By Jeremy Sollars
SOUTHERN Downs Mayor Tracy Dobie is standing firm in the face of the Australian Rail Track Corporation, demanding options to bring the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail line as close as possible to Warwick be fully investigated by the railway giant.
Cr Dobie met on Tuesday with ARTC chief executive officer John Fullerton and other senior ARTC officials in Warwick and said the discussions over inland rail options for Warwick – and better consultation with local communities – were constructive.
The ARTC has come under fire in recent weeks for presenting an inland rail route bypassing Warwick and running through the Millmerran district as a fait accompli, despite other potential southern Queensland routes having been identified and avoiding massive floodplain works such as those which would be required at Millmerran.
The Millmerran route, importantly, does not connect with Toowoomba’s new Wellcamp Airport, which many have criticised as a major deficiency, including Cr Dobie, who labelled the omission as “crazy”.
One of the cheaper and easier route options identified in a 2015 report highlighted last week by State MP Lawrence Springborg involves the line running through Karara and Leyburn.
But calls to bring the line even closer to Warwick have come from local industry leaders and producers and Cr Dobie said she supports such a move.
Speaking with the Free Times a short time after Tuesday’s meeting with the ARTC, Cr Dobie said she had insisted that the option of bringing a “loop” of the line and sidings through the Leslie and Toolburra districts just west of Warwick be put on the table urgently.
The mayor said Mr Fullerton and the other ARTC officers had agreed to investigate and cost out the option “by the end of December”.
When asked if she felt the ARTC was serious about looking into the Warwick option, Cr Dobie’s response was “absolutely”.
“This is about giving local producers – such as grain and livestock – and manufacturers the opportunity to move their products on the inland rail network,” Cr Dobie said.
“There is also potentially a passenger dimension if the line goes through to Wellcamp Airport, which is absolutely essential.
“Council has made it clear (to the ARTC) that we believe the Southern Downs has been left out of consideration for the inland railway and that the consultation of potentially affected communities so far has been inadequate.
“If we are successful in achieving a route which comes close to Warwick there are going to be landholders who will be affected, so the consultation needs to be open and up-front.
“The ARTC have made it clear they want to finalise the route by the end of December and we will be keeping up the pressure for Warwick to be fully considered.”
Cr Dobie conceded a much earlier proposal for the inland rail to come through Warwick itself and east through the range to head into Brisbane from the south was well and truly “off the table”.
“The elevations which would have been required for that would have simply been too difficult from an engineering perspective and too expensive,” she said.
Meanwhile Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio has responded to suggestions that he stands to benefit personally from an inland rail route through Millmerran where he and his family own 1400 hectares of farming property including a quarry.
Cr Antonio told the Free Times his interests were “available for all to see on council’s pecuniary interests register”.
“The Australian Rail Track Corporation have been given a task by the Federal Government to deliver the most efficient route between Melbourne and Brisbane,” Cr Antonio said.
“They are using international expertise in engineering and hydrology to ensure the best possible outcome.”
