Your say: Inland Rail plans still not on right track

The local community raised a number of issues supporting the need to bypass the central part of Wagga Wagga. The recent response from Inland Rail in relation to local issues raised has FAILED to answer the following queries which I raised:

Report on the Integrity of the current infrastructure - presently trains are restricted to 40km/h over the viaduct and through the centre of the city and they have single containers on board. They state that the trains will travel 80km/h carrying double shipping containers. The double shipping containers will add greater weight to each carriage plus it will change the equilibrium due to height and weight when the train goes around small bends such as at Edward Street overpass. There is no statement about the current state of the infrastructure in place, cost to maintain and most likely to upgrade the current infrastructure. The response report does NOT address these aspects.

Report on the Docker street crossing - with the length of trains up to 1.8km long there will a time disruption to vehicle traffic wanting to access the regional medical and knowledge precinct especially emergency vehicles wanting to access the regional hospital from the southern part of the city and surrounding areas south of the city. Also, the disruption to traffic flow for businesses has not been addressed. NO real response to this major issue.

Raising the height of the Edmonson street bridge by up to 2 metres will greatly increase the risk to traffic flow heading north and pedestrian use at the Edward Street traffic lights at the base of the overpass which is located next to a major primary school. Inland rail response has basically brushed this aside without a real response. They should be reducing the risk NOT increasing the risk and safety of people.

Safety of businesses and residents is paramount - increasing the number of trains up to every 2 hours will increase risk to the city many folds especially if the trains are carrying hazardous materials. If there is a derailment in the centre of the city, the derailment would involve emergency services and most likely cause the evacuation of the city until the environment is safe to return. This situation should NEVER be allowed to happen. A BYPASS around the city for freight trains would ELIMINATE this risk.

Report on a BYPASS as an alternate option - this aspect has been completely IGNORED in the inland rail response report. This aspect was raised at the information stall at the Henty Machinery Field Days in 2022. When I asked the customer relations officer about costing of bypass the officer stated that it had been completed. I then asked for a copy, but nothing was forthcoming because the bypass option was NOT considered.

The Inland Rail authority needs to respond to all concerns of local citizens of our lovely city. We wish to maintain the city in a high standard of liveability and good business opportunities.

Hurrah! For the humble sausage roll.

Last Saturday I attended the Writers at the Woolshed gig at the Playhouse.

At lunch time, there was a table full of homemade sausage rolls just waiting for me to spy them and salivate.

Without hesitation I dived right in and loaded my paper plate with the little beauties.

After choosing the tomato sauce over barbecue, I stepped out in the glorious autumn sunshine and devoured them. The pastry was filo and the filling was proper sausage mince.

Delicious!

But like any addiction there was a price to pay. In the session just after lunch I began to nod off.

Thankfully, Kathryn from our Booranga writers, nudged me awake as she thought it would be embarrassing should I snore. And I did not miss much of the interesting and inspiring writing day's menu.

The moral of this story is - don't stuff your face if you want to stay awake.

The latest mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef corals is confronting news ("Time to face up to the cost of ignoring the great barrier grief", April 10th). When a problem is happening beneath the surface, it can be easier for us to ignore. But ocean warming has far-reaching impacts, from the effects on marine life to how it is affecting our weather patterns. Young people are now faced with the loss of their natural heritage and a safe climate, due to global warming. The approval of new fossil fuel projects must cease for us to have any chance of reversing this trend.

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