\4S. Presentation to the MMR IAC on behalf of Christ Church South - - PDF document

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Presentation to the MMR IAC on behalf of Christ Church South Yarra and Christ Church Grammar School, by The Revd Dr Richard Treloar (Vicar, CCSY; Chairman CCGS); 18/09/2016

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Our property, like St Paul's Cathedral, is owned by the Melbourne Anglican Trust Corporation; the Dean of St Paul's and others have already presented at this Hearing on behalf of the MATC. We too would like to place on record our support for the Melbourne Metro Rail Project as an important piece of infrastructure for Victoria and for Melbourne, and we accept that a certain amount of disruption is both inevitable and necessary in order for the community as a whole to benefit from these major capital works. In our written submission in early July, we identified 10 areas of concern relating to the integrity of physical structures on our site (most notably the 1850s church building) and possible adverse impact

• n amenity during construction, and it's not my intention simply to rehearse those here today.

The MMRA have since paid two visits to the site, and we are grateful for the early consultation and to be acknowledged as a stakeholder in the project. Like St Paul's, however, we seek some assurances with respect to:

• ngoing communication
• management of construction activity
• remediation of any damage to the fabric of buildings
• access and amenity, including
• dust, vibration and noise

Briefly then, to each of these points: Communication On the strength of those early visits and conversations, we seek the establishment and continuation of clear, consistent and defined communication between the MMRP planning and construction teams and Christ Church as an affected stakeholder. This would include with respect to such things as:

• the publication of a clear process for the application, approval, and implementation of

any repair works needed to the church and other buildings

• providing a point of contact for raising concerns, resolving issues and seeking

information

• advance notification of disruptions to traffic flow, site access, and the possibility of noise

and/or vibration during tunneling past the site.

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Management of construction activity We seek assurances that construction activities will at all times be sensitive to the operation of

• ur organization as a focus for the local community which includes a stand-alone ELC and

Primary School. To assist the hearing, allow me to give a snapshot of what a typical week at Christ Church might look like:

• the church building is open to the public all day, every day, during daylight hours, as a

place for rest, quiet reflection, and prayer, and it is almost never empty of visitors

• upwards of 15 scheduled services take place each week, twelve of which occur Monday

to Friday

• in addition to these regular worship times, the church is likely to hold a wedding or a

funeral each week on average, as well as hosting other 'occasional' services for special

• ccasions
• in the month of August just passed, for example, over thirty-six hundred people

attended worship -that's around 800 per week-with hundreds more casual visitors benefiting from the space

• the site houses a very busy Parish Office, study and meeting spaces, and a permanent

dwelling for one of the Associate Priests

• many activities - such as Choir practice and some services - take place in the evenings

and on weekends, including concerts, public lectures and functions

• if this typical week happened to be in term time, approximately 420 children aged 3 to

11 years come and go from the precinct each day

• given the age of the children, many need to be driven to and from school
• the youngest children need to be signed in by a parent or guardian, which necessitates

parking nearby

• around 50 permanent staff members also need to access the site in order to park and to

start their working day before 8.00am

• approximately half of those children have classes and extra-curricular activities on the

site in question (what we call main campus) with the other half a block further south on a separate campus we call Parkside

• delivery trucks, and occasionally emergency vehicles, also need to access the site

directly from our Toorak Rd driveway, about 50 meters west of Punt Rd. It is a busy place, with upwards of 500 pedestrian and hundreds of vehicular movements a day. Notwithstanding that, it is also a place of peace and beauty and refuge: a gathering space, a sacred space, a worship space, a learning space, and a performance space. Although a not-for-profit organization, the school in particular needs to be able to operate as a business, in terms of delivering quality services to fee-paying families. 2

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So, in order for us to minimize disruption to educational programs, or to take bookings for concerts, and weddings, or to host a funeral service at shorter notice, or simply to operate on a daily and weekly basis as a center for the community we serve, we will need:

• advance notice of early works, construction activity, traffic and parking change
• sensitivity to the daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythms of the life of the Church and the

School when it comes to programming works that carry risk of noise, dust, vibrations, or

• ther factors likely to unduly impede or compromise the ministry and mission of the
• rganization
• a capacity to request that such works not be carried out at especially significant times in

the life of the community, e.g. School Speech Day, or a funeral or wedding service, or during a major religious festival.

Possible damage to physical structures

On this point, like St Paul's, Christ Church is seeking a clear commitment from MMRA that t he construction activities associated with the Project will avoid and/or compensate for any material damage caused to the fabric of the church building and any ancillary buildings or grounds, along with any additional maintenance required as a consequence of the works. To this end, we request that an existing conditions survey be carried out prior to construction such that both parties can agree upon pre-construction conditions that must be maintained or restored and identify any particularly vulnerable structures on the site, so that risk of damage can be mitigated. We also seek assurances that claims against an existing conditions report would be handled by MMRA or another appropriate statutory or governing body, and not fall to those entities contracted to do the work. In our written submission we noted:

• that according to its Heritage listing (VHR# H0635) "Christ Church South Yarra is of

historic and architectural significance to the state of Victoria";

• that the church building is rendered internally with mortar and plaster and conta ins

many historic stained glass windows and memorials;

• the Church is surmounted by recently restored Tower and Spire some 176 feet (53

metres) high, which is a prominent Melbourne landmark and the closest part of the church building to our Toorak Road boundary. We would add to this here that the church houses a Kenneth Jones pipe organ of immense financial and cultural value, which is a very delicate instrument vulnerable to the effects of dust and vibration. 3

Access and amenity

Again, like the Cathedral, Christ Church South Yarra and Christ Church Grammar School are dependent for their daily operation and viability on pedestrian and vehicular access to the site. The elderly, and young children and their parents, are especially reliant on the facility to be brought safely and reliably onto the property. We seek assurances that such access will be maintained during the life of the project. In the event that it may be necessary to alter or restrict existing access, we ask that

• the MMRP consult well in advance around timing,
• provide adequate notice to the local community,
• assist with additional signage for and communications our worshippers, patrons, and

school families, and

• ffer redress for the unavoidable curtailment of any activities upon which the School or

Parish relies for revenue during construction.

Oust, vibration, and noise

Finally, with respect to these corollaries of construction which have been touched on already, we seek assurances that the MMRP will be mindful of and sensitive to the particular nature of the activities taking place on our site on a daily basis, chiefly worship and education. As the Dean of St Paul's has already submitted to you, noise is especially intrusive in an environment dedicated to prayer and contemplation, and - we would add - on the capacity for teaching and learning in a primary school setting. Whilst unavoidable, we look for an undertaking that the timing and duration of excessive noise will be carefully managed in consultation with School and Parish. It is likely that dust from construction and the removal of soil will require additional cleaning inside and outside the church and possibly other buildings on the site, and we would look to MMRA for the remediation of any associated expenses. Most importantly, we expect that the air quality will be monitored during construction, and appropriate management implemented, such that no child or adult, at play or at work, is at risk from prolonged exposure to dust or other pollutants.

Conclusion

Once again, the Parish of Christ Church, and Christ Church Grammar School are grateful for the

• pportunity to present to this hearing in order to raise questions and concerns. We look

forward to working with the MMRA in the spirit of openness and cooperation with which we've begun a dialogue around these issues. We are supportive of the Project as a significant benefit to the community we also seek to serve, and we undertake to play our part in enabling the necessary works to be carried out safely and efficiently.

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