.nsw.gov.au/contact-minister-roads-freig ht - 2- PQ14/01013

OPE imposes strict air quality criteria on tunnel design to ensure high quality air in the tunnel, and negligible impact on local and regional air quality. The NorthConnex ventilation system has been designed to meet projected traffic volumes and operate efficiently during significant congestion incidents. Placing the northern ventilation outlet for NorthConnex directly above the tunnel exit portal as part of the road corridor provides efficient ventilation.

Well-designed tunnels use ventilation outlets to disperse traffic emissions high in the atmosphere. Air quality studies of other road tunnels confirm emissions from ventilation outlets have negligible impact on local and regional air quality, including the M5 East Tunnel, Cove Tunnel and Cross City Tunnel.

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for NorthConnex was on a 60-day public exhibition between 15 July 2014 and 12 September 2014, which is four weeks longer than the 30-day legislated requirement. The EIS process gave stakeholders and the community the opportunity to provide important feedback and make formal submissions on the project.

A comprehensive health risk assessment was conducted as part of the EIS , which is the first of its kind for a road project in NSW. The human health risk assessment indicated the risks due to emissions from the motorway outlets would be very low.

All submissions were carefully considered, analysed and responded to in the Submissions and Preferred Infrastructure Report. The report has been submitted to OPE for the Minister for Planning's determination. If approved, the project will be built and operated in line with the Minister's Conditions of Approval.

OPE will soon be releasing the report publicly for stakeholders and the community to review.

NorthConnex will return local streets back to the local communities. Once the project is completed, it will provide opportunities to bolster the Pennant Hills Road corridor and improve public transport.

Yours sincerely

Duncan Gay MLC \-\d.