hhag newsletter 8b
Download newsletter 8b as a Word document
Since our last newsletter three additional members have joined the HHAG committee elected at the public meeting we held on 26th September. The three new members are Pauline Worthington, Duncan Wass and Trish Ryan, all residents of the orange corridor or thereabouts. One member, Col Mc Donald, has resigned from the committee since our last newsletter. We have expressed our sincere thanks to Col particularly for his work with the RTA geologists regarding the Hartley Vale trough fault and the under valley workings. Since the public meeting the committee has met on two occasions (at the Comet Inn generously facilitated by Kathy and Greg).
Our public meeting on 26th September was called to enable the community to comment on the go forward strategy that the committee had promulgated in newsletters No 6 and No 7. That strategy, essentially to seek a minimum safety upgrade of the road through the valley and redirect the balance of funds earmarked for the project to enhance rail freight capacity or more appropriate road freight routes was considered by the meeting and confirmed.
One of the key benefits of our strategy is that it has virtually the universal support of communities across the Blue Mountains with the Mt Victoria and Blackheath communities actively pursuing that objective. Lower Mountain communities that have been briefed on the strategy also support it. In short they see our valley as the “western bastion” that, if left largely as is, will protect the Blue Mountains from the inroads of ever bigger heavy road freight vehicles. The current manifestation of this strategy in the Mountains is a call to the RTA and government to undertake a safety only upgrade in Hartley and to redirect funds to fix the key safety issues on the Bells Line of Road and to enhance rail capacity.
For our part we have continued to push for reconsideration of the Newnes option (realistically with the emerging focus on fiscal deficits as economic growth recommences this call is likely to fall on deaf ears). We have written to Member for Macquarie Bob Debus and New South Wales Roads Minister David Campbell. Whilst we have requested reconsideration of the Newnes option as a wise spend for the long term we have also outlined the minimal upgrade reallocate funds to the enhance BLOR/rail etc strategy and have sought to meet with them to put this case. Our local member Gerard Martin is endeavouring to facilitate our meeting with Minister Campbell. We also sought a meeting with the Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese at the Community Cabinet meeting held in Bathurst on 9th November. That meeting was refused and resulted in my putting our case, that we intended to present to Minister Albanese, direct to the Prime Minister.
Separately our colleagues from Blackheath and Mt Victoria met with Minister Campbell on 19th October in a meeting facilitated by the Member for the Blue Mountains Phil Koperberg. In that meeting Minister Campbell acknowledged that the government will be watching carefully the current consultation process being undertaken by the RTA, will strongly respect community views, and are not irredeemably committed to the Mt Vic to Lithgow upgrade. This meeting has resulted in huge enthusiasm in the Blue Mountains, as outlined below, supporting the minimal upgrade strategy.
The week ending 23rd October saw a significant development in our battle with the RTA’s issuance of their October 2009 Display of Route Options Brochure. This brochure provided an outline of the routes they proposed after their decision to focus on the orange corridor as announced by the Minister for Roads on 27th August. It also announced a series of meetings to inform the community.
The HHAG committee has taken exception to the period of notice given in respect of these meetings where notices seem to have arrived in letter boxes between 23rd and 27th for a meeting to be held on the 30th. This is a totally inadequate period of notice and we have written to Michael Bushby the Chief Executive of the RTA protesting this inadequacy in the RTA’s community consultation process.
These meetings comprised a feedback meeting to all of those who had participated in the road corridors workshops and then three community briefing sessions, one in Mt Vic and two in Hartley. All meeting were similar in content and gave a bit of insight into the alternate road routes outlined in the 15 page Route Options brochure the RTA distributed. The fact that the RTA didn’t provide any detailed analysis of the reasons for the decision to focus entirely on routes through the orange corridor was a disappointment.
The meetings also sought volunteers to be observers in a “Value Management” workshop to be held on 25/26th November. I will attend this workshop with three other valley/Mt Vic representatives. Whilst my participation is intended to give us a critical insight into this process, it does not constitute an acceptance of the legitimacy of the workshop. Feedback from this workshop process will be provided at a meeting scheduled for 30th November at 6.30 pm at the Hartley School House.
So what now? In our interim newsletter 8 A we asked for your urgent support in submitting one of our standard letters of objection to the RTA. In addition to submissions relating to particular route issues, your submission of that letter will be vitally important to demonstrate the ground swell of opinion that supports the minimal, safety only upgrade for Hartley. If you haven’t done that its not too late, even now. Just post it off direct to the RTA at ;
Roads and Traffic Authority
Reply Paid 334
PARKES NSW 2870
You don’t need a stamp.
At the Rhododendron festival in Blackheath earlier in the month, hundreds signed similar letters in support of our call. Mt Victoria is also promoting the strategy and we will have many of our supporters in the Central West similarly writing letters of support. In the last two weeks our Blue Mountains colleagues, with our support, have conducted an advertising campaign calling for additional public support both in the mountains and in the central west. At the date of this newsletter some 3500 letters had been signed supporting the Blue Mountains wide call for a minimal upgrade. If you haven’t already done so visit www.saveourmountains.org.au and register your protest .
Ramsay Moodie
Chairman 24th November 2009
tel 6355 2259 0412 283800 9983 0134
