State Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp has once again called on the Baird Government to change the proposed light rail route.
It comes as a national engineering lobby group weighs in on the debate, calling for the project to follow the existing corridor.
You can read the full statement from Transport for NSW Newcastle Coordinator General, Anna Zycki, here:
The NSW Government announced the preferred light rail route in Newcastle in 2014, following extensive consultation with residents, customers, community groups and other stakeholders about the options.
The route selected strikes the best balance between providing a quality transport outcome and enabling the city to be revitalised and reconnected to its waterfront.
We welcome the community’s latest comments about the project’s Review of Environmental Factors report, which sets out the impacts of light rail during construction and operation.
The extended consultation period for the REF report has closed.
We will now consider the issues that the community has raised and publish these in a Submissions Report along with our response to each, before the project’s final design is completed.
We remain committed to developing options for replacing parking spaces removed to accommodate this modern public transport system, and to improving Hunter Street.
We are in discussions with Newcastle City Council about how to get this important work done and about a package of road improvements to be delivered that will ensure city traffic flows smoothly.
Newcastle be very cautious about a light rail delivered by Mike Baird and Andrew Constance and Altrac Consortium
-No detailed tree plan submitted with approval- community bit by bit learns that 1000 trees including historic 150 yr old trees to be felled
-Cost blow out from 1.6 billion to 2.1 billion
-Transport capacity will be slashed bc of rail
-Taking of public parks
-Re zoning from 4 to 20 storey