25th January 2017
Dear Community Member
Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail: Yelarbon to Gowrie Review Update
I am writingto you as the Chair of the Yelarbon to Gowrie Project Reference Group (PRG). This Group was recently formed at the request of the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the Hon Darren Chester MP. Its purpose is to represent your community in the review of regional alignment options for the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Railway (Inland Rail).
Inland Rail is a proposed 1700 kilometre freight rail connection between Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, which will deliver major benefits for the nation, particularly forSouth East Queensland and the Darling Downs region.
The PRG will assist me in forming a view on the impartiality and transparency of the review process, and on any regional issues requiring unique planning consideration. This will form the basis of my report to Minister Chester, which he has asked to receive by the end of March 2017.
The Yelarbon to Gowrie alignment options review consists of assessing on a “like-for-like” basisfour possible Inland Rail alignments in the Darling Downs. The four alignment options are shown on the map overleaf.
The review is a strategic assessment based on technical, engineering and economic principles, using comparable data for each option.Thereviewwill assist the Australian Government to form a view on where to conduct more detailed, localised planning assessments. Therefore, the map provided here is for discussion purposes only.
In forming the PRG, peak bodies such as farming organisations, chambers of commerce, progress associations and other community organisations were invited to nominate representatives to attend meetings on their behalf.Local councils, State Government Departments, and relevant Federal and State MPs were also invited to attend PRG meetings as observers. The first meeting of the PRG was held in Toowoomba on 14December 2016.
While it’s not possible for everybody in the area to be a member of the PRG, I am committed to engaging with the community beyond the PRG.To this end, a number of broader engagement activities are being planned for early 2017. To register to receive priority notification of these engagement opportunities, I invite you to visit the Inland Rail website at inlandrail.artc.com.au/communities and click the Register button.
It is important to recognise that the Australian Government is yet to make a final decision on the preferred Inland Rail alignment within the study area. When it does, the community will be providedfurther opportunities to comment on, and engage with, the Inland Rail project through the statutory environmental and regulatory planning processes of the Australian and Queensland Governments.
In the meantime, as PRG Chair, I am committed to ensuring the transparency of the current review process and that any unique regional circumstances identified through the PRG are taken into consideration.
Yours faithfully
Bruce Wilson AM
Chair, Yelarbon to Gowrie Project Reference Group
For further information on the Inland Rail programme please visit inlandrail.artc.com.au
20170123 Final Sent letter from Bruce Wilson to Landholders WITH MAP