September 21, 2017
Local farmers are angry and dismayed by the decision, but Wellcamp Airport could be the big winner from Thursday’s announcement about the route for the inland rail line.
Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester announced in Toowoomba the Yelarbon to Gowrie section of the Melbourne to Brisbane rail link would take a route that passes close to Wellcamp.
Airport developer John Wagner told WIN-TV he was delighted with the fact the line would run near the Wellcamp Industrial Estate, and vowed to build a freight facility to take advantage of the project.
The Yelarbon to Gowrie route has angered farmers in the Condamine area who say their properties will be bisected.
The rail line will also cross floodplains in the Millmerran area that may pose an engineering challenge.
Mr Chester said a two-kilometre wide corridor had been identified as the preferred alignment for the Yelarbon to Gowrie link.
This will now have to go through an environmental assessment and a detailed design phase.
He denied there has been insufficient community consultation.
“I certainly stand by the process that’s been undertaken over the past 12 months,” he said.
“Post the election last year, concerns were raised with me directly through the offices of (Member for Maranoa) David Littleproud and (Member for Groom) John McVeigh and residents directly that they didn’t believe there had been a full consideration of all the options that were available to link the Inland Rail project from NSW and then down into Brisbane.
“So we initiated a process where four alignments were considered.
“Bruce Wilson as the chair of the PRG (Project Reference Group) conducted a great deal of formal community consultation, and keep in mind there was a fair degree of informal community consultation as well where people would post messages on social media.
“We certainly looked at the comments they raised, and John McVeigh and David Littleproud were out in the community bringing their concerns directly to me.
“I’m under no illusion about the level of concern amongst some members of the community along the preferred alignment that we’re putting forward today, under no illusion whatsoever, that there are concerns that people quite rightly have and they want answers to questions.
“Until we have a preferred alignment it’s very difficult to provide those answers to the questions they are putting forward.
“The detailed analysis that goes on now as part of the Environment Impact Statement, the detailed design work which occurs now is all about engaging with the local community, getting that local knowledge and using that, combining that with the best available engineering and technical minds in the country to come up with resolutions to the concerns they raise.”
He said a Melbourne to Brisbane rail link was always going to have to cross the Condamine floodplain “in some shape or form”.
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