Final hurdle

In December 2014, a minority group opposed to change and economic development for Newcastle obtained a court order preventing the NSW Government from removing the ugly, archaic infrastructure which forms a physical barrier in the city centre measuring 2.2km in length.

This barrier limits traffic flows, constrains city-wide pedestrian movements, thwarts urban renewal opportunities and compromises the visual amenity of NSW’s second-largest city.

Government entities have appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, but a decision is yet to be handed down.

So last month, Minister for Transport & Infrastructure, The Hon. Andrew Constance MP, introduced the Transport Administration Amendment (Closure of Railway Line at Newcastle) Bill 2015.

The purpose of the bill is to end the current market uncertainty and ensure the Newcastle Urban Transformation and Transport Program can proceed without delay.

Passage of the bill will enable the removal of extensive ground and overhead infrastructure associated with former heavy rail operations, as well as fencing along the heavy rail corridor which disconnects the city centre from the waterfront.

Despite Labor and The Greens voting against the legislation, it sailed through NSW Parliament’s lower house on 16 September.

Consideration by the upper house has been delayed by several weeks while the Shooters and Fishers Party MPs, who have declared publicly they will support the bill, sought a detailed briefing from the NSW Government to clarify plans for Newcastle’s light rail system.

For the bill to become law, the government needs the votes of the Shooters and Fishers Party MPs or those of the two Christian Democrats MPs, who say that they will oppose the bill.

Unfortunately, that political dynamic presents a real risk to the government’s agenda of removing the heavy rail infrastructure to maximise accessibility and convenience of public transport to and within the city centre. That would risk Newcastle’s ability to attract the investment and jobs needed to accommodate regional NSW’s fastest growing population and be a hand-brake on the City’s current growth trajectory.

Ahead of the vote, Hunter members of the Property Council have mobilised and written to all cross-bench MLC’s urging them to support the delivery of new, less obtrusive light rail infrastructure in Newcastle’s City Centre to;

• Compliment the real drivers of economic growth and urban renewal
• Guarantee an effective and sustainable public transport solution
• Deliver people to the “front doors” of their final destination
• Support an integrated pedestrian and cyclist network
• Enable more public spaces to be integrated with the built environment
• Attract the investment and jobs needed to accommodate growth
• Create a City Centre that is authentically Novocastrian

The bill is now expected to face the final hurdle in the Legislative Council over the coming weeks, if not days.