Mayor of Armidale on ABC New England Northwest Radio -Rail Trail Community Support

Mayor Coupland was interviewed on ABC New England North West Breakfast this morning (29 June) about the community consultation results for the proposed rail trail between Armidale and Ben Lomond. During the interview, he repeated the claim that more than 80% of submissions supported the rail trail. Let's take a closer look at the figures.

According to the consultation summary:

Support from within the Armidale Regional Council area: 396 submissions
Support from outside the LGA: 549 submissions
Support with no address provided: 618 submissions
This gives a total of 1,563 submissions in support, representing approximately 84.5% of the 1,848 submissions received.

However, statistics need to be interpreted carefully. Before accepting the headline figure, there are several important questions that deserve answers:

Why were 618 submissions without an address included, when the General Manager had advised participants to provide both their name and address?

How were submissions that did not express a clear preference either for or against the rail trail treated?

How were conditional submissions assessed? For example, submissions that supported or opposed the proposal only if certain conditions were met.

Why were submissions from outside the Armidale Regional Council area given the same weight as those from local residents and ratepayers? Should a submission from the Gold Coast or Northern Rivers carry the same weight as one from a resident directly affected by the proposal?

The Armidale Regional Council area has a population of around 30,000 people. Does the Council believe that the 494 local submissions (both for and against) are representative of the broader community?

My Change.org petition opposing the removal of the railway line for a rail trail has now attracted more than 5,400 supporters. Shouldn't this also be recognised as evidence of significant community opposition to the proposal?

In my view, the proposed rail trail is not an essential infrastructure project. Before committing further public funds, the Council should carefully consider whether there is broad community support. It has already allocated around $2 million towards preliminary work for a new funding application after the previous  application was unsuccessful.

 Projects of this scale are far more likely to succeed when they have clear and demonstrable community backing.

I was also interviewed by ABC New England North West today about the consultation results and my petition. I was advised that the interview is expected to air during the Breakfast program at approximately 7.35 am on Tuesday, 30 June 2026.

I hope you'll be able to tune in.