Councillors agree to support Inland Rail project but oppose current alignment

Narrabri Inland Rail Concerned Residents group is ‘relieved’ Narrabri Shire councillors unanimously passed a motion to write to the Department of Planning and Environment to state Narrabri Shire Council “does not support the current proposed alignment”, but it does favour the idea of the Inland Rail project and the benefits it will bring to the region.

The motion was moved by Cr Greg Lamont and seconded by Cr Rohan Boehm at Tuesday’s ordinary council meeting.

It states council’s acting general manager will write to the Department of Planning and Environment.

The motions include:
a) That council supports the concept of the inland rail and acknowledges the positive contributions and opportunities it will make to both the Narrabri Shire and the wider Australian community.
b) That further to its letter of February 5, 2021, council does not support the current proposed alignment as it does not provide an optimum outcome for the Narrabri Shire.
c) That council reaffirms the issues raised in the report presented at the January 27, 2021, ordinary council meeting on the Inland Rail EIS and adopts the contents of that report. Including flooding, noise and vibration, devaluation of property, impacts on Council infrastructure and visual impacts.
d) That council holds concerns regarding the impact the proposed route will have on future employment land opportunities.
e) That council requests the integration of planning for the Inland Rail route with an examination of works north of Narrabri which may be required to mitigate flooding issues, as a result of natural conditions and previous planning approvals.

Crs Ron Campbell, Rohan Boehm, John Clements, Greg Lamont, Lisa Richardson and Darrell Tiemens voted for the motion.

Cr Cathy Redding stepped out of the meeting while the matter was discussed and voted on because of a pecuniary interest.

The original motion on the business paper regarding a letter to the DPIE about the Inland Rail project had been put forward by Cr Robert Browning, he was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting, so it was moved by Cr Lamont.

Cr Tiemens spoke from the heart about the matter but said the original motion contained some “heated language”, he moved with Cr Clements’ support that it be reworded.

Councillors worked collaboratively and cooperatively to come to an agreement on the new motion before they all voted for it.

“The community is asking us to stand up for them,” said Cr Boehm at one point.

“Whatever we do, we have to maintain our strength and solidarity.”

“I feel relieved that it’s been sorted,” said Narrabri Inland Rail Concerned Residents group member and local engineer Jim Purcell following the vote. Mr Purcell gave a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting to encourage councillors to support the motion.

“There has been confusion but now it’s clear they don’t support the existing Inland Rail alignment.”

In its Environmental Impact Statement submission adopted In January last year, council said the current route proposed for the Inland Rail project did not provide an optimum outcome for Narrabri Shire.

“While it is acknowledged that considerable time and effort has been expended on determining a suitable route it is clear from our flood modelling, road network and future development that the route proposed is not optimised for the local community,” the EIS submission read.

“Furthermore, due to its proposed location, Narrabri will have significant impacts to the extent that several properties will be worse off.”

However, in July 2021, Narrabri Shire Council released a media statement with a series of quotes from mayor Ron Campbell including, “Narrabri Shire Council support the current alignment of the Inland Rail”.

In Tuesday’s ordinary council meeting mayor Ron Campbell said, “that was probably a mistake under the circumstances”.

“I don’t have an issue with moving the alignment, I’ve never had an issue with moving the alignment,” said Cr Campbell.

“I’m here purely and simply to serve the community,” he continued.

Cr Campbell said it was important to understand the context at the time of the statement when he didn’t feel there were lots of complaints in the community, and that Inland Rail and government had said they weren’t going to move the line.

He said the focus at the time was to get a modification of the bridge over the Walgett Branch Line in Narrabri to allow double stacked trains to transition on and off the Inland Rail and to get north/south access.

Mr Purcell is not against the Inland Rail project but has led a public campaign for the route to be changed and moved further west of town.

“Inland Rail has chosen a fundamentally flawed and embarrassingly poor route past Narrabri and it needs to be changed yesterday,” Mr Purcell said on Tuesday.

There were a few community members in the public gallery when he spoke at Tuesday’s council meeting, and they clapped when Mr Purcell finished his presentation.

As well as being an engineer Mr Purcell also serves on the NSC Floodplain Risk Management Committee and has raised concerns about the current proposed alignment including potential flood risks.

Mr Purcell has also expressed his opinion about the benefits, including economic, of an alternative alignment and stated his opposition to the government’s preferred route which would skirt around the western edges of Narrabri, passing over Wee Waa Road.

“The route is literally right up against the downstream side of Narrabri’s floodplain, so anything that you build downstream of a floodplain is going to impact flooding on a town,” said Mr Purcell.

Mr Purcell and the Narrabri Inland Rail Concerned Residents group has been lobbying for an alternate route since 2018.

“This route is quicker to build, faster, flatter, easier and cheaper,” he said.

Mr Purcell has no land or financial interests to gain from the cause but said he has given his time because “as an engineer, I think you have an obligation to help your community”.

“People say why would you take this David and Goliath fight on, but if you take it step by step and share the facts with people and stick to the facts, there’s a good chance you’ll get the results you need.”