WTC was pleased, with 520 other organizations and
people, to sign the following letter that appeared in the Newcastle Herald on
19 December 2014 from citizens of Newcastle, the Hunter and Beyond.
Since then, the Supreme Court of NSW has found that
the NSW Government indeed requires an Act of Parliament to remove the 2.5 km of
track between Wickham and Newcastle.
Your government is about to make a very big mistake!
The decision to cut Newcastle’s intercity rail
services has been made without a viable public transport plan, without due
process and consultation, and without due consideration of Indigenous culture,
relevant evidence, expert opinion and reasonable alternatives, and has
been unduly influenced by vested interests.
Please don’t impose this ill-conceived and expensive
mistake on our city.
Please consider the needs of the many thousands of
people, including families, school children, TAFE and university students,
people with disabilities, older people, shoppers, workers, tourists, surfers,
fishers, beach-goers, and the many other rail users, who rely on this fast, reliable
and seamless service to access the Newcastle CBD and our harbour Foreshore and
beaches.
Please listen to the ordinary residents and community
groups whose modest donations have funded this letter, and who are proud to
openly declare their support for retaining our rail services through to
Newcastle Station.
Please heed the recent call by Newcastle Council to
stop the plans for cutting the rail line, and to work collaboratively in an
open and transparent manner with the Newcastle community to find more effective
ways of using the funding from the Port proceeds to improve our public
transport services and revitalise our city.
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