news, local-news, NERT, rail trail, Great Northern Rail Line, Adam Marshall, Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party, David Good

Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party Northern Tablelands spokesman David Good has gone on record with his opinion on moves to convert the Great Northern Rail Line to a rail trail. He has called on Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall to “grow a backbone” and actively oppose the proposal, ahead of NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet community consultation meetings in Tenterfield and Guyra next week. (Lismore MP Thomas George escaped Mr Good’s ire, despite the proposed rail closure and trail extending through his electorate to the Queensland border.) “When we have a Federal Government embarking on a new Inland Rail Link we don’t need rail lines closed, we need them kept open and upgraded,” Mr Good said. “Rather than running dead on this issue, Mr Marshall needs to grow a backbone and fight for the community.” Mr Good suggested that if these lines were properly upgraded they could act as a back-up line for the Federal Government’s Inland Rail Link, or even allow the New England region rail access to it. “My concern is that once this rail line is gone, it will be gone forever. “With these rail trails the land will become Crown Land instead of a gazetted rail line, and with new changes to legislation the government can easily pass on this land to the highest bidder. “This is a risk not only for this current Liberal Party and National Party Government, but also if Labor returns to power. “We need more rural infrastructure, not less. This is another failure by the National Party.”

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