TRANSPORT CORRIDORS STILL AT RISK: RHIANNON
Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says the government’s amendments to its Transport Administration Amendment (Rail Trails) Bill are deficient, enabling the long-term alienation of rail infrastructure for purposes other than a rail trail.
The amended bill is better than the original but still fundamentally flawed because it does not clearly rule out the short or long term lease of a rail corridor for profit, or its use for purposes other than a rail trail,” Ms Rhiannon said.
The government’s road to Damascus conversion to rail trails raises suspicion when you consider its decade long disregard for pedestrians and cyclists and its record of raising cash by leasing or selling off public infrastructure.
If the government really wants a rail trail in a particular region, along a particular line, then it should bring forward a bill strictly limited to this purpose.
The Greens are ready to support a genuine Rail Trail Bill, where it can be proven there is no further use for a rail corridor and the local community is overwhelmingly supportive of the plan.
This amended bill only uses the term ‘rail trail’ in its title. The bill allows the Minister to declare any rail corridor ‘disused’, allowing it to be used for purposes other than a rail trail.
Possibly the biggest loophole lies with the test the Minister must meet before declaring a rail corridor as ‘disused’. The ‘no regular use’ test leaves it open for the government to declare a line as disused even if it has enjoyed only periodic use during a 15-year period.
The Minister could, for example, close down a line used for part of a year for the transport of grain. The closure of such lines is undesirable as the result is more dangerous trucks on country roads.
Under the government’s amended bill a ‘disused’ rail corridor could also be managed by a corporation, not just a local council or community group, as the government publicly claims would be the case.
The Greens and many local communities do not trust that this government, with its track record of neglecting rail, cycle and pedestrian infrastructure, is genuine in its intention to use this legislation solely for rail trails,” Ms Rhiannon said.
