Open Letter to:
Mr Bryce Gaudry, Member for Newcastle
Ms Lee Rhiannon MLC
Newcastle Councillors
And all who care about Newcastle

Dear colleagues,

GHD report is about property development
not improvement to Public Transport and public benefit.

Removing a railway is a planning matter and should be exhibited and assessed in a lawful way as required by the EP&A Act.

The likely impacts on Newcastle and the environment would be such that an EIS would be obligatory. I was pleased to see Peter Newman at last making a clear statement on the importance of the rail in the Herald today. He spoke at a symposium the residents held 15 years ago. I remember showing him over the old Honeysuckle workshops and he was saying then that the rail must stay.

The Metro Strategy is still open for comment and the Costa decision should be seen as a submission to the Metro Strategy not just a Government decision to cut the rail line to Newcastle.

All who have not commented on the strategy should do so immediately. Be warned the Greater Sydney strategy states that the recommendations of the LHTWG will be implemented for the Hunter Region.

Our submission to the Metro Strategy is on our Web at: http://www.geocities.com/parksandplaygrounds/metrostrategy.pdf

Copy it if you like but please get a submission in regarding the LHTWG and rail network. The building of an interchange or other proposed activity closing the line could also provide a clear trigger for an EIS.

The letter below was sent to the Newcastle Herald from Parks and Playgrounds Movement.

The Herald
Newcastle

Dear Sir,

EIS needed to justify removal of Newcastle from CityRail

Sadly people of NSW have again been given no option other than to say no to the proposal to cut the railway to Newcastle at Broadmeadow.

The Costa Working Group made up of members of the Board of the Honeysuckle Development Corporation who made the recommendation can only give tainted recommendations.

A government with an eye to the future cannot allow the destruction of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of public transport infrastructure with no nett gain for public transport.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is desperately needed before this matter is allowed to proceed further or the proposition is put before the NSW Cabinet.

The Hon Michael Costa cannot justify the removal of Newcastle from the CityRail network until the impacts and viable alternatives have been assessed in a lawful open and transparent process.

Yours Sincerely,

Doug Lithgow
Freeman of the City of Newcastle
President Parks and Playgrounds Movement
http://www.geocities.com/parksandplaygrounds/


Sincerely,

Doug Lithgow,

Freeman of the City of Newcastle
President: Parks and Playgrounds Movement Inc.