Minutes of the LRTC Meeting 11 August 2012 at Katoomba
Lachlan Regional Transport Committee Inc meeting held at Katoomba 11th August 2012
President Russell Holden opened the meeting at 10am and welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Apologies: The following apologies were moved and accepted: L Ryan, G Braithwaite, R Sage, P Stendell, M Coulton, P Toole, A Gee, R Staples, K Smith, W West, J Smith, M Dickerson, D Hughes, R Lewis, H Mansfield, M Church, G Butler, S Freudenstein, D Lawrence, E McKenzie
Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting were distributed and one amendment was made which was to include G Standen as an apology for that meeting. Moved Dom Figliomeni and seconded David Hyde. Carried
Business Arising from the Minutes: It was decided that this would be dealt with in General Business.
Secretary's Report: Letters that had been sent and received were tabled. Moved M Simpson, seconded G Standen. Carried
Blue Mountains Mayor Daniel Myles welcomed the members of LRTC to Katoomba and said that he saw the LRTC having an integral role in putting freight back on rail and helping solving traffic problems through the Blue Mountains region. Many accidents had already happened with more likely to occur. He fully supports the LRTC in its endeavours.
Treasurer's Report: Max Duffey presented a written report which is attached. Moved G Bradden seconded G Standen. Carried.
Council Reports:
Young (B Holland)- the roads in Young shire are being damaged by trucks and there is no money to fix them. Some difficult times ahead without more support.
Parkes (J McGill)-Rail forum at Parkes attracted a lot of interested people from along the proposed inland route as well as four parliamentarians. Brisbane seen as the most underused port in Australia; the rail link is now a possibility as there are people interested in tunnelling through the mountains. The Shire will continue to drive the inland rail push. It was disappointing that the forum did not attract a representative from the State Government but there have been further talks since.
Weddin (M Simpson) - trucks in the Shire are off route and overloaded (evidence from the weights and loads group) and the road damage is enormous.
Blayney (G Bradden) - in the same position as Young and Weddin re roads. Milthorpe is thriving but cannot get trains to stop there. Trains are running on the old loop line as the main line has been removed. The new loop is in at Blayney and looks superb.
Cabonne (D Hyde)- acknowledged the work Mo Simpson had done on the Blayney-Demondrille line and gives the Cabonne Shire's backing. RMS proposals for the area are being met with indignation but the race is being lost as council does not have the funds to pay for the road repairs. Trucks are doing the damage as you can see the 'tram tracks' on the roads. It needs to be challenged legally.
Blue Mountains (D Myles) - additional highways in this area are being opened up with new designs being developed. Mt Victoria to Lithgow bypass being looked at by RMS with further information being available on their website.
Central West Transport Forum {G Dunn)-provided a written report and added that he had attended the meeting at Hartley and was disappointed that there were no representatives from LRTC or other shires. Submissions can be made up until 24 Oct if LRTC wish to make one. The state planning authority is falling down on its duty of overseeing the planning.
Response from M Simpson to say that LRTC was not aware of the meeting and the Shires were not told either.
Comment from G Standen: What involvement is there of state and federal members in forums such as this? We need to be able to speak directly with them.
Blue Mountains Transport Forum (P Trevaskis) - there is a review of the Country Link bus operators contracts and the group has real concerns about truck accidents.
Mid West (R Holden) - lack of money for the upgrade of roads that are used by mines is creating big problems; Ulan Rd a real issue; Lue silver mine is possibly wanting to truck ore to Kandos, which is not going to happen from the council perspective, so rail is the other option; water for the mines is another issue. Port Kembla (D Figliomeni) - the Port Corporation Board supports the approach government is taking in regard to leasing Port Kembla port. Port Corporation will receive material from Barangaroo. Environmental checks are in place to minimise the risk of contaminated material being received at Port Kembla. Freight
task in Australia will be double by 2040 and triple by 2050. Consideration needs to be given to using regional rail lines to bypass the congested Sydney rail network: momentum is growing and there will be
$100 million from the sale of Port Kembla. If the 'back door' approach is used, avoiding Sydney, it will allow more and longer trains to be used. LRTC could consider making a submission to Transport for NSW, Rachel Johnson being the responsible Deputy Director-General.
D Figliomeni advised that Port Kembla was to be the next major container port as selected by the NSW government so the Maldon-Dombarton line was even more significant. There is a lot more interest and it is seen as a critical to the Port development and the connectivity with Moorebank requires the Maldon Dombarton line.
D Figliomeni explained that the Tab.moor coal mining has the possibility of tapping into the Maldon
Dombarton line as does the Cockatoo mining activity.
LRTC Sub-Committee Reports and General Comments:
M Simpson reported on the meeting in Orange re the ability to get into medical centres for appointments as there was no coordination of buses, trains, doctors etc. The Transport Minister has been approached and she is interested in what is being proposed and there may be some financial support later on. M Simpson moved that we form a sub-committee to investigate this issue as to how to develop the network needed. Seconded G Standen. Carried
Nominations for the sub-committee were called for and the following people accepted: R Holden, M Sweeney, P Trevaskis, J Frederick-Palmer, G Standen. It was further moved that R Holden be the chair of that committee. (M Simpson and M Duffey.) An amendment was moved so that the chair had the power to add more members as and if required. (J Sweeney and G Standen) . Both motions were carried.
General Business
1. B Holland reminded the members that the Muldon-Dombarton line was promised 30 years ago and we are still waiting.
2. D Figliomeni advised that Port Kembla was to be the next major container port as selected by the NSW
government so the Maldon-Dombarton line was even more significant. There is a lot more interest and it is seen as a critical to the Port development and the connectivity with Moorebank requires the Maldon Dombarton line.
3. LRTC data base - moved I Gray seconded G Standen that the data base of freight, as prepared by N Milliken for LRTC, be developed further. Carried.
4. J McGill advised the meeting that there would be a big grain harvest in areas like Condobolin and that it
cannot all go on trains. There is a need to understand the industry especially as end users do not always have the ability to receive by train eg Manildra. There is a need to see road and rail transport in our regions in an interconnected manner appropriate for each area.
5. D Figliomeni explained that the Tab.moor coal mining has the possibility of tapping into the Maldon
Dombarton line as does the Cockatoo mining activity.
6. A question from the floor as to what constitutes a Class 1 road. Some discussion ensued.
7. Fees for membership of LRTC - M Simpson moved that that the fees stay the same. Seconded M Duffey. Carried
8. LRTC Website - M Simpson reported that the website can be found at www.lrtc.org.au and that all information for the web site will go through M Duffey who will seek approval from the executive committee before it is added to the website. Links will be established for all member councils. There is to be a monthly maintenance fee in operation for 1 to 2 years.
9. Five Councils (Blayney-Demondrille line project) report - (M Simpson) - The councils involved remain very supportive of the LRTC and there has been great discussion with Rachael Johnson's group in Transport for NSW. There have been discussions with potential operators including some from overseas - they have the resources so we are talking with them. There is a MOU with NSW Government, a significant development, and the Five Councils continue to work towards re-opening the railway line.
10. M Sweeney - Representations are being made to government putting the strong case for reinstatement of the passenger train service to Mudgee due to the growth in the area and in light of the recently announced additional service to Bathurst.
Next meeting will be Sat 3 Nov at a venue to be advised. The meeting closed at 12 noon.