Narrabri council have formally opposed the route of the inland rail, with one councillor calling it “the right railway in the wrong place”, while other councils along the planned network have raised concerns about the National party’s $14.5bn infrastructure centrepiece.
The complaints come as Labor promises an immediate review of the 1,700km inland rail network.
The project had “gone off the rails” under the Morrison-Joyce government, Catherine King, the shadow minister for infrastructure, told Guardian Australia, adding “Labor will do the hard work of getting this project back on track”.
“We supported the Senate inquiry into inland rail and the report will guide our approach, including reviewing the business case.”
But Labor would not confirm whether it would support an independent review of the Narromine to Narrabri route, citing any review’s need to access details only privy to government.
The Coalition has refused to support recommendation 26 of the Senate inquiry, which calls for an independent comparative review of alternative routes around Narrabri.
Narrabri councillors unanimously passed a motion to write to the Department of Planning and Environment withdrawing their support for the current route.
The motion clarified that “council supports the concept of the inland rail and acknowledges the positive contributions and opportunities it will make to both the Narrabri Shire and the wider Australian community”.
But Rohan Boehm, a councillor, said “it’s the right railway in the wrong place”.
The council’s opposition comes as other council motions have achieved varying success in having their concerns addressed.
The former Goondiwindi regional council mayor Graeme Scheu said in 2019 his council passed a motion to seek clarification regarding the inland rail’s flood modelling, which resulted in the appointment of an independent hydrologist, whose feedback was incorporated to update the flood modelling for the North Star to Border section of the project.
Lawrence Springborg, the current mayor and former leader of the Queensland Nationals/LNP, said the council was able to access the entire modelling, all the assumptions that underpinned it, and the data.
He said it was “a lot more than a lot of other communities have been able to achieve”.
Springborg said with the feedback from independent review, “we’ve got a high level of confidence the impact on Goondiwindi will be negligible, and any issues will be worked out in detailed design”.
Coonamble council in north-west NSW has questioned the route selection, suggesting access should be available on exisiting corridors.
Ahmed Karanouh, a Coonamble councillor, said when he was mayor in 2019, the council asked how the route can be justified economically when it would bypass their town, one of the largest grain-producing areas in the country.
Bill Fisher, another Coonamble councillor, said the Senate inquiry was only one expression of the council’s frustration.
“There was letter after letter after letter in [the] five-year council period term between 2016 and 2021.”
Narrabri council’s motion reaffirmed that the issues, including serious flood concerns raised in the 2021 report, meant the current proposed alignment “does not provide an optimum outcome” for Narrabri.
Boehm said the motion was necessary because the general manager and mayor had expressed council’s support for the current alignment of the inland rail, without consulting the previous council.
On 2 July 2021 a media statement from Ron Campbell, the mayor of Narrabri, said “we recognised the futility of moving the line after a number of meetings in Sydney with Inland Rail and again meetings in Canberra with the federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.”
A spokesperson for ARTC would not confirm whether they would consider an alternate route around Narrabri, but said that the current route had already been carefully considered.
“The Narromine to Narrabri section of Inland Rail has been subject to careful consideration by ARTC with studies undertaken in 2006, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.”
“These studies demonstrated that the selected route in the Narromine to Narrabri Environmental Impact Statement (N2N EIS) provides, on balance, the best engineering solution to mitigate potential environmental, amenity, flood and other risks to the Narrabri community,” the spokesperson said.
“ARTC is continuing to work with the NSW Government to finalise the EIS, including addressing community feedback.”
Craig Davies is the mayor of the town of Narromine, whose residents have also expressed concerns surrounding potential flooding.
Davies says as a council, Narromine is “very cognisant” of the effects of the 1955 flood which “spewed out something 100,000 megalitres per day.”
However he says “I believe as long as Inland Rail stick with their plans and do ensure significant banks of culverts in that stretch of line, then the risk is minimal. And I truly believe that.”
Mark Johnson, the mayor of Moree, told Guardian Australia he was “eternally grateful for Inland Rail passing through our community.”
He said the town has experienced infrastructure development over the past two years and he seen immediate benefits of more people coming to town and utilising local businesses. As an agricultural hub, he expects Moree will continue to see long term benefits thanks to the state-supported Special Activation Precinct.
