Inland Rail - Narrabri to North Star Phase 1

The Croppa Creek Bowling Club is situated approx 100 meters from the rail line and approx 150 meters from the nearest railway crossing. The club is an important asset to the local community and very popular meeting place. The constant noise of large long trains passing close to the club is likely to have a negative noise impact on the club. This situation needs to be addressed. The grass area on that side of the club is a popular area for our patrons to congregate and the train noise will not be conducive to conversation. Also communication by bowlers at one end of the bowling green when giving instructions to their teammates at the other end of the green, may well go unheard whist a train is passing by. Noise here would be an issue. Another issue that we have is that we have a 9 hole golf course and the 9th fairway is bisected by the railway line. Its is a par 3 and the tee off mound is on one side of the railway line with the green being on the other side about a hundred metres away. Options to cover this aspect will need to be dealt with.

Railway Line through Croppa Creek NSW - Baroma Downs Pastoral Co is interested in purchasing old railway line steel that will be pulled up from Inland Rail in local area.

I am making this submission on behalf of my wife & myself as we have a number of concerns & reservations about this project. These are as follows;

1. NOISE POLLUTION: We are greatly concerned about the additional noise that will be generated by up to 15 1.8Klm long trains a day passing through the town. Our house is on the corner of Warialda St. & Thompsons Ave. As Thompsons Ave tends to act like a funnel, we are subjected to virtually as much noise as people living on Gosport St. However, when the bypass was constructed, we were totally ignored in relation to noise mitigation measures. Therefore, with such a dramatic increase in noise from trains, I would expect to see some substantial noise reduction measures put in place . To this end, I would expect to see a concrete noise wall extending from the Gosport St. entry onto the bypass back towards the Caltex fuel depot thereby creating some measure of noise reduction for Thompsons Ave. As this area was the site of old fuel depots & the land is "contaminated" I see no logical reason why this could not be done.

2. AIR POLLUTION: Being in such close proximity to the rail line, we are also concerned about the increase in air pollution created by the substantial increase of diesel fumes & exhaust particulates coming from the trains engines.

3. TRAFFIC: With the proposed vehicle overpass at Jones Ave. what will be the effects on traffic in surrounding streets? Where will the overpass approach start and what will be the impacts on the businesses in the immediate area i.e. B & W Rural, Grainland, Black Truck & Ag, Dippers Home Timber & Hardware? All these businesses utilise Joyce Ave/Jones Ave/Gosport St intersections. Therefore with an overpass approach in Jones Ave what is the anticipated effects on traffic? Will it push additional traffic (in particular heavy vehicles) into adjoining residential streets/areas, some of which are somewhat narrow, thereby exacerbating the existing noise/dust issues.

4. PROPERTY VALUES: What consideration, if any, has or will be given to the adverse effects on nearby residential property values? People have sizeable amounts of money invested in their homes which would already have been devalued by the bypass. Now they will see a further devaluing of their properties as a result of this. Are homeowners going to be compensated or will it be a case of tough luck for them/us?

Whilst hopeful our submission will be viewed favourably and will meet with success, I hold no illusion in this regard and despair that it will be the bypass all over again. To put it bluntly, it will assuredly be a case of mind over matter i.e. the bureacrats/politicians don't mind and the affected residents don't matter. Although, one can hope that this will not be the case on this occasion - time will tell.

To whom it concerns,
I as a local farmer in the North Star district I am very excited for the opportunity's that lie ahead with the inland rail project. This will have massive benefits for the sustainability of our industry. Feeding the world is our job and let's face it everyone needs to eat.
Reducing freight costs for our commodities and increasing jobs for the local districts. We need this to happen and not be pushed under the carpet... Go right ahead and crack on with the job!!

Moree needs another bypass to get the trucks from the Carnarvon - and Gwydir Highways out off residential areas and School zones. In 2005 I suggested to the then Council to try and keep the needed land free from development. The best East-West route goes from the Terry Hie Hie turn off straight SW and crosses the old Inverell rail line. Then it follows the rail line on the southern side west, crosses the Inland Rail and the Newell Highway, passes the Amaroo Tavern and follows the old stock route to join the Gwydir Highway again west of town. About 10km of new road. Sadly Council let the western stock route go to an aboriginal land claim, not earmarking it for a future bypass. This should be reversed, at least for the area the road would need. Building a bypass further south, would make it at least 5-10km longer through more flood prone good agricultural land, an extra distance every truck would have to travel in the future.

With Inland Rail having to put an overpass in for emergency vehicles, it would make more sense to plan to put it where the intersection of the Gwydir Highway and Newell Highway should be, just north of Bullus Drive.This would benefit more people. It would take away traffic from the Alice Street rail and highway crossing. There would be no harvest trucks having to wait for the long trains to pass and blocking the highway and it would give Council an incentive, not to plan for a second rate, more expensive southern bypass. I would stop almost all trucks having to use level crossings in the area.

We farm land on both sides of the proposed 'Murgo Crossing Loop'. We cross the track several times most days with machinery and/or vehicles and during harvest this is accelerated. We need to be reassured that we will have a workable and realistic access to both sides of our farm.

The Inland Rail project is an wonderful Nation building project. I encourage the Government to proceed with the Narrabri to North Star section. It will have enormous benefits for the Moree Region for generations to come. Moree is the perfect spot for a world class intermodal distribution hub. It will take our trucks off the roads to Brisbane port and lower our cost of freight to export grain.

Please see the EPA's submission to this matter.

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Please see attached submission and associated figures and maps for Boolah Partnerships submission on the Inland Rail - Narrabri to North Star EIS

Please find our submission and attachment appended.

Please find our submission attached.

Please find attached Moree Plains Shire Council's submission to the SPIR for the Narrabri to North Star portion of the Inland Rail. Holistically, Council supports the project, however, our submission details concerns with a number of key elements that need to be addressed. Please see the attached documents:
- MPSC Cover Letter
- MPSC SPIR Review
- Attachment B1 - Relocation Planning Report
- Attachment B2 - Impacts on Emergency Responders
- Attachment B3 - Ecological Assessment
- Attachment B4 - Aboriginal Heritage

Please note that Confidential Attachment A has been provided directly to DPIE under separate cover.