A Young councillor has joined Cowra mayor Bill West in expressing his disappointment in the three-month delay on the decision whether or not to revive the Blayney-Demondrille railway line.
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Transport for NSW (TfNSW) recently announced the decision on the rail line will be made another three months after December, taking any progress until after the March state election.
The three-month delay was revealed in a letter to all five councils involved in the rail line revival - Young, Harden, Cowra, Weddin and Blayney - which also announced that a preferred tenderer for the 164 kilometre project had been selected.
A decision on the tender process was originally due in December, after four parties indicated their interest in restoring and reopening the line in October 2013.
Cr Stuart Freudenstein - who’s been heavily advocating for its reopening since 2010 - said he’s extremely disappointed, bewildered and puzzled by the delay.
“I’m extremely disappointed that it’s dragging on like this…I thought the NSW government would be busting to put out some good news on its progress and that they’ve selected a tenderer,” he said.
“It’s a stalling tactic and I’m struggling to see why they want to do that. You would think it would be part of their election campaign.”
Cr Freudenstein had been questioning the delay as much as Cr West, who couldn’t understand why they were holding off when TfNSW already had a preferred tenderer and there was public support for the rail revival from Roads and Ports Minister Duncan Gay.
“We’re seeking an urgent meeting with the minister to express our concerns, this is simply not good enough,” Cr West said.
“The cost of these delays place interested parties in jeopardy and do not show a positive attitude to industry and other potential players.”
He said the mayors of the five councils were very concerned that TfNSW bureaucracy was working against the minister’s desire to open-up regional areas, get freight off roads and generate economic development for local communities.
“If this is another example of policy-makers in Sydney not understanding or caring about the economic development and transport challenges of rural and regional communities, then the Minister is going to hear about it!” Cr West said.
Cr Freudenstein added that “politicians go on about regional projects. Well this is a real regional project…this (the delay) is quite a back flip.”
The Lachlan Regional Transport Committee - who is also passionate about the restoration of the Blayney-Demondrille rail line - will be meeting with members and councils in Sydney this Saturday.
