RELATED: Community split on ‘rail trail’ proposal
GILMORE Progress Association president Jonathan Caffery, Gilmore, is frustrated.
Personally, a wedge of land 450 metres long and from five metres to 10m wide on his 526 hectares will be isolated by the rail trail if it goes ahead.
But what annoys him most is the how the public purse is being allocated.
“This began 13 years ago with a feasibility study, then the cost of the project was $900,000 for a gravel trail with no fence and it was thought not feasible.
“Now the cost is $6 million and there’s going to be a $3 million per annum return, but there’s no business plan.”
He questioned whether $6m would be enough.
“There’s land up there you can’t ride a horse on, land slips have taken out more than half an acre in places, the culverts are non existent and natural regeneration has happened. Break $3 million down and you’ve got a $5000-a-day spend.”
He said there was a “it’s going to go ahead whether you like it or not” attitude prevailing among advocates and such a stance was based on a shaky premise.
“They’re quoting figures from New Zealand and France.”
Mr Caffrey said to gauge community concern, a recent protest had clashed with the Gundagi Show and Tumut Turf Club family race day and still 150 people had mustered. “Every taxpayer’s money is proposed to be invested in this and why should people pay for a minority interest?
“We need a heated swimming pool, we need the hospital fixed – do we need a rail trail?”
He said an investment in something such as the swimming pool meant existing infrastructure would be used for an extra two months a year and improved upon.
“At the moment anyone who needs hydrotherapy in Tumut has to go to Wagga,” he said. Rail Trails Australia secretary Frank Kinnersley said: “There’s an answer for all those concerns”.
“There are 100-plus rail trails already in existence.
“If these concerns were a real problem those rail trails wouldn’t exist.”
Rail Trails for NSW deputy chairman Tim Coen said consultation was key for the success of rail trails.
“Farmers have legitimate concerns and they must be addressed and understood before trail construction begins,” he said. “There are many different solutions and this has been done thousands of times, it’s just new to NSW.”
Riverina Highlands Rail Trails Inc. chairman Owen Fitzgerald said the Tumbarumba to Rosewood trail was the only project of its kind selected as a pilot in NSW.
“We don’t want animosity, we want to appease everyone. The NSW government saw fit to grant this project $5 million. We want to get the job done.”
