Fair go on roal road haulage bid.
With photo and caption Plea: The coal terminal. Truck plans bring a call for transparency.
The Port Kembla Coal Terminal Major Proposal application currently before the NSW Department of Planning, calling as it does for additional coal haulage on the Mt. Ousley Road, is seriously flawed.
Much more consultation with the community by both PKCT and the Department of Planning is needed. Submissions were invited for just a month, which happened to include the October school holidays and the required Submissions Report greatly played down community concerns.
In addition, this report was quietly placed on a website at the start of the Christmas holiday period. Many people who wrote submissions have not been informed that this report had been released.
When I visited the NSW Dept. of Planning Wollongong office, there was no printed copy of this Report. The process lacks transparency.
Of consultation, PKCT claims that 2400 copies of a community newsletter were distributed in April 2008. I, for one, have not seen this newsletter and I live very close to the corridor.
It is misleading to say that only residents living near the corridor will be affected by this major haulage of the projected 10 million tonnes per annum of coal.
The many people who live in Wollongong and work in or near Campbelltown or Sydney will be affected. So also will people who commute to Wollongong to work, and people travelling between the South Coast and parts of Sydney.
If the proposal is approved and proceeds, it will cause major upheaval on our roads and develop into a nightmare for road user.
The Wran Government in 1979 promised that road haulage of coal would not exceed two million tonnes per annum. When the present coal loader was opened in 1982, Wollongong people were asked to accept four million tonnes but by way of compensation were given a curfew of road haulage of coal to the loader. Now they are being asked to not only have "24/7" coal trucking with no curfew, but a huge increase in coal on road.
In order to get a more transparent assessment process a public enquiry must be held.
Irene Tognetti,
Keiraville
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Senate Inquiry into the investment of Commonwealth and State funds in public passenger transport infrastructure and services
Terms of reference
On 4 December 2008 the Senate referred the following matter to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee for inquiry and report by 18 June 2009:
The investment of Commonwealth and State funds in public passenger transport infrastructure and services, with reference to the August 2005 report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage, Sustainable Cities, and the February 2007 report of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, Australia's future oil supply and alternative transport fuels, including:
an audit of the state of public passenger transport in Australia;
current and historical levels of public investment in private vehicle and public passenger transport services and infrastructure;
an assessment of the benefits of public passenger transport, including integration with bicycle and pedestrian initiatives;
measures by which the Commonwealth Government could facilitate improvement in public passenger transport services and infrastructure;
the role of Commonwealth Government legislation, taxation, subsidies, policies and other mechanisms that either discourage or encourage public passenger transport; and
best practice international examples of public passenger transport services and infrastructure.
The inquiry will be advertised in the Australian on 17 December 2008 and the committee has invited submissions by Friday 27 February 2009. No dates for hearings have been set as yet.
The Secretary
Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
The Committee prefers to receive submissions electronically as an attached document - email: rrat.sen@aph.gov.au
Submissions become Committee documents and are made public only after a decision by the Committee. Once submissions are authorised for publication by the committee, they are posted on the committee's website and become public documents. Please ensure that any submissions or attachments you wish to remain confidential are clearly marked as such and contact the secretariat if you require further advice.
Persons making submissions must not release them without the approval of the Committee. Submissions are covered by parliamentary privilege but the unauthorised release of them is not.
Following consideration of submissions, the Committee is proposing to hold a public hearings. The Committee will consider all submissions and may invite individuals and organisations to give evidence at the public hearings.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to the Parliament House TTY number (02) 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. These tools are available at: http://access.adobe.com/. If you require any special arrangements in order to enable you to participate in a committee inquiry, please contact the committee secretary.
For further information, contact:
Committee Secretary
Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
AustraliaPhone: +61 2 6277 3511
Fax: +61 2 6277 5811
Email: rrat.sen@aph.gov.au
On 4 December 2008 the Senate referred the following matter to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee for inquiry and report by 18 June 2009:
The investment of Commonwealth and State funds in public passenger transport infrastructure and services, with reference to the August 2005 report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage, Sustainable Cities, and the February 2007 report of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, Australia's future oil supply and alternative transport fuels, including:
an audit of the state of public passenger transport in Australia;
current and historical levels of public investment in private vehicle and public passenger transport services and infrastructure;
an assessment of the benefits of public passenger transport, including integration with bicycle and pedestrian initiatives;
measures by which the Commonwealth Government could facilitate improvement in public passenger transport services and infrastructure;
the role of Commonwealth Government legislation, taxation, subsidies, policies and other mechanisms that either discourage or encourage public passenger transport; and
best practice international examples of public passenger transport services and infrastructure.
The inquiry will be advertised in the Australian on 17 December 2008 and the committee has invited submissions by Friday 27 February 2009. No dates for hearings have been set as yet.
The Secretary
Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
The Committee prefers to receive submissions electronically as an attached document - email: rrat.sen@aph.gov.au
Submissions become Committee documents and are made public only after a decision by the Committee. Once submissions are authorised for publication by the committee, they are posted on the committee's website and become public documents. Please ensure that any submissions or attachments you wish to remain confidential are clearly marked as such and contact the secretariat if you require further advice.
Persons making submissions must not release them without the approval of the Committee. Submissions are covered by parliamentary privilege but the unauthorised release of them is not.
Following consideration of submissions, the Committee is proposing to hold a public hearings. The Committee will consider all submissions and may invite individuals and organisations to give evidence at the public hearings.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to the Parliament House TTY number (02) 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. These tools are available at: http://access.adobe.com/. If you require any special arrangements in order to enable you to participate in a committee inquiry, please contact the committee secretary.
For further information, contact:
Committee Secretary
Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
AustraliaPhone: +61 2 6277 3511
Fax: +61 2 6277 5811
Email: rrat.sen@aph.gov.au
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