The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: Andrew BerryRaising of London Circuit
Subject: Saturday Hours of Works
The Environmental Assessment states that "Construction works would be generally undertaken between 7am-6pm for weekdays and 7am-1pm Saturdays (normal construction hours)."
I consider a 7.00 am start on a Saturday to be unacceptably early due to the inevitable noise and the disruption to sleep that would result for the 100s of residents of apartments in the area. For many this would cause a significant negative impact on the quality of life. The report states "A qualitative construction noise assessment (Section 9.5) identified that highly intrusive noise impacts are likely during standard work hours" (page 165) i.e. at 7 am on a Saturday.
While 7.00 am to 1.00 pm might be normal or convenient for workers in the construction industry it is far from ideal for residents near a construction site trying to sleep. This negative impact is unnecessary since the hours of work could easily be shifted to later in the day (there being no issues with daylight and no indication in the report that the disruption to traffic on the weekend would be worse than on a weekday).
Letter-box dropped information on the project states the "ACT Government is committed to minimising impacts on local residents.....during these important works". If this is true then Saturday work hours should not start before 9 am. The priority should be minimising the impact on the residents rather than the preferred hours for local businesses or the construction industry.
The "normal construction hours" favour the construction industry. They are not times that favour the quality of life of residents. As a resident I accept that there will be noise and disruption but I don't accept that the noise of a jackhammer needs to start at 7 am on a Saturday. Minimising the impact on residents is a stated priority and thus the Saturday hours of work should be changed.
Dr Andrew Berry
The Environmental Assessment states that "Construction works would be generally undertaken between 7am-6pm for weekdays and 7am-1pm Saturdays (normal construction hours)."
I consider a 7.00 am start on a Saturday to be unacceptably early due to the inevitable noise and the disruption to sleep that would result for the 100s of residents of apartments in the area. For many this would cause a significant negative impact on the quality of life. The report states "A qualitative construction noise assessment (Section 9.5) identified that highly intrusive noise impacts are likely during standard work hours" (page 165) i.e. at 7 am on a Saturday.
While 7.00 am to 1.00 pm might be normal or convenient for workers in the construction industry it is far from ideal for residents near a construction site trying to sleep. This negative impact is unnecessary since the hours of work could easily be shifted to later in the day (there being no issues with daylight and no indication in the report that the disruption to traffic on the weekend would be worse than on a weekday).
Letter-box dropped information on the project states the "ACT Government is committed to minimising impacts on local residents.....during these important works". If this is true then Saturday work hours should not start before 9 am. The priority should be minimising the impact on the residents rather than the preferred hours for local businesses or the construction industry.
The "normal construction hours" favour the construction industry. They are not times that favour the quality of life of residents. As a resident I accept that there will be noise and disruption but I don't accept that the noise of a jackhammer needs to start at 7 am on a Saturday. Minimising the impact on residents is a stated priority and thus the Saturday hours of work should be changed.
Dr Andrew Berry