Outer Sydney Orbital Transport Corridor DRAFT STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Revision 1 - March 2018 Prepared for – Transport for NSW – ABN: 18 804 239 602 Outer Sydney Orbital Corridor Study Strategic Environmental Assessment - Draft for Consultation D R A F T Strategic Environmental Assessment - Draft for Consultation Client: Transport for NSW ABN: 18 804 239 602 Prepared by AECOM Australia Pty Ltd Level 21, 420 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000, PO Box Q410, QVB Post Office NSW 1230, Australia T +61 2 8934 0000 F +61 2 8934 0001 www.aecom.com ABN 20 093 846 925 March 2018 Job No.: 60427370 AECOM in Australia and New Zealand is certified to ISO9001, ISO14001 AS/NZS4801 and OHSAS18001. © AECOM Australia Pty Ltd (AECOM). All rights reserved. AECOM has prepared this document for the sole use of the Client and for a specific purpose, each as expressly stated in the document. No other party should rely on this document without the prior written consent of AECOM. 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Revision 1 - March 2018 Prepared for – Transport for NSW – ABN: 18 804 239 602 Outer Sydney Orbital Corridor Study Strategic Environmental Assessment - Draft for Consultation D R A F T Table of Contents Terms and Abbreviations i Executive Summary ii 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Process to date 1 1.3 Recommended Corridor 2 1.4 Purpose of this document 4 2.0 Strategic justification and corridor need 10 2.1 Policy and strategic context 10 2.1.1 Australian Government planning policies and strategies 10 2.1.2 NSW Planning and Transport policies 13 2.1.3 Local planning policies 16 2.2 Population, Housing and Employment Trends and Forecasts 18 2.3 Need for the Outer Sydney Orbital Infrastructure 19 2.4 Need for Corridor Protection 19 2.5 Corridor Study Objectives 20 3.0 Corridor development and alternatives 21 3.1 Methodology for corridor development 21 3.1.1 Identifying a study area 21 3.1.2 Understanding constraints and opportunities 23 3.1.3 Development of guiding principles 28 3.1.4 Identifying corridor options 32 3.1.5 Constraints and opportunities of alternative corridor options 34 3.1.6 Evaluation process for corridor options 38 3.1.7 Selecting and refining the Recommended Corridor 39 3.2 Alternatives to Protection of the Recommended Corridor 44 3.2.1 Alternative 1 – Status quo or ‘do nothing/ do minimum’ 44 3.2.2 Alternative 2 – Upgrades to existing road and freight rail networks 46 3.2.3 Alternative 3 – Investment to improve public transport 47 4.0 Recommended OSO Corridor location 48 4.1 Design requirements 48 4.2 Corridor location 51 4.3 Width of OSO corridor 56 4.4 Proposed interchanges and rail junctions 59 4.5 Proposed watercourse and floodplain crossings 59 4.6 Interaction with existing and planned road network 59 4.7 Interaction with existing and planned rail network 59 4.8 Potential staging scenarios and timing 60 5.0 Consultation 61 5.1 Introduction 61 5.2 Previous consultation 61 5.2.1 Community and stakeholder consultation 61 5.2.2 Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) consultation 62 5.2.3 Government entity consultation 62 5.3 On-going and future consultation 62 5.3.1 Property owner consultation 63 5.3.2 LALC consultation 63 5.3.3 Government consultation 63 6.0 Existing environment of the OSO corridor 64 6.1 Land use 64 6.2 Traffic and transport 66 6.2.1 Road network 66 6.2.2 Rail network 66 6.3 Socio-economic 67 6.3.1 Residents and communities 67 Revision 1 - March 2018 Prepared for – Transport for NSW – ABN: 18 804 239 602 Outer Sydney Orbital Corridor Study Strategic Environmental Assessment - Draft for Consultation D R A F T 6.3.2 Community infrastructure 67 6.3.3 Community identity, values and aspirations 68 6.3.4 Employment and industry 68 6.3.5 Transport infrastructure 69 6.3.6 Travel patterns 69 6.4 Non-Aboriginal heritage 69 6.4.1 Heritage places and sites 69 6.5 Aboriginal heritage 74 6.5.1 Registered sites 74 6.5.2 Areas with Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Values 75 6.5.3 Areas of Archaeological Sensitivity 75 6.6 Biodiversity 76 6.6.1 Vegetation communities 76 6.6.2 Threatened flora and fauna 81 6.6.3 Wildlife connectivity 81 6.6.4 Protected areas 82 6.7 Surface water and flooding 82 6.7.1 Catchments and waterways 83 6.7.2 Existing flood conditions 83 6.7.3 Flood evacuation 84 6.8 Landscape and visual 88 6.8.1 Landform 88 6.8.2 Land cover 88 6.8.3 Landscape change 89 6.9 Soils and geology 89 6.9.1 Geology and geomorphology 89 6.9.2 Soil landscapes 89 6.9.3 Topography and slope 90 6.9.4 Faults and lineaments 90 6.9.5 Rivers and waterways 90 6.9.6 Acid sulfate soils 90 6.9.7 Mines 90 6.9.8 Geoheritage 91 6.9.9 Contaminated land 91 6.10 Noise and vibration 91 6.10.1 Existing development 91 6.10.2 Planned development 91 6.11 Air quality 92 6.11.1 Meteorology 92 6.11.2 Pollutants 92 6.11.3 Ambient air quality 93 7.0 Strategic assessment of the Recommended Corridor 94 7.1 Land use Impacts 94 7.1.1 Corridor protection and construction/operation of future OSO infrastructure 94 7.1.2 Management and mitigation considerations 114 7.2 Traffic and Transport 115 7.2.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 115 7.2.2 Management and mitigation considerations 118 7.3 Socio-Economic 118 7.3.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 119 7.3.2 Management and mitigation considerations 122 7.4 Non-Aboriginal Heritage 123 7.4.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 123 7.4.2 Management and mitigation considerations 126 7.5 Aboriginal Heritage 126 7.5.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 126 7.5.2 Management and mitigation considerations 128 Revision 1 - March 2018 Prepared for – Transport for NSW – ABN: 18 804 239 602 Outer Sydney Orbital Corridor Study Strategic Environmental Assessment - Draft for Consultation D R A F T 7.6 Biodiversity 129 7.6.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 129 7.6.2 Management and mitigation considerations 131 7.7 Surface Water and Hydrology 132 7.7.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 132 7.7.2 Management and mitigation considerations 135 7.8 Landscape and Visual 135 7.8.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 135 7.8.2 Management and mitigation considerations 138 7.9 Soils and Geology (including Contaminated Land) 138 7.9.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 138 7.9.2 Management and mitigation considerations 139 7.10 Noise and Vibration 139 7.10.1 Road noise assessment criteria 140 7.10.2 Rail noise assessment criteria 140 7.10.3 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 141 7.10.4 Noise and vibration mitigation 142 7.11 Air Quality 142 7.11.1 Corridor protection and potential future infrastructure 142 7.11.2 Air Quality mitigation 144 7.12 Consideration of potential cumulative impacts 144 7.12.1 Land use and property 144 7.12.2 Heritage 144 7.12.3 Biodiversity 145 7.12.4 Air quality 145 7.12.5 Flooding 145 8.0 Economic considerations 146 8.1 Existing and future environment 146 8.2 Methodology 146 8.3 Consideration of potential economic impacts 147 8.3.1 Corridor Protection 148 8.3.2 Future construction of OSO infrastructure 150 8.3.3 Operational OSO Infrastructure Phase 151 8.4 Summary of findings 154 8.4.1 Alignment with broader government initiatives and projects 155 9.0 Strategic Planning Considerations 157 9.1 Strategic implications of protecting the recommended corridor 157 9.1.1 Section 1 Box Hill to Dunheved 158 9.1.2 Section 2 Dunheved to Orchard Hills 159 9.1.3 Section 3 Orchard Hills to Cobbitty 160 9.1.4 Section 4 Cobbitty to Camden Park 160 9.1.5 Section 5 Camden Park to Menangle 161 9.2 Future Land Use Opportunities 161 9.2.1 Housing and Job Growth 162 9.2.2 Potential opportunities to effectively integrate new infrastructure with surrounding land uses 162 9.2.3 Key Interchanges and Infrastructure Connections 163 9.3 Consideration of potential cumulative impacts 165 10.0 Statutory planning implications 166 10.1 Introduction 166 10.2 Objectives for Protection of the Recommended OSO Corridor 166 10.3 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) 167 10.4 Other relevant NSW legislation 167 10.5 EPIs to be amended by the proposed SEPP 168 10.6 Property acquisition 169 11.0 Environmental risk analysis 170 11.1 Strategic environmental risk analysis process 170 11.2 Strategic environmental risk analysis 170 Revision 1 - March 2018 Prepared for – Transport for NSW – ABN: 18 804 239 602 Outer Sydney Orbital Corridor Study Strategic Environmental Assessment - Draft for Consultation D R A F T 12.0 Corridor justification 174 13.0 References 179 Appendix A SEA Requirements A Appendix B Local government policy summary B Appendix C Interchanges and road and waterway crossings C Appendix D Noise assessment criteria D List of Tables Table 1 Strategic Environmental Assessment Guidelines – Outer Sydney Orbital 5 Table 2 Matters contemplated in relevant policy documents 17 Table 3 Environmental, social and engineering technical factors 23