MEDIA RELEASE: 'South Gippsland Shire Council unanimously buries years of alleged anti-rail rumours by supporting the motion to return rail services to Leongatha' Yesterday’s South Gippsland Shire Council meeting was the first for the year and at times got heated. However, when the time came to the vote on the petition initiated by the South & West Gippsland Transport Group calling on South Gippsland Shire Council to support their campaign to reinstate rail services between Melbourne and Leongatha, the mood was highly positive. Six of the nine councillors spoke with great passion and vindicated that a rail return was inevitable and could achieved within a short to medium term time frame. The main points that were addressed included that a rail return would be an economic stimulator for the South Gippsland economy and would greatly boost agricultural, social equity and tourism prospects in the region. Several of the Councillors who have connections to public and freight transport and community working advocacy based groups all acknowledged that these organisations and municipalities such as Bass Coast, Baw Baw, Cardinia and Casey Shires are well aware of the South & West Gippsland Transport Group’s campaign over the last few years and strongly support our ambitions. When the time for the vote came, the motion was carried unanimously with all nine councillors voting in favour of working towards developing an integrated transport plan and a case to return rail to South Gippsland. It has also come to the attention of the South & West Gippsland Transport Group and South Gippsland Shire Council that VicTrack plan to leave the disused corridor from Cranbourne to Leongatha intact given the growing calls to reopen the line for future commercial rail freight and passenger services. Now that South Gippsland Shire Council has supported this motion, the petition will now be passed onto Public Transport Victoria and consider this into the Regional Network Development Plan for the Gippsland region. The South & West Gippsland Transport Group had been informed recently that Public Transport Victoria were interested in the information gathered from the petition and would use this if yesterday’s motion was carried. The focus for the South & West Gippsland Transport Group in the short term will be to start drafting proposals for the integrated transport plan and will continue to garner support. The direction that the South & West Gippsland Transport Group takes from here will be further outlined after the conclusion of our meeting at Austral Hotel, Korumburra on Tuesday the 8th of March from 7pm to 9pm. The South & West Gippsland Transport Group appreciates everyone's support to date and without your actions we would have never achieved what we did yesterday as we are the first transport advocacy group in South Gippsland to have a Council now working with us to develop a plan to improve public transport services and return rail. Note, the situation that we are in now because of South Gippsland Shire Council's actions never occurred when the state government promised to reopen the Leongatha line during 1999 to 2008. Message sent on behalf of South & West Gippsland Transport Group Media Manager Chris Cantlon “The South & West Gippsland Transport Group aims to improve public transport. It is advocating the return of rail services to Leongatha, to establish a rail loop between Cranbourne and Pakenham and to improve bus services between towns and Melbourne”.