Lord Mayor Cr John Tate should take up the vision of former Lord Mayor Joy Cummings for the Foreshore.

“It would be great if Newcastle’s Lord Mayor Cr John Tate would take up the vision of former Lord Mayor Joy Cummings for the Harbour Foreshore and Landscaped Rail corridor”, Mr Lithgow President Parks and Playgrounds Movement said in response to Cr. Tate’s “Open Plan” statement: The Herald front page 27/1/04.

(Unfortunately the landscaped rail corridor part of the Harbour Foreshore Scheme was not implemented)

The 1981 winning design for the Newcastle Foreshore incorporated a scenic rail corridor and the historic values of the Newcastle old town, the Newcastle Railway Station and the harbour. (Copy Area 1 Enclosed)

The rail is an important regional passenger transport facility giving efficient and comfortable access to Newcastle from Maitland and the Valley and from Sydney and the Central Coast it should not be confused with an urban bus network.

Newcastle is the second city of NSW and the Newcastle to Maitland railway was the second passenger rail service in Australia 1857.

We need to dismiss proposals for underground railways, monorails, light-rail, bus-ways and interchanges as impractical and get back to the 1981 Foreshore scheme. The old Darks Ice-Works siding should be removed for park and landscaping like you find at Wahroonga on the north shore Line in Sydney and unused trains should not be stabled in the corridor.

Two recent views of Wahroonga Train Station

In Newcastle’s 200th anniversary year we could do well to promote the positive and the achievable vision of late Joy Cummings and her 1981 foreshore scheme.