False assumptions on Newcastle’s heavy rail line
Last month, the NSW Upper House appointed a Select Committee “to inquire into and report on aspects of the planning process in Newcastle and the broader Hunter region”.
Yet the terms of reference have little to do with the making of strategic decisions on sound urban design. Instead, they are focussed on the specific act of truncating Newcastle’s 160 year old heavy rail service and replacing it with modern light rail infrastructure.
The Property Council has made a submission to the inquiry which questions the assumptions behind its establishment. Namely, that progress of the Newcastle Urban Renewal Strategy (NURS) has been at the behest of developers, to the exclusive benefit of a few and cobbled together in a rush to appease political donors.
Greens’ MLC Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has stated “The plan to cut the Newcastle railway line came out of nowhere.”
In fact, the Newcastle community has been having a conversation about truncation of the heavy rail line for at least 40 years. It has been the subject of more than 30 separate reports and official Government policy for over ten years.
This much was acknowledged by the Greens in their submission to the NURS. In direct contradiction of Dr Faruqi’s statement just weeks later, David Shoebridge wrote that truncation had been “a long standing position of both this and the former Government”. It was also policy of the Government before that, led by Premier Greiner.
The historic difference when the current NSW Government announced the NURS in December 2012 was the commitment of $120 million.
A further $340 million for light rail infrastructure was confirmed with the long term leasing of the Port of Newcastle.
Industry research proves that the NURS, in combination with light rail, will unlock $2.5 billion worth of economic activity. It will transform the city centre and make Newcastle highly competitive in the Asia-Pacific region.
This view is supported by the peak industry body for rail in Australia – the Australasian Railway Association. CEO, Bryan Nye OAM, has commended the NSW Government for investing in a modern public transport network which will create efficiencies for a growing population centre. In March 2014 he described the light rail route as “the ideal way to revitalise Newcastle”.
Critically, it will mean Newcastle’s city centre can accommodate the 6,000 extra residents and 10,000 new workers who will flood the peninsula within 20 years.
But unfortunately, light rail appears to have some fair-weather friends in the NSW Parliament. Or should that be Newcastle?
While there has been enthusiastic support for expanding light rail in Sydney from across the political divide, the same cannot be said of Newcastle. Until recently, that is.
Prior to 2012, light rail had been the preferred solution of three Labor Premiers and successive Transport Ministers including now Opposition Leader John Robertson. But in 2014, the outright hostility from the Opposition and minor parties towards a light rail system for Newcastle’s CBD is palpable.
The fundamentals of the city haven’t changed in that time. The heavy rail line remains a barrier to greater connectivity and liveability.
In the absence of any rational explanation, the basis of such a reversal of policy can only be false assumptions.