Minutes of the LRTC Meeting 13th August 2016 at Boorowa

LACHLAN REGIONAL TRANSPORT COMMITTEE

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held in Boorowa at the Services Club on Saturday August 13th 2016

The Administrator of Hilltops Council Wendy Tuckerman welcomed everyone to the meeting which opened at 10:00am. She outlined the progress following amalgamation of Councils and proposed funding for road and rail. The meeting is recorded for minute taking purposes then erased.

ATTENDANCE: There were twenty one members in attendance

APOLOGIES: As per the attendance book with thirteen apologies.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: The minutes of the meeting held in May at Wollongong City Council be accepted. Moved B West seconded D Figliomeni. CARRIED.

SECRETARY’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDANCE: The Secretary said there was two items of correspondence relevant to the meeting and this was circulated for members to pursue. Bill West suggested we write to all Councils relevant to the group asking if they would like to be a member and CC the mayors as well when doing that.

TREAUSERS REPORT: Dennis Hughes presented his report to the meeting and the financial statements to July were circulated for the information. He also informed the meeting that the AGM would be held in November following Council elections etc. The Secretary and Treasurers Reports were moved D Hughes seconded S Freudenstein. CARRIED.

REPORTS: Bill West: - Mayor of Cowra. Spoke on logistics to the proposed $5million recently regarding the Maimuru/Demondrille line. Transport NSW will manage the funds. Need organisations to express interest in the line and also get a port strategy. Could be a possibility of an operator having two way movement of freight. He had a meeting with the Member for Riverina Michael McCormack who wasn’t aware some things that were happening with the Committee however Bill certainly made him aware. The funding is Stage One with no real indications of how many additional stages there will be. Lachlan Valley Way, we need to support Councils which is opening up north/south corridor. Invite Centurion Group to attend our meeting.

Michael O’Leary: - Young. Commented on freight movements and costs and the removal of sidings etc.

Weddin Shire: - Maurice Simpson. Said he was disappointed with the attendance and general input from Weddin Shire Council.

Lawrence Ryan:- Lachlan Valley Rail: Made general comment of short day train trips and his group would continue to be involved in the Committee and the Rail Museum at Cowra.

Judith Hannan Wollondilly Shire Council. Awaiting the details of orbital road. Also airport still progressing. Maldron/Demondrille has been proactive is John McCrae. Population growth of 35,000 expected to take place.

John Faulks: - Greenthorpe. Commented on Lachlan Valley steam trains doing tours to the south coast.

Prof Ian Gray: Commented on correspondence from Phillip Laird regarding XPT train upgrades to prompt the government to see what their thoughts are regarding track alignment. Other states have much faster trains and straighter tracks and seek a commitment or timeframe for this to occur. Write to Minister for Transport seeking information in that regard particularly for the Orange Bathurst area, the acquisition of new carriages and track realignment as well as correspondence from P Laird. This was moved I Gray seconded E Wilkinson. CARRIED.

D Figliomeni said there is a lot of rolling stock on order but where it is allocated is in question. Ask permission from P Laird for his permission to include attachment to correspondence. M Simpson suggested we send a letter to M McCormack as well. XPT passenger services are not federal responsibilities. Just keep the focus on freight.

GENERAL BUSINESS:
Bede Ryan: Commented that he and Chris Sutherland have been emailing each other and he is keen on the opening of the Blayney/Demondrille line. Bede to get in contact with Chris regarding tonnage etc. It was moved I Gray seconded M Simpson that the LRTC write to the taskforce seeking clarification on their proposed policies and forward a response on the report. CARRIED.

Maurice Simpson: Suggested that Barry Holland be recommended for life Membership for his many years of service from as early as 1983 and this was moved M Simpson seconded M Duffy. CARRIED. The committee to also send a letter and card.

Tekomi Rivera (TK): Commented on the history of LRTC and John Holland are keen to sign on to user agreements and looks forward to being involved with LRTC. Comment was also made on safety interface agreements and rail lines through properties etc.

Eddie Wilkinson: The Junction at Demondrille. Why has it been taken out and this reduces the amount of funding available. Why is it uncontested and gone to John Holland and not open to other private operators Write and seek an explanation why the Junction was removed, who will be the contractor to restore the line and is ARTC going to replace it. This was moved E Wilkinson seconded M Simpson.

Web Site Report: Update page to highlight $5milloion allocation. Spoke about the video and use face book as a tool to get additional information out there.

Michael O’Leary Spoke on the Railway International Gazette which may be of interest to members of the committee.

Suggested we write to regional Councils including Tumut, Gundagai, Hilltops, Orange, Bathurst etc. seeking their input to the LRTC. This was moved J Hetherington seconded M Simpson. CARRIED.

We write to Shoalhaven Council inviting them to attend the meetings as well. Suggestion for next meeting venue will be Lithgow City Council and we write to them asking if they would accommodate our meeting to be held on Saturday November 5th. If not Cabonne Council would be approached which will also be the AGM.

J Hannan suggested people have a think about the position of Chairperson for the upcoming AGM as she would not be standing and said it was healthy to have changes from time to time.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 12:15pm.

CHAIRPERSON:……………………………………….