• Opponents claim the road will destroy the environment in the valley. It is ironic that many of the same people who oppose opening the Northern Access Road also strongly opposed the construction of the Woronora High Level Bridge. Completion of that bridge on a major arterial road in the Shire took far more vehicular emissions out of the Valley than would arise from opening the Northern Access Road. Remember the steep, tortuous roads down to and out of the valley, with the amount of heavy braking and strong acceleration required before the new bridge was opened!
• Similarly, very significant savings of both vehicle-kilometers travelled and greenhouse gas emissions would be achieved by eliminating the additional 10 - 20km through Engadine, travelled by most of those north-bound from Woronora Heights.
• Opponents claim that high sound barrier walls will have to built in front of houses in the valley and 5 metre high walls along both sides of Bundanoon Road. Sutherland Shire Council is responsible for 606km of local roads. It has never erected, nor sought to erect barriers of this nature anywhere along the Shire residential streets. Note that Cooriengah Heights, Wollybutt and other streets in Engadine, currently taking all the Woronora Heights traffic, do not have sound barriers. They will not be necessary in the Valley if they were not necessary in the streets above. The expected traffic in the Valley is a mere fraction of that using ANZAC Ave.
• Opponents claim that the present fire trail system of keys and locks is adequate. The Coroner’s reports into the 1994 Bushfire, the NSW Bushfire inquiry and affidavits from Fire Brigades Officers and residents do not support this claim. Emergency procedures have repeatedly failed. In 1994 Fire and Police had to oxy-acetylene cut the gates open during 90km/h plus winds and fires. In 2002 the Council’s tree preservation officer, who lives locally, opened the gate of his own accord an hour and a half after the fire destroyed 10 homes in North Engadine.
• Opponents claim the route through the valley will become a short cut for vehicles from outside our area. A “short cut” through the valley would in fact be 26% longer and most at more restrictive speed limits of 40 -50km/h than the existing arterial roads around this area (see map).
• Prince Edward Park Rd crosses Forbes Ck and they claim this area requires environmental protection. However, Wollybutt and Achilles Rds, in North Engadine also cross the upper reaches of Forbes Ck. Why then should Wollybutt and Achilles Rds take most of the north-bound traffic from Woronora Heights while Prince Edward Park Rd takes zero!
• Opponents claim that the trail area is a wild life corridor requiring protection (even despoiling it with large areas painted with graffiti to this effect). This valley area is already bounded by Heathcote Rd, which crosses the Woronora River to the south west. All other areas are bounded by suburbia or major roads. Mitigative measures are provided in the EIS.
• They say bus access cannot and will not be policed. Direct police involvement is not required since technology has long overcome that issue. Similar restricted access operates successfully in a number of areas in Sydney (e.g. with electronic tags).
• Opponents claim that the area around the current fire trail requires environmental protection. The northern locked gate (closest to Woronora and accessible to vehicles from that side) is often highly littered with rubbish. This was most likely from some people using this as a short term parking area, and simply throwing their litter out the windows. Photos of this were exhibited at the Sutherland Shire Council meeting in September 2004.