Important advice from TFNSW and my Petition opposing the rail trail to Minister/s

Dear all,

In light of the advice I received yesterday from Transport for NSW, an important point has become much cleare.  If the ARC rail trail proposal ultimately proceeds to the removal of railway tracks and other rail infrastructure between Armidale and Ben Lomond, this would require a Regulation under the Transport Administration Act.

According to the advice from TfNSW, removal of the railway infrastructure would constitute closure of the railway line for the purposes of section 99A.

This is precisely what we have been trying to prevent thus far.

 The TfNSW advice confirms that, under the present arrangements, rail infrastructure can be removed for a rail trail following the required approvals and the making of a Regulation.

Once the tracks and associated railway infrastructure are removed, reinstating train services in the future would become considerably more difficult and expensive. This needs to be kept in mind when rail trail proponents argue that the corridor could simply be returned to railway use sometime in the future.

We therefore need to intensify our efforts to scrutinise the Council's proposal and the documentation supporting it. Relevant documents are publicly available in Armidale Council's Have your Say section. We can send submissions until October 27th.  Early next month, We need to identify weaknesses, omissions and questionable assumptions and make well-supported submissions to Minister Tara Moriarty and the relevant NSW Government section responsible for assessing the proposal.

I am also asking rail supporters to support the petitions I have prepared for residents and ratepayers in the ARC, Glen Innes Severn and Tenterfield LGAs, as well as a separate petition for supporters living outside these council areas.   IF ANYONE CAN HELP PLEASE CONTACT ME.

Email: siri.gamage1951@gmail.com

If we can demonstrate that a substantial number of residents and ratepayers oppose removing the railway infrastructure for a rail trail, this will strengthen the case for preserving the line for possible future passenger and freight rail services.

Link to My paper petition(it is different from the petition in change.org): 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Eba62iRkuL8rmyWBaW7COKe8P-s5OH4z/edit?usp=sharing