Minutes of the LRTC meeting 10 October 2020 at Canowindra
Chairperson: Vicki Etheridge opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending as there was a lot to discuss today.
ATTENDANCE: As per attendance sheet Total 17
APOLOGIES: Dom Figliomeni, Ray Morris, Steph Cooke MP, Noelene Milliken, Max Duffy, Phillip Blaire, Dale Wiencke - Temora Shire, Stephen O’Byrne, Adriane Mills - Lachlan Shire, Joe Kinsela, B Ryan
MOVED: Judith Hannon Apologies be accepted. SECONDED: Craig Bembrick CARRIED
HOST: Councillor Anthony Durkin from Cabonne Shire welcomed the presence of Mayors, Councillors and everyone in general to Canowindra and the Cabonne region and thanked them for bringing the meeting to them.
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING WERE READ
MOVED: Eddy Wilkinson SECONDED: Judith Hannon CARRIED
BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES: Nil
CORRESPONDENCE IN: 8/4/20 Quote from Wagga webdesign.
20/5/20 Quote From Embarketing web site
CORRESPONDENCE OUT: 17/2/20 Steph Cooke Thanks for Harden Railway Station clean up
17/2/20 Membership invoice Blackheath Highway Action Group
23/2/20 Hon A. Constance re Wilton Station & Maldon – Dombarton Line.
23/2/20 Hon A. Constance: Mt Ousley & Princes Highway south of Heathcote
23/2/20 Deputy Prime Minister: Fast Trains Sydney to Wollongong & Parkes
24/5/20 Submission to Hilltops Draft 2040 Plan (Bike Trail)
10/10/20 No information received from Hilltops regarding Bike Trail
MOVED John Horton The correspondence be received
SECONDED: Eddy Wilkinson CARRIED
TREASURER’S REPORT Their are 2 Treasurer’s reports, the first goes until the end of June and the books
have been audited
Opening Balance as at 1/02/2020 $19554.14
Income $ 1040.93
Expenses $ 1119.25
Balance as at 30/06/2020 $19475.82
Opening Balance as at 1/7/2020 $19475.82
Income $ 26.83
Expenses $ 150.00
Balance as at 30/9/2020 $19352.65
2.
MOVED Dennis Hughes that the Treasurer’s report be accepted.
There are no accounts to be paid
SECONDED: John Hetherington CARRIED
Dennis Hughes: General Business to be dealt with first as there are a lot of important things to cover and if time permits we will move on to reports.
MOVED: Maurice Simpson SECONDED: Ian Gray CARRIED
Ian Gray: Back in February we decided to do something about the website to get it up to date. We have contacted Embarketing from Wagga who offer a website known as a content website, which will be much easier to use. We are now close to going live with the website, Embarketing are moving everything from the old site into the new content website and it should be ready to hand over to us in a couple of weeks. It can currently be viewed at LRTC.squarespace.com - password: transport - which is a temporary address until the website is handed over. They will give me some training on using the website. We will then do some editing and more discussion will be needed.
Pascale Stendell: We chose Embarketing as they had experience in marketing and the website will be an area not just for information but also for action and engagement.
Ian Gray: A lot of the information currently on the website is now out of date and these changes will be run past the executive. There are 2 things that will be different about the site; the first is a map which will show where the projects are and some information about them. Pascale has offered to help make that more interactive and with more information. The other thing we had Embarketing do was to have our records put onto the website. Currently it is under resources/document library which has a database with our records, correspondence, submissions, which can all be searched for. All documents will be open to the public. Tags have been allocated to content to help with people searching for information. Some correspondence has been left off, i.e. invitations for guest speakers, arranging meetings.
Pascale Stendell: The ability to draw on documents will be useful to people like Mo and the Secretary when meeting with politicians would find it useful to jog politicians’ memories
Ian Gray: That sort of information needed will still be on the website.
Eddie Wilkinson: How comprehensive will it be and how far back will it go as there would be some embarrassing things in there for politicians and parties over time and would it be worth locating older records from people like Bill Barwood and others who have kept records to fill the history gaps. Having it scanned and kept on record.
Maurice Simpson: I agree with Eddie. I have seen and been with people like Max Duffy, Greg Standon and Bill Barwood in particular. Bill was a great gatherer of correspondence and you are pleased to get any sort of reference 50 or 60 years old and you can say yes that happened, but at the present time it is of little consequences, but in history in the future it is very important.
Ian Gray: I am working on the basis that at the last meeting we allocated $5000 and only spent something like $1500 on this website, that is the Embarketing fee and there is still $3500 to pay someone to go through the records and scan them and once scanned anyone will be able to look at them in the database. We can enter what we want to go public and keep the others somewhere else. That would be the next step for this database, getting someone to do that.
Maurice Simpson: We have the money and if we wanted more money I’m sure it will be available. We have one go at this and we need to make a good job of it. The scanning can be done and we should be prepared to pay it.
Eddie Wilkinson: There are 2 types of scanning PDF or OCR which is the more modern way, it captures every word and you can build an index to search throughout the whole collection. This is critical to finding what you want to look at. It would be a sad thing to just PDF the documents and not be able to index the contents.3.
Pascale Stendell: If you use OCR to be able to retrieve and analyse based on the content then you will need the technology software to retrieve them.
Eddie Wilkinson: There is freeware to enable you to do that so not necessarily a cost. If you didn’t OCR them you would be wasting your time in the future. There is paper ware, freeware and I have offered some tools to help with that process.
Ian Gray: We should talk to someone who can do this, find out cost and what is involved and then decide if it is worthwhile doing OCR.
Maurice Simpson: The professor and Pascale should examine this and get back to us through the secretary with an e-mail so we are not waiting another 3 months until the next meeting.
Pascale Stendell: I’m not putting my hand up to do that I offered to assist Ian with the website and I’m not going into that.
Maurice Simpson: Would you be prepared to do that Ian?
Ian Gray: No, I don’t know anything about it.
Chairperson: Would you like me to get a quote about doing it?
Pascale Stendell: What about Eddie, he is the expert.
Eddie Wilkinson: I offered once and was refused. I was told it was too complicated. I’m firmly saying you need to think about what you are actually doing and if you are doing half the job and how that would impede you as an organisation.
Garry Brathwaite: Eddie, I think you have got a really good opportunity, you have seen Bill Barwood’s archives, could you have a look and work out a quote and how much it is going to cost to work on those. Would that be a way forward?
Eddie Wilkinson: There is very little cost, when you feed a document into it, it reads things on the page and recognises a word and creates an index.
Maurice Simpson: It may fail when we see the whole thing put up, we may not adopt it but let’s investigate it if we have a chance.
Eddie Wilkinson: Do you want me to get a quote or demonstrate OCR?
Maurice Simpson: Have a look at Bill’s work and see how much it is going to cost, if there is a fee for it, talk to the committee and get an agreement from the committee and do it so it can be viewed by everyone and see how it works.
Eddie Wilkinson: I’ll use some resource to demonstrate OCR. I haven’t spoken to Bill in a number of years and I don’t know if he hasn’t passed away, I’m not sure.
Judith Hannan: So if we are going to all this effort I would like to congratulate you guys on getting where you have got to. I believe this has to include everything. I think there some of it is difficult stuff that you don’t want out to the public, surely some of it can be password protected and the other can be free to the public, but literally this means to combine everything. It’s no use saying we are not going to include this or not going to include that. This has to be a resource that literally boxes everything that belongs to us together and it needs to be done with the most up to date technology. It would be like us now going out and getting one of those old computers and entering now and thinking we are up to date. So if there are things like OCR’s or whatever, we need to at least move to that portion. So as long as it is in our budget, we really need to be doing the utmost because otherwise we are defeating the purpose. It has to have everything in it, some of it might need to be password protected but all of our history needs to be combined in this one space. Who knows who is going to be here in the future? They need to be able to look, as Mo said, at everything 50 years ago, at every letter, at every bit of correspondence, an advocacy that we have all done. It needs to be in the one box and the most up to date situation. So congratulations to everyone for what you have done. If we are going to scan it needs to be up to date so that it’s really easy and everything needs to be in there. I would move that we just check the quote to do the scanning in the most up to date way and that we combine everything into that one website.
Ian Gray: I don’t know if that will work on the squarespace website with the system we will be operating on.
Pascale Stendell: One decision has to be made, are we going to record everything that’s of value and password protect if we need to?
MOVED: Judith Hannan: I would move that we put everything that is meaningful there.
SECONDED: John Horton CARRIED
Pascale Stendell: The second thing is, if we want to try OCR, can we just buy it as a package as a pilot or prototype and there is meaningful usage on the platform and once we see that we can go “yes”. What will it cost to do everything on it and let’s go for it. At the moment we don’t get a feel for that and we won’t know if it’s going to work.
MOVED: Judith Hannon: We combine all useful and valuable information of the Lachlan Regional Transport Committee from day dot, as much as we can, onto the website, with anything that is sensitive to be password protected and everything else to be open to the public.
SECONDED: John Hetherington CARRIED
Ian Gray: I don’t know if it would work on squarespace or not. What you have got there now is a system which is often used by organisations to put their material and their publications, reports, their correspondence, all that sort of stuff, onto the internet, so that anybody can come along and find what they are looking for. That’s the priority for that sort of system. A system where the priority is archives would be something quite different. So my hunch is that you have got to end up with 2 quite different separate entities, but I don’t really know.
Pascale Stendell: I suggest that because Eddie has got the technology background, he knows the platform, he can have a look at what we are trying to achieve, go for the ultimate, grab some documents and try and put it in.
Judith Hannan: Maybe a separate motion is that we have Eddie, if he is willing, to exam what we can do with the website to join up to the most up to date archiving and it may end up being 2 different things that need to be linked together but what Eddie can do to expand it to be able to archive all of our documents in the most up to date way
Gordon Bradbery: Possibly a link on the website to the archives.
Eddie Wilkinson: It may be possible right now with the database that we have to have an index and if we OCR it then that index is made available, it is as simple as that.
Judith Hannan: Why don’t 3 of us take this portion off line and sort it out. Eddie Wilkinson, Judith Hannan to discuss and get back to the committee with their findings.
MOVED: Judith Hannan Eddie and I look at scanning OCR
SECONDED: Garry Braithwaite CARRIED
Ian Gray: I detected a desire through the process of establishing this website we could work out how the organisation might function and I notice we have lost a couple of members lately. I gave it a little bit of thought and came up with the idea of having a commentary page, like a blog, a series of documents that are put on a website; a series of texts, pictures. It starts with the most recent, going down to the earliest. I’m suggesting there be a page on this website where people contribute – bits of news. Basically members of this organisation write this and send it off to the web co-ordinator and they would go on to this page. This would be a little bit like the meetings where we go around councils for example. Councils could write about transport issues in their area. You would then have something like a current transport affairs magazine built into the website.
Eddie Wilkinson: At the last meeting I was elected as Publicity Officer and I have compiled a list of media contacts that I am aware of and thanks to Dennis, he sent me one reference. There were no constraint put around the Publicity Officer, I could just do what I like and I remind the committee that at one stage in the past, we’ve got a website and I created for you a Facebook page and there needs to be an integrated strategy between those 2 things and that also needs to be integrated with the publicity, what you want to say to people and when you want to say it. What can I say, what are my limitations, who is going to approve of what the Publicity Officer puts out there? At one stage I asked someone to put to a previous meeting that the Facebook page is limited to those people who are members and have applied and been granted permission. I wanted to open it up and the decision to that was that we would not open it up. The group need to make up its mind. Do we want the public to know what it does or will it remain under restrictions where nobody really knows?
Pascale Stendell: Facebook, website, meetings and how do we keep all of this in sync. Years ago I had asked Eddie for each council to have a link to the LRTC web site. All of this has to be talked about.
Judith Hannan: I think we are on 2 different topics. One is about what Ian asked and the other is about what we are actually going to do to communicate ourselves outside. I think you have to solve your website and your Facebook so we have it together before you can debate about what we are going to do with the publicity. The problem Ian and the thing that happened is we have to try everything but who is actually going to put the submissions in? We all go back to our councils and there is not a lot we do to put back in to the LRTC, so you know there is not a lot of information coming in, so who is going to put the information on. Who is going to check what goes on the blog. Who is going to check if there is some idiot out there who has nothing to do with us and starts blogging. Who is going to look after it and check it? My thought would be to go over everything that you can at this point. Someone needs to be responsible and check that we don’t get any bad stuff happening on it and then I think we need to, once all of that is in place and later today, discuss what sort of things we are going to do about publicity and all that. I think they are 2 separate items.
Ian Gray: The page would definitely be public. The map and that page, plus the information which is on the projects page would be really describing what the LRTC does.
Judith Hannan: I think that these guys are the topic we need to be discussing but we should just finish off the website and I would move that we do everything we possibly can at the moment and we should all get in and help but we are slack when we go back and don’t give you stories. I think you guys are doing a fantastic job, continue what you are doing in every shape and form you can and then it’s up to us to finally pick up those pieces. I think you don’t need to keep debating and I know you are asking permission to do some of these things but I think everything you do in that field would be beneficial to us. I think you need to keep going. I think Eddie and I need to give that other information but I think we need to park that and get onto the sort of things these guys are talking about because they are still two different topics. You have asked a question and we have not answered you.
IAN GRAY: The only thing I need really is a committee to oversight this commentary and continue as we are basically and that will be a committee who approves the material that goes onto the commentary page if it happens.
Chairperson: Is there any other discussion on the website?
Eddie Wilkinson: What you find on the Facebook page is topical; as things come through I would repost them into LRTC. I think we should open up the Facebook page to people now, what that would do is cause comment and allow us to pass things from Facebook to the website. Maybe the timing is right if we have the new website within a couple of weeks. Opening that Facebook page up would mean people can see anything that is posted as topical to LRTC. Their comments and reflections can then promote going through to the website to get more detail about what we are actually doing. Two things should work together hand in hand in that respect.
Eddie Wilkinson MOVED To change that you don’t need permission to look at a particular page on Facebook SECONDED Bill West CARRIED
Pascale Stendell: Most of the work on the website was done by Ian and not by me, so I won’t take that credit, secondly, the website is as is, so the old and the new and I have heard that you don’t need permission to do things, so I would like to take that on board and change the website little by little as an action thing where we engage people. As long as you trust the committee we will try to turn it back on.
Bill West: I think we have all given it all a pretty fair run around but I think Facebook and the web are certainly going to help. I think also we need to be giving a little bit of publicity for ourselves in terms of lining up behind 1 or 2 things we’ve been pushing for quite some time across the region and maybe a list of all those groups out there that are functioning in the landscape that were functioning prior to LRTC starting and maybe some of us can come back with an idea of who they are and we might link in with them. Sometimes you can sit there and navel gaze considerably and go nowhere and the answer is probably simple and we up the ante in the public eye, i.e. Facebook and the web site, there is an opportunity to jump in on that quite strongly, not just from the Cowra lines perspective but how it links into the broader region so we are also getting some publicity for Wollondilly and Maldon Dombarton. Next meeting I think we should come back with ideas of how we might proceed.
Garry Braithwate: The trouble is the public don’t even realise we are there, it has been a problem for over 10 years. Could there be a public forum before the meeting for people to raise their issues. We come into places and no one knows we are there.
Pascale Stendell: Communication is the big problem; the website is only part of it. What is the future of the LRTC?
John Horton: I think we do need to promote ourselves and if the closest press to where meetings are held is notified to come and take a photo and maybe we have a spiel already written for them to put in their paper. They are all desperate to get stories and this is one story. I think the local press needs to be contacted at the various venues.
Ian Gray: The sources I had in mind would be people who talk at meetings reporting what’s going on in their area. Individuals who are interested in what is happening out there. It would require a commitment from people to do that and a commitment in advance from a number of councils to write something and take it in turn to send it in. It would be kept in the group and be by invitation only and that would avoid the kind of problem you mentioned of it being a free for all and anybody could make a contribution. The comment section would have to be very closely monitored and moderated. Submissions would need to be edited, partly for style and form and maybe also for content occasionally. I was thinking of chunks of text rather than brief comments.
Pascale Stendell: So the purpose would be for members to keep their interest up.
Ian Gray: I think one of the problems is, I don’t know why those 2 councils decided to drop out, but if someone was asking what LRTC do, at the moment they would go to a website and they don’t find much. Now that situation will change soon because it is going to look a whole lot better. It seems to me to be an opportunity where if you wanted to tell the media, you would call the local paper. They would say LRTC, what do they do? If you could steer them to the website, even the commentary page and they would say, “oh yes, that’s the things they are going to talk about”.
Pascale Stendell: So the page would be public?
Garry Braithwate: Councils see the LRTC as a toothless tiger and that’s why they have lost interest and we need rebranding, the Lachlan Regional Transport makes us seen like a small thing because it is “Lachlan”, maybe NSW Regional Transport. Just to make it a bit more relevant. People come from all over the state.
Vicki Etheridge: The Newell Highway Taskforce has a very strong membership and on that they only deal with Newell Highway issues, it is the longest highway in the country. They have politicians in their group and 40 odd members. They also have transport companies that go to their meetings. They have the politician’s ears and are more respected by the politicians. We could ask politicians and transport companies to join our group.
Ian Gray: If we seem to be an organisation that knows what is going on out there, then we will grow as well.
Gordon Bradbery: I’m chair of the Joint Organisation of Councils, I’m one of 13 who chair the JO’s and we will be meeting on the 5th November. One of the reasons I’m here is because I come to get information about your needs and the concerns that you have and connectivity through to the coast. You don’t have to be a lobbying organisation; you can be an organisation that assembles information which then feeds through to joint organisations or other bodies. There is SEATS, that is another big body that has a lot of clout and that takes in Victoria and issues of south east Australia. There are lots of these bodies around. So what I am saying is, don’t try to compete but see where you can fit into feeding information through to achieve your aims. I don’t think it is necessarily wrong just to come together, look at the issues confronting Central West NSW in terms of transport challenges. Share that information, because I’m really interested as the Mayor of the city of Wollongong, as the Chair of the JO. I have input into Ports NSW. This is a really valuable exercise and that is why Dom and I are very interested in anything you do. Don’t try to be all things to all people. If you can assemble that information and what’s going on and what your demands and needs are out here or areas of neglect or challenges and things like that, that sort of stuff is very important for the JO’s. They are looking for justification for their existence at the present time. You have to be careful, there are so many groups. Our JO meets at Parliament House and all the minsters come by and tell us how good they are and it’s our opportunity to meet our transport needs for our particular JO. I often plug in and utilise the opportunity to express the concerns of Wollondilly and to the west of us Wingecarribee and further west to you guys because you feed in to Port Kembla. It’s really important that you focus upon what you can do and do well. Even if it is just a forum of transport needs every quarter and you’re called the Lachlan Regional Transport Committee, that’s fine. Do it and do it well. That way, get the information, 2 people assembling and opportunities to put that information on the website so that information can then be utilised by JO’s and other transport lobbying groups. For instance we have the Illawarra Business Chamber working with Wollondilly and myself and the JO to upgrade Picton Road. The Wilton interchange which isn’t even in my local government area but they are all part of a process whereby we are plucking information from all sources. It might be a bit frustrating, but just come back to being a lobby group or a group that just assembles information and you meet once a quarter and do it really well and then you get the respect because that task is one that as a JO we really value being able to get hold of that information and the data and the stuff that you guys assemble. Don’t be hard on yourselves, you can’t be everything to all people and there are plenty of groups out there that are doing a lot of work already. I don’t want you to defray your energies and feel like you are not achieving anything. You are. It’s a really good forum. Can I suggest your real focus should be where the action is. We have been bringing grain in from Canada through Port Kembla at the present time because of the drought, soon that is about to be reversed, the issue is how are we going to deal with the crops that are going to be coming down to port. That whole dynamic is going to be changed and it has been part of my spiel for the upgrade of Picton Road and it is only because I come out to groups like this and feed it into the Illawarra Business Chamber, who are one of the lobby groups and they are utilising that as one of the points behind the argument for the upgrade of Picton Road and the links through to the coast.
Ian Gray If someone would like to write a short piece, a couple of hundred words, posing the question of how the grain is going to get to the port this season, I will throw in some pictures of grain trains or something.
Bill West: We have now gone onto the sustainability and where we are as an organisation. The world has changed dramatically since Lachlan Regional Transport Committee started. JO is just one. You have got organisations such as the Newell Taskforce which was mentioned. The Newell Taskforce is specifically on one issue, it’s a single issue group. That’s it. The lesson for us is maybe we have gotten a little bit too broad. Maybe collate information but also be picking 3 or 4 major projects to get the publicity and be seen as being active in those. I think it is really relevant to be involved, like the collar around the Blue Mountains. The community are frustrated. The Newcastle railway line, the Maldon Dombarton railway line, which has the bigger picture of how do you link Port Kembla to Cunningar rail terminal at Harden and how do you link other areas. Part of what I was talking about the Blayney to Demondrille and realising there is another capacity on this other line. So this other line offers a greater opportunity for Maldon Dombarton and a greater opportunity of getting grain to Port Kembla and out of Port Kembla, but also quickly to Port Botany. We need to think how we deliver the message.
Pascale Stendell: Do you think the group mission statement should be changed?
Bill West: I think the mission statement is broad enough to cover what we are doing. You can change mission statements, you can change websites but I think you have got to have some rubber on the ground. Having all these interests and pushing for particular agendas that we all might have, but we should start highlighting 3 or 4 major issues that we really want to focus on in terms of big ticket items. That’s what is going to bring growth into the region and going to help Wollondilly because they have a problem with a massive development out towards the Maldon Dombarton area, which could impact on future freight transport problems. We know there is a massive blue on the Blue Mountains about the Great Western Highway with the guy who came to Picton and hasn’t fronted since. That group up there who are forming a lobby in terms of the State Government Submissions. They are realising this part of NSW is terribly transport constrained. I think they are the issues that we continue to talk about. Things like should we be suggesting to the Government that they should be opening the Newcastle line coming back down through Ulan to Mudgee to Lithgow and Lithgow back down. Is that something we should be saying apart from what we see as the big picture?
Maurice Simpson: Can I just add a little bit to what Bill was saying. What he said is quite right, just go down and look at those unfinished bridges down there in the Wollondilly area to do with the Maldon Dombarton and you can say that you don’t want to know about it. You can still go down the street and talk to people and they don’t believe you, they don’t believe that exists that it was ever stopped or ever started. Even though we are sick of it we have just got to keep going to bring in a new line. I bet if I went into the ABC they wouldn’t have the slightest idea of what I was talking about but if I mentioned Nick Greiner cutting the money off it would get on. So we have to get smart.
Bill West: We need to find and use our contacts better in some respects. The other thing I’m keen to find out now is the experiences of the train drivers in getting to Sydney. There is an opportunity to lobby politically if we have that information of how difficult it is to get through the Sydney corridor with freight trains and around the passenger service which has a greater authority and with the growth in Sydney what impact that will have on us so we can draw a line on all of that in terms of arguing strategically about other lines, not just Blayney Demondrille and Maldon Dombarton and the constraints that will be in Sydney and the regions.
Chairperson: Now we also have a late edition Garry brought about the Dubbo bypass they are trying to still get.
Garry Braithwaite: I have three different cuttings from the newspaper in the last few days. One is from the Deputy Mayor in Dubbo, Barrister Steven Lawrence and one is from John Morris, who is a very prominent member of the National Party who is totally against this River Street diversion and you have an inaccurate one there from Mike Poulton who says “this River Street Bridge will benefit Dubbo traffic congestion right through to the Newell Highway. Three years ago we were on six different locations for putting the bypass bridge across the river. Five of them were no good and we finished up with the one on the northern part of the city called River Street. Madam chair, her husband and myself spent 3 years developing this plan, which clearly shows you the RMS flood plain to flood proof Dubbo will not work. Document passed round for viewing. It’s 9 kilometres from the roundabout in West Dubbo, across a high level bridge and it finishes at Bourke Street. Bourke Street is on the Newell Highway. In a flood, the one little bridge that we have got, the Serisier Bridge is blocked for about 15 days, yet the project that was only going to be 140 million has blown out now to 240 million and they haven’t turned the sod yet. Say we have a flood that we haven’t had for 10 years, if we happen to have one next week and that bridge went out and if this bridge was operating it would mean from where the roundabout is in West Dubbo, to get back on the Newell Highway out towards Gilgandra is a total of 18 kilometres and they are trying to push this onto us at 240 million. Now that’s not going to solve Dubbo’s problem, all it will do is bring traffic back into the city. I have worked in engineering for a while and Vicki and I spent 3 years or more on this project. I don’t care what Mike Poulton says, he is wrong. There is no way that diversion will work.
Judith Hannan: What’s the reason they have chosen where they have chosen? Is there a political reason, is there a development reason?
Gary Braithwaite: It was originally a project of the State Government to develop it at 44 million. Now to take the pressure off the state government, Mark Coulton has offered 176 million, so in other words it has gone back to the Federal Government. But I can tell you if you have a look at that plan where the orange line finishes and the yellow line starts there is no way that during a flood or any other time it is going to work.
Maurice Simpson: Madam Chair, there is a petition going around for people to sign on this particular matter.
Bill West: My question is, is this the position of Dubbo Council as well? Putting my Mayor’s hat on, I would be uncomfortable, in without full information, supporting something which is contrary to a member councils position and something contrary to State and Federal MP’s positions without more information because I am now going into another JO, another local government area and I don’t feel I have the information background to be able to make a decision to say yes or no. I’m not saying it is not a good idea, I’m not saying they are right, I’m just saying that from a political perspective it is not appropriate that I be too involved when it’s not the best for Dubbo Council. I thought the position that we initially had was that of Dubbo Council.
Maurice Simpson: I remember asking that question and I agree with you and I think I got Dennis to find out whether or not you had the support of Dubbo Council.
Gary Braithwaite: Yes.
Maurice Simpson: You did? You’ve got it now?
Vicki Etheridge: Absolutely
Bill West: My question now, is this position supported by Dubbo Council.
Vicki Etheridge: Yes, the bypass is.
Maurice Simpson: I was very concerned if we put our foot into other council’s business and it’s not our business they can get a bit offended. Then I am led to believe you have the full support of the Dubbo Council and it is a very worthy thing for this meeting and we will go with Dubbo Council. The earlier council’s position was different. The current council’s position supports this.
Bill West: The LRTC is supporting Dubbo Council
Maurice Simpson: MOVED That we forward this submission on, on behalf of Lachlan Regional Transport to the authorities in support of Dubbo Council’s position
SECONDED Bill West CARRIED
Garry Braithwaite: Dubbo Regional Council in support of bypass no. 2 on the right hand side It has got to the position now that they are now toing and froing about who should be paying for it and we really need to do something now. We can’t do anything unless council has a plan, it is going to cost us millions and we still have no guarantee that they will change their minds. Earlier on in the piece a few months ago the RMS put out plans with 2 different designs, the first one they are going to come down Lander Street from the road from the bypass and they were going to go over the railway line and now they have come up with this 9 km plan, It would be a truck driver’s nightmare because the moment this comes into being and that bridge is built the truck drivers will not be able to come down the highway the way they are coming now and as I said these of 9 kms that is the end of the Newell Highway going north and it is the start of the Golden Highway going up. There are a couple of roundabouts going up towards the hospital and they are gridlocked now. This has been going on ever since the Council and the State elections when the local member was told what happens when you get to Bourke Street. They said you can’t go any further because the floodplains are for 2 kms and he said the traffic could go back into the CBD.
Gordon Bradbery: From Parkes’ side of things, it’s like this Newell Highway, that’s their baby, the Newell Highway. The same with Parkes, this Brisbane Melbourne railway, that’s where their commitment is. They are not worried about this other stuff. You have got to put yourself in their shoes.
Vicki Etheridge: Their Mayor is the President of the Newell Highway Taskforce.
Gary Braithwaite: You can’t tell me they have just been given $180 million to construct a bypass road around a country town. Whereas here we are getting $240 million for something we don’t need. You don’t want to tell me this group didn’t play some part in them getting that funding for the bypass.
Judith Hannan: The other thing is, I don’t know what the Newell Highway Taskforce makeup is, but certainly to belong to SEATS is it $25,000 per year or something. It is quite a large input. It’s not $350 a year. With a CEO, some of these groups work on a whole different basis.
Gordon Bradbery: Don’t worry; I will question their involvement in SEATS in terms of the opportunities of what they deliver for the money. I’ve got to come back to it, don’t try and do too much, just do what you do well. If it is just a forum and an opportunity to present the challenges that you confront and in solidarity go in and bat together
Bill West: I think what Gordon is saying is right. We go to a lot of meetings quite often. We report in various ways.
Maurice Simpson: This came up because of a very serious problem we have in the LRTC and hasn’t been reported on yet is that we have had resignations of councils from this committee. It is the first sign of dry rot. Either we are not doing something right or we are doing something wrong. We need your help to find out what the problem is. The second thought is we weren’t getting reports from the councils because they didn’t know what we were doing. Why do you think we are losing these councils? Dennis do you have a list of who we have lost?
Dennis Hughes: There are two. Parkes pulled out last year and I finally got confirmation from Blayney after 2 or 3 years. After speaking to Scott Ferguson, on the phone twice and 2 emails, he told me he wasn’t going to join. I pressured him again and got a statement from him to say that they wouldn’t continue.
Pascale Stendell: Did anybody ask Parkes directly why they didn’t.
Maurice Simpson: I Spoke to Ken McGrath and they felt that they weren’t getting anything out of it. I thought that was very strange of Parkes because out of all the towns in the state that have benefited from rail, we would have had something to do with it, it certainly would have been Parkes. Ken McGrath said the council didn’t support us anymore. Are we doing something wrong or not? We have got to be informed of this and I would feel very deficient in my duties if I didn’t make it very clear that we have a problem. We were constituted on the basis that we go back to the original foundations and the original needs. It was on the basis of Council participation, we had our strength in councils. If we lose that strength and we have started off losing them, then we have a problem. Should we reconstitute into somewhere else, drop councils? If we do drop councils how do we survive?
Judith Hannan: I think it would be appropriate to write an official letter to Parkes pointing out what benefits we have given them. I also think that you will probably find at this particular point in time all councils, especially with COVID and the rest of it, look seriously at things that they can afford to drop because they have been trying to help their own communities, though it could be that was one of the reasons but I think we should write to Parkes; to the Mayor formally; saying that they have always been great supporters of your inland rail and all of those things. Is there a specific issue? If there is not, would you consider re-joining. We have had a meeting and multiple councils were there and saying where’s Parkes. I think it would be an appropriate thing and you would get a direct answer from the Mayor and it may well change their mind if they remember what we actually do for them. I think that it is worth a letter. If you are in any organisation and people start to drop out, the first thing you should be doing is asking them why. Because if you don’t get it from the horse’s mouth then you are never going to understand it. You’re right Mo, we need to admit up to the fact that these people have dropped out. But ask them why, so that we can get some feedback and offer whatever it is that we are missing.
MOVED Judith Hannan SECONDED Maurice Simpson That we write a formal letter to the Parkes and Blayney Mayors asking on feedback on their decision to resign from LRTC CARRIED
GARY BRAITHWAITE: On mining, a couple of months ago Alcan industries split the parent company into two groups, they are either invested in Tomingley gold mines or in precious metals, which is going to be processed in Korea. They are just about to roll with the precious metals, but over the last 18 months, Alcan, after their find in Tomingley, have purchased 3 properties. They are virtually back in to Peak Hill now and one of those, Antona, has produced more gold in samples than what they found in Tomingley in the first place. I also believe that 6 kms of the highway is going to be moved because massive amounts of gold are under the existing highway now. That’s where we are up to in the mining in that area. The jobs are going to be very, very good. Well it would do if we had someone to support it because they have to get originally 64 truckloads of limestone coming in from about 30 kms.
Ian Gray: It is one of the projects we show on the website so I will add a sentence to it saying rich development to produce more ore in the area, which is rekindling the issue of the rail line.
Garry Braithwaite: There is a siding there and a wheat siding which can be extended and the trains can go in and out. I checked it out; you could open the railway line and run it at 80 kph. I can’t see why we can’t do something about putting it to the government and extending that siding and loading area. That would mean that the road transport on the highway would only be about 5kms each way and the rest of it would be by rail.
Ian Gray: I could draft a letter and send to the Environment Minster that we are aware of recent developments in the area and what would it mean for the railway.
Garry Braithwaite: Where the siding is actually starts at Sandy Hollow – Maryvale line. It is a big area there and there is a big yard there. Trains could go in there and lock in there for 12 hours or more at The Maryvale to Sandy Hollow railway line.
Dennis Hughes: I would like to ask something about the delegates from Council. Do you go back to your Council and give a report from these meetings? I have heard that some of the councils weren’t getting reports from LRTC and I think that is a bit of a problem because if it doesn’t go back to Council it doesn’t go anywhere.
Bill West: I do, we have an information meeting and a general council meeting. At the information meeting we table all the reports and the minutes for the majority of the meetings I attend, including LRTC
John Horton: I bring it up at council meetings on a Monday night.
Craig Bembrick: All of the minutes you send to Council anyway.
Bill West: It has to get circulated.
Gordon Bradbery: Dom and myself feed into various agencies the opinions, ideas, challenges, all those things that come out of this forum, so it certainly is valued and I do not necessarily report to Council about this meeting because I am the conduit on other bodies conveying information that comes through here. Your information is very valued. Very helpful.
REPORTS FROM COUNCILS, ORGANISATIONS, COMMUNITY GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS
Lawrence Ryan: Report on behalf of the Lachlan Valley Railway Society. Ray Morris who usually comes wasn’t able to make it and he is the Depot Manager of the Cowra Locomotive Depot has forwarded a report for me to read out. Just a bit of background information, the Lachlan Valley Railway has received two grants, one in 2019 from Transport Heritage NSW to restore one of its steam locomotives, 5367, known as Rosie, which is based at Cowra. That funding was subject to the fact that it had to get somewhere to run. So in May this year, Cowra Council very generously allocated $140,000 out of the Drought Communities Programme to reopen a small section of the Cowra railway line from Cowra to the small community of Holmwood, which is 7 kms east of the town. With that in mind this is Ian Cameron’s, the Depot Manager’s, report. We are progressing with the lease on the Cowra Holmwood section. Ross Jackson, Lachlan Railway Valley President and the Minister, although I have been helping on the ground, talking to neighbours about their grievances with crossings and cattle fences. During the inspection with John Holland a few weeks ago, their representative, David Ginns, recommended transferring a set of points from a not to be used part of Cowra Railway Yard to the main line just to the south of the Rowan Street crossing and slewing the locomotive depot exit road onward. This will negate the need to upgrade the old departure road, all the way to the station along with relevant points. It will also give us direct connection which if the line in total is reopened we will just need to upgrade and connect to the central control. Unfortunately, like the government the deals of John Holland work slowly. However they are in agreement with what we want to do and are working to make it happen. On another note Steve Palmer and I have put together an application to the NSW Department of Liquor, Gaming and Club grants. The grant was recommended to us by local member Steph Cookes’ office for infrastructure in the local area. If successful, this will allow us to engage professional help in upgrading the track work within the Cowra locomotive leased area. Returning to John Holland, the Lachlan Valley Railways lease area at the locomotive depot is about to be extended to stretch from Browan Street, for those of you who might know it is the road you take crossing over towards Wyangala Dam to the water tank on top of the hill overlooking the Lachlan River and across to the boundary fence. So it will make the Lachlan Valley Railway a very substantial landholder in that particular area. I hope to catch up with LRTC at the next meeting. Regards Ian Cameron, Depot Manager, Cowra Locomotive Depot.
Craig Bembrick Weddin Shire: We have got a couple of new projects coming up. One has started, the new sewerage works, that is an 18 million dollar project and also our main street upgrade is going to be starting very shortly. Along with all the other councils, there have been lots of little grants running around and finished. We are all very happy over at Grenfell. One thing we have done is have all of our roads, bridges and culverts analysed and that has given us a rating on all of those things, so it has given us a direction to go as to which things to put our money towards first. It’s actually helping us to get money to fix these things. We have got some big money coming in to fix a couple of culverts that are a problem for harvest; they are being put in as a priority so they can get done. They all have been rated so that we have a direction to go which has been very good for Council.
Anthony Durkin Cabonne Shire: There is not much for Cabonne. I will acknowledge the presence of Bill when we attended the Settlement Bridge replacement meeting last week and it was also attended by the federal member Andrew Gee for another timber bridge just to the west of Manildra. There will be no more timber bridges once they are replaced. Other than that bill for fixing roads after the recent winter rain. We are doing the best we can to fix roads around the area.
Eddie Wilkinson: I have a couple of questions; this is from the Publicity Officer point of view. I am quite happy to take on that job. Judy took a picture today to actually contact the local press and issue a statement that we actually met. I would have to meet with Dennis on what we might want to say about what was covered at the meeting. The second thing is just as a member point of view and in relation to the conversation that has gone on about the relevancy of the whole LRTC; are we a lobby group and what we actually do and acknowledge the fact that Wollongong is not in the Lachlan region but one of the key issues, since my involvement, even before that, there has been the Cowra lines, the Blayney Demondrille Railway line. It seems that politicians have been playing games with it over the years. Does this committee actually want to do something through its communication channels and through publicity, run a poll of Lachlan regional residents and perhaps get a petition going to reopen the line. There is hardly anybody I talk to that doesn’t say “yeah we would like it open”. From LVR’s point of view over the years, they have had to run their picnic trains and revenue earning services somewhere other than the Lachlan. Those areas have benefited from tourism. When you look at the numbers of people who turn up to have something like that happen or expand on what Lawrence just said about Cowra to Holmwood to see it run a much further distance. Once it begins it would be great leverage to get the State Government to finally get off its backside and do what the electorate wants, rather than what they play politics with. So my hope is that the Committee will consider actually running a Lachlan regional poll of this region from residents from Wollongong by advertising in the local press and creating a poll on the Facebook page. I understand that they don’t hold as much sway as written petitions but over the committee. I would like to see it do something as significant as that to try and wave in front of politicians noses to say that your electorate says it wants you to do this overwhelmingly and I suspect that is what the response would be and try that as an opportunity to gain some relevance.
Judith Hannan: I would say at this point in time Lachlan Regional Transport is actually quite valuable to Wollondilly. You would know that all four corners of Wilton are under development at the moment. Interestingly there are no plans for how the water is actually going to get there. That is a minor technicality and the progression of a fast bus service to who knows where is all that has been happening as far as transport. The one thing that I have been able to argue with, I use the Lachlan Regional Transport as the maintenance of that rail corridor. It’s still there. If you think about the fact that at this point in time one of the things from the city deals, the eight councils wrapped around the new airport actually got the rail from St Marys through to the Airport and that’s supposed to come through to Campbelltown. The first section has already started north but it will come through to Campbelltown. Common sense would tell you that it will eventually bring us down to the Maldon Dombarton and along. So whilst we have not had any progression on that, I was really hoping it might be a COVID infrastructure project. It would have been nice to see that. At least it is all still being maintained and anybody that progresses or buys land along that area, know that there is that corridor. I thank Cabonne for a very nice night at Montrose House. We actually add a little bit of tourism to the areas that we visit as well. So I think that is a positive. I think we all take back little tiny bits of information and it helps us all advocate on what we are actually doing at home. Considering other organisations have totally fallen over, we are progressing along quite well. I value the information I get from each of you. It adds that little bit extra of information that I can advocate with.
John Faulks: Now the COVID situation we have been in for the last number of months and Government incentives to employ people, wanting to re-employ people, where do we sit in assisting Lachlan Valley Railway in getting friendships, grants and situations like that, to try and broaden the Blayney Demondrille railway line. Lawrence has said that they will be able to go from Cowra to Holmwood. Can we push them, help them, and assist them to getting it further or something or other. How much of the line is gone. How much needs to be replaced? What situations does the line have? What’s good? What’s bad? What’s destroyed? Do we have a study on that? Bill would have studies from years ago but they would all now be probably out of date because of the washaways.
Lawrence Ryan: A very detailed study was released only a couple of months ago now to the public. That’s the executive summary. I am sure Bill will be speaking of to the whole of the Cowra line. I will leave that one in the basket with Bill. But I can say it is pretty positive.
Bill West: The full report is available on the Transport of NSW website it is also on the Council’s committee meeting Web site and on Cowra Shire Council Agenda on the webpage.
Pascale Stendell: Just a couple of quick ones, I want to come back to what was discussed before just for me at least for clarity. Craig said the LRTC member should be brand. I’m doing that quickly OK. That was never answered. Bill said we don’t have to change the mission statement. It’s broad enough to cover what we want to do and Gordon said well maybe you are doing too much and should focus on what you are doing well. So for my own sake, what are we agreeing on – keeping the same name, same mission statement and not changing anything? Is that what we are agreeing on?
Chairperson: Yes, I think so.
Pascale Stendell: So we are continuing as we are and are we ignoring the advice of Gordon? I’m not saying either way.
Gordon Bradbery: I don’t think we are ignoring my advice in as much as if you continue to do what you are doing. But at the same time I was just suggesting from my perspective, what I get out of this particular committee and that is the information of advocacy and things like that. I think that is possibly a discussion for another time.
Pascale Stendell: So my concerns, we are agreeing to keep the name, no change to the Mission Statement and we are trying to do better what we are doing right.
Gordon Bradbery: I have probably spoken enough today in as much just to share with you from my perspective anyway, I have contacts with the NSW Ports, to the owners of both Port Botany and Port Kembla. Of course, they are very concerned about what is happening in Newcastle in as much as Newcastle is wanting to diversify out of coal, which the writing is on the wall. It will be interesting to see what Newcastle does in terms of trying to get that Sandy Hollow line up and that connectivity through there, because they are wanting to. Coal is on the way out and the fossil fuel industry and especially thermal coal at the present time, so the challenges are there. I’m not saying that Newcastle will disappear in terms of being a major coal terminal. But I tell you what; the way investments are falling out of that particular industry at the present time, that’s another story. When it comes to Wollongong and more specifically my role as Chair of the Joint Organisations of Councils of the Illawarra Shoalhaven, we had a meeting with Constance the other day, Constance is the transport Minister and he came back and emphasised the links between Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong and I don’t know where the Maldon Dombarton fits into his thinking at present, but that’s really interesting. The amount of investment they are putting into Sydney in terms of rail infrastructure, especially the line under the harbour and to the North Western Suburbs, that’s going to soak up a lot of resources, but that’s another story. I’m just saying is, the main focus that we should have is making sure that the present rail easements aren’t lost and that is a really important asset that we need to focus on, so that they don’t get diluted or lost, because ultimately I think that they will be revived. A lot of those opportunities will be needed in the future and more specifically and it’s going to be a new normal after COVID and that is the issue of a concentration of population in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. That means there will be a focus on regional NSW and I can see that those rail easements will be extremely important, not only for freight but possibly passenger transport in the future. They are just some of the thinking that I have been involved with and of course the connectivity to Port Kembla in the interests of the central and southern NSW economy.
Bill West: Just a couple of pickups if I can on the way through, I concur with both Judith and Gordon, that one of the values I see in these meetings is being able to link with those parts of the world and they do have a benefit for what we’re doing and Judith talked of the 8 councils west of Sydney, Griffith Council, the JO has a very close relationship with Penrith Council, which is part of your group. So we have a chance to actually lobby for Maldon Dombarton through centroc, which is what we are doing and vice a versa . So I think that is something we need to keep in mind. I’m also not saying we don’t have to change; we probably do, but I think we don’t want to rush into a change of being too many meetings where people are under the pump. They look internally; they blame each other and finish up going backwards. I think we need to move and change but I think we need to do it carefully and rather strategically rather than change for the sake of change. From a Cowra perspective, the CBD is almost finished. A little bit of furniture to be completed and our CBD will be completed. It has been a major infrastructure project and been interesting on the way through with some of the comments we have had from our community. We are getting there now and I think it is going to be of benefit for years to come. Cowra is also having a serious conversation about a relocation of our low level bridge. The current level of the bridge now we noticed is structurally sound for a while but we know we will need a single lane bridge, constructed in the 30’s for horse and sulky and T Model Fords, it is past its use by date. We are looking at maintaining that for a cycle way and pedestrian access linking both sides of the river in the future but also investigating the possibility of a new bridge, bank to bank, about 250 metres downstream of the current low level bridge. Pave the way for local traffic will also be reduced for congestion on the foot of the bridge on the other side. We are about to have a conversation with Transport NSW on that one and we are happy to keep everyone informed. Same with we are going to be lobbying a bit more strongly about the heavy vehicle bypass. We are one of the few towns, if not the only community, in the state which has a highway running down the CBD. It does cause issues with the bridge at either end. They’re two things that I think are significant to this group and I have also got a lot of other money spent from State Government which has been poured into local roads and the other one which has been touched on is the fact that the meeting about the three weeks at Blayney with Paul Toole, the Minister for Rural Transport and Steph Cooke and the Mayors of Weddin, Cowra, Blayney and the General Manager of Hilltops where the minister released the Feasibility study of the Blayney Demondrille line which was done by Southerland and the upshot of that was with, considering constraints, they are using the word constraints which they have been talking about for quite some time. Constraints meaning the difficulty of getting across the Blue Mountains and into Sydney on the western line. I think their thinking was changed by the fires at Christmas time, that called for the line to be closed. They started to have a deeper look at it. So considering the constraints that they factored in they came up with BCR at .9 and that is based on a business model of mainline infrastructure, 25 tonne axle, 80 kmph and that would be basically from Blayney through to Demondrille and leaving the smaller lines off that conversation. Without those constraints factored in, it was about .04, so it needed those constraints to be included. Because those constraints are real and they are accepting that and it got to .9, they have now allocated 2 million dollars to do a high level design and costing. That scope hasn’t come out yet and we will see the scope before they release it is to be completed. Hopefully it is still heading in the right direction and not gone away. Where I think this group could be really of benefit would be to come out publically and support it and lobby for it. What we need also to be doing is to be broad in the conversation. It’s not just about going from the Cowra line from Blayney to Demondrille. It is the benefit it has into the southern line, which I am led to believe is under capacity and the capacity and the ability to hook into Botany /Newcastle, Botany/Kembla and maybe we should be suggesting they should be considering a line from Ulan down to Mudgee to link up that line to the Sandy Hollow Line as well. So we would have connectivity inland to Newcastle, Botany and Port Kembla.
Garry Braithwaite: I believe they are well on their way.
Bill West: I think that’s their thinking, there is also, as Gordon mentioned, the money they are spending in Sydney on rail and the information that we are getting is they still have not fully identified the corridors to get to the new airport for freight and the more people they put out in that area, the more constrained freight will become. I think they are all arguments we need to, whichever way we go, to chuck into the mix to get them to turn their mind of the importance of this Cowra line and functionality. If this group could lobby on that that would be very much appreciated. The full Cowra line investigations, I think they came up with .8, including the minor lines between Grenfell and Eugowra and that was being based on a 19 tonne axle. The impression I get is they’re keen to continue to focus on that main drag from Blayney through to Harden and we are pushing very strongly to get that added into Greenethorpe, given the 50,000, 60,000 tonne of grain, which this year will be a good arguing point. The feasibility study is publically available Transport NSW or Council’s website. Sharon Bennet did promise to give the council a full copy and we have got a full copy of the report which is obviously confidential. Steph Cooke is very much on point.
John Horton Hilltops Council: For those that don’t know Hilltops is the newly merged council, consisting of Harden, Murrumburrah, Boorowa and Young and about 17 villages. It covers an area of over 5000 square kms and runs from Jugiong in the east to Koorawatha here in the north and Rugby in the east to Bribbaree in the west. There is the Burley Griffin Highway which goes through Harden and Murrumburrah. Murrumburrah is a little village that has plenty of shops and tourist section and the trucks have always been at 60 kmph coming down steep hills from the east and the west and they go through there at 70, 80, sometimes 90 kmph at night the B doubles included. We have just had, after many years of pushing, had that reduced to 50 kmph, which is much safer. Last time I talked our Rural Firefighters Headquarters was being built and it’s completed now called South West Slopes Regional Fire Headquarters and that is central to the towns of Harden, Young and Boorowa and Cootamundra. Our new hospital was being built at our last meeting and it is now completed and now the old one which is past it’s use by date, that will be demolished soon. Our 8 million dollar Country Club has finally started and the building of the four tennis courts is underway. The club won’t be finished for a couple of years. The Hilltops Cultural and Community Education Precinct, where the new library is being built, in Young. It’s a pretty good deal for the Hilltops Council at a minimum of 32 million dollars and most of that is put up by the Department of Education of NSW. Hilltops Council had to put in 6 million and we have received 4.5 million over the last few years in grants. So there will be about 1.5 million from our rate payers to go in. That will be a wonderful asset for the youth of the future. Thanks to the committee for sending a letter to Steph Cooke regarding the railway cleanliness in Harden. We have had no complaints. Bill mentioned about the Blayney to Demondrille line, I am very interested in that it is one of the reasons I joined this committee a few years ago. I remember being given a tour down Wollongong way by Gordon, the Mayor of Wollongong and I can never forget, we walked out along the line and he showed me where 70 million dollars had been spent to date to put that line from somewhere to Dombarton and they came to a bridge crossing and I think it was Nick Greiner pulled the plug and nothing happened then and nothing has happened since. It’s all geared up ready to go. Like Bill said, wonderful asset to get it in this part of the world because we have a new wheat terminal in Harden and if all the traffic from the Blue Mountain’s area, instead of going through the centre of Sydney you could come down through Hume, Blayney, Morangarell, Harden, get the wheat, get down on the Picton Line and across to Wollongong, that’s a great thing for this area, the Wollongong area and the city of Sydney, diverting all of that traffic. So a 5 million dollar feasibility study, I hadn’t heard anything about that, so I am pleased to hear that it is looking positive. That’s all from Hilltops.
Garry Braithwaite: Ian was mentioning something about the line and special metals out of Toongi Special Metals about opening the line. When Alcan first came up with the Tomingley business and the line that brought out special metals, they put out a document that for 5 years they were going to use road transport to transport 64 truckloads of cadium they needed to process the metal obviously and the limestone they use, so I was always miffed with the idea of why a company like that would for 5 years employ contractors when in actualy fact they said then that they were going to use rail. I think the argument is now because things have changed a lot and if we could support some sort of a report and I think at one stage John Holland were going to put in first grade steel and why would you want that for 30 kms. I mean until they open that line from Dubbo back out to Toongi that would dangle the carrot because more exploration going on. So I just wondered if while we are here talking about it, could we do something about it. Inform the government to incorporate with the Sandy Hollow line which could come into being. It is all in the one area.
Ian Gray: I think with information I might draft a letter. It’s in our interest right now. Please let us know what is happening in response to this new development.
Vicki Etheridge: That would be great
Garry Braithwaite: Because there have been objections like the school bus, groups out there who objected about the fact that heavy loaded trucks running up and down all day with traffic lights and talking about 25 years ago going back into RMS records. I think there is an option now that, I know the groups are against trucks using the road. I think at one stage they were going to pay 10 million dollars to Dubbo Regional Council to upgrade all the roads. When you weigh it all up, the smartest way would be to open the railway line up in the first place.
Maurice Simpson: Everyone has been talking about what we know about the Thirlmere meeting. The Thirlmere meeting was one that John Hetherington and I attended, quite some time ago now all the planners and engineers were talking about the airport, Judy was there, and when they came up they were talking about going down to Wollongong Dombarton way. They were talking about electrifying two lines and they were both going to be used for passenger freight to the airport. I asked them what about my wheat. They said what wheat. Now they hadn’t the slightest idea that we had any intention of using it for freight, so as I said earlier, we just have to go over the same thing, over and over again. These blokes have all the gold on, the rolex watches and the briefcases. They are all town planners, 3 or 4 of them, but gee they looked good, but anyway, they didn’t know anything about the wheat, that’s the first one. We were talking about the Hunter Valley Coal. I’ve got a son who is a clerk at Port Botany and he’s mixed up in the the big problems they’ve got down there now. So we know what is going on at Port Botany, it’s a very, very mixed up show as far as the paper goes. The main thing is most of the information coming out in the paper is wrong. Hunter Valley, 1600 workers at Hunter Valley because they have got coal coming out their ears as Bill eluded to a while ago. The terminals of the Hunter Valley are full and the ships from China are sitting there full of coal unable to unload. There doing a slow pace into China I’m told.
The other one is council information, people who supply information for council’s opinion. Council’s General Managers are particularly reluctant to comment on other council’s business and this is what Bill eluded to. Even one little word to the General Manager will get a line through it. You can understand it, they are running their own little council and they don’t want to lose co-operation by other councils but someone well down the line, probably not even on council and probably not on this committee put in an adverse comment which reflects that it came from council. Now that is a very serious matter. We have put in a lot of work into having many reasons to have the Blayney line down through there to Dombarton, apart from just the freight. It was eluded to again by Bill about bushfires. One of the big ones was that someone else talked about the two hours into Sydney about the freight. That’s all they’ve got, over the Blue Mountains. This becomes from the adverse fires and floods. This could be a great diversion line, but it has to be done. We told you earlier at the last meeting, it would come out of the class one freight line. That brings problems here as well because if you are going to open that line there as well and just close your eyes for a minute and open your eyes and look at the line and say that is going to be a class one line, my God there is going to be some opposition to it. I talked personally to Michael McCormack about freight subsidies for lines and all that and he said it’s not their area and I said that’s strange Michael, I’m pretty sure that Government trains pull freight on the inland rail from Melbourne to Brisbane. I’m pretty sure that the Federal Government is running it and he said “yeah” and I said “what do you think we are going to pull on this”. I didn’t get an answer.
CHAIRPERSON: VICKI ETHERIDGE. ……………………………………………………
NEXT MEETING TO BE THE AGM AND TO BE HELD AT YOUNG ON 13th FEBRUARY 2021
MEETING CLOSED AT 12.30
Previous Meeting Venues
Canowindra 10/10/20
Picton 15/2/20, Cowra 9/11/19, Greenethorpe 7/9/19, Dubbo 11/5/19,
Blayney 9/2/19, Temora 3/11/18, Murrumburrah 11/8/18. Grenfell 19/5/18
Picton 17/2/18 AIW Wollongong 4/11/17 Parkes 5/8/17 Canowindra 6/5/17
Temora 25/2/17 Lithgow 5/11/16 Boorowa 13/8/16 Wollongong 14/5/16
Cowra 6/2/16 Thirlmere 7/11/15