Minutes of the LRTC Meeting 7th November 2015 at Thirlmere

LACHLAN REGIONAL TRANSPORT COMMITTEE

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held in Thirlmere at the Rail Museum on Saturday November 7th 2015

The Deputy General Manager of Wollondilly Shire Ali Dench welcomed everyone to the meeting which opened at 10:10am

ATTENDANCE: There were seventeen members in attendance APOLOGIES: As per the attendance book with thirteen apologies. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING:

It was moved M Simpson seconded K McGrath that the minutes of the meeting held at Harden on August 16th 2015 be accepted as read. CARRIED.

Associate Professor Phil Laird spoke about ideas he was presented with regarding the electrification of the main southern line

SECRETARY’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDANCE:

The correspondence was circulated to the meeting for perusal by members.

It was moved M Simpson seconded D Hughes. The correspondence was circulated to the meeting for perusal by members. CARRIED.

TREAUSERS REPORT:

The Treasurer Dennis Hughes presented the report for the previous meeting and detailed the receipts and expenditure and it was tabled for the information of members.

The balance of the account is $7,980.63.

The Treasurers Report was moved D Hughes and J Faulks. 

REPORTS:

Phil Laird -

Presented a comprehensive report which was circulated to members.

From his report a motion was moved to write to the Transport Minister asking his department to investigate either electrification or realignment of the Sydney to Canberra line. It was moved P Laird seconded B Wilkinson. CARRIED.

It was moved P Laird seconded W Irwin that the LRTC support the reopening of the line to Byron Bay or at the very least Casino/Lismore. CARRIED.

Cowra - B West

Commented on ‘Fit for the Future’ proposals by the NSW State Government.

He did indicate that CENTROC had discussed the Bells road proposal and they support the idea.

Ian Gray mentioned that the state government ‘unsolicited proposals’ that allows any organisation including local government to propose a project which they consider worthwhile but doesn’t particularly attract competitive bids at tender

Mark Stacey - Dubbo:

Approval for road at Alkane and to look at rail within three years and comment was made about the timeframe and why it wasn’t done initially with a concern for truck movements.

Mayor of Dubbo wrote to Mark Coulton supporting inland rail even though it doesn’t directly affect Dubbo City.

Fletchers have started their own transport terminal and bought three trains and thirty carriages and approval to expand to grain but movements will increase significantly. They are the biggest employer in Dubbo with about 500 jobs.

Parkes - K McGrath

Made comment on the Melbourne Rail Alliance and the involvement of Warren Truss Deputy Prime Minister and Maritime Services have nominated Inland Rail for an Award.

M Simpson – Grenfell

He pointed out that grain from Greenthorpe that is on the old Cowra line is trucked. There is a lot of discussion about booking rail and the red tape involved to get freight on lines. Graincorp is not ‘in the picture’ about the issue.

Grain is moved by road due to lack of rail infrastructure.

Wollondilly - J Hannan.

Outer city orbital is critical for the Dept of Planning regarding road through there area and impact on new development and particularly the proposed second airport and the city of Wilton and the consideration for passenger corridor.

Judith also commented on the impact of development on food production and a number of Councils have joined together to express their concerns on the impact for the region.

Consultation is not happening as it needs to be from all levels of government regarding the proposed second airport and is still a major concern.

M Simpson asked about the cost and it was said that between $12 to $60 million.

Dom Figliomeni - Ports NSW

He said councils needed to keep an eye on developments which could potentially arise from the China Free Trade Agreement that includes livestock.

He said that the Quattro Rail development is shipping grain to Port Kembla that was going to Victoria. Facilities should be ready in the near future.

Fuel imports are also to start at Port Kembla in coming months. A thirty year plan has been put on the Ports website.

John Faulks - Lachlan Valley Rail

Lachlan Valley Railways has been operating picnic trains to Kiama but is restricted by the turntable at Bomaderry being out of service and the ongoing lack of access to Cowra.

John said he met and spoke with the federal member for that area and she has asked for further information regarding the issues.

He asked about a letter being sent to Garth Ward to the state member for Kiama. He asked that we invite the federal member to the next meeting.

He said that the picnic trains appear to be proving very popular.

GENERAL BUSINESS:

That we write to Warren Truss thanking him for the release of the Implementation Group Report and ARTC business case communique from Parkes Shire Council that Lachlan Regional Transport is looking forward to a modern high standard rail network that gets us well into the future. It was moved J Faulks seconded K McGrath. CARRIED.

Judith commented on council amalgamations and council staff which is a big issue and the fact it distracts from the real business of councils.

Bill West made comment but said we need to wait on the final report.

Phil Laird moved that we write expressing our concerns regarding the impact some proposals are having on rural and regional NSW and the proposed amalgamations. It was seconded M Simpson. CARRIED.

The next meeting is scheduled for Cowra on February 6th 2016 in Cowra.

Judith thanked everyone for their attendance and invited all to stay for lunch and look around the rail museum.

The meeting closed at 11:45am 

CHAIRPERSON:……………………………………….