Imagine this...
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I’m not one of the dedicated cyclers in town and I’m not someone who leases the current railway line to graze my sheep. I’m also not a business person who will benefit from having extra visitors to the community, but I am a long time local (I can measure it in generations if you like) and I have a small family. I think I represent a good chunk of the community and I can see the creation of a rail trail as a worthwhile asset to the town.
Imagine this........the rail trail will open up the communities of Black Mountain and Ben Lomond. You and your small family can easily walk, ride, scoot and skate to Black Mountain on a Saturday or Sunday morning. There are no hills on the old railway line, no cars going just that little bit too fast and no trucks rumbling past your 8 year old as you go on your adventure.
You will visit the beautiful railway stations and admire the hard work of the railway workers who cut through the land. There might be an information chart along the way? The family can see livestock and ride past little lambs. You start in Guyra and once the family gets to Black Mountain, maybe the Black Mountain School will have a fundraiser set up..... morning tea or a BBQ lunch for those weary travellers.
A couple of weekends later a Guyra school might have a chance to fundraise and then you can take a day to travel to Ben Lomond to explore their historic township - I’m not really sure why Ben Lomond is historical but if they put on a Ben Lomond day I will definitely ride my bike there to find out! Any community organisation could have a Rail Trail Day - the Guyra Historical Society could set up a tour of the railway Stations. The Mother’s Day Fun Run could turn out to be 35 km long!
Those with young children trying to find somewhere safe to teach their kids how to ride their push bikes will use this track into the future. I remember travelling to Armidale to use their bike track so my kids could safely ride their bikes until they were confident enough to ride on a public road. But where can we ride to? I ride my bike but my kids are too little to come with me. I’ve always been envious of those communities on the coast which are linked by bicycle tracks. There is nowhere safe in Guyra to ride or run without having to be aware of traffic. It’s about time these facilities were made available.
The trains are never coming back..... the infrastructure is too far gone. Everything would need to be replaced anyway. The history of the Great Northern Line will be restored and appreciated by everyone who walks or rides that track...... it’s only the sheep that appreciate the railway line at the moment.
Communities will be explored and the hard work of the historical societies who have put their effort into restoring equipment and railway stations will be finally appreciated as more and more people will access these places. And don’t worry, the rail trail has even considered the Guyra Trike as the track is going around!!!
The proposal identified the leases of the graziers who use this land and bike ramps and gates would be put in place.
I understand the farmers’ reluctance to allow people “on their land” but isn’t it public land?? Isn’t it for the public to use? Wouldn’t the rail trail be more beneficial to the whole community?
If there is a public forum, I will be there with this passion. To see a community asset given back to the community and given new life is exciting. I ask all families to be a part of the forum.
There is also a NERT (New England Rail Trail) Facebook page with all the details for the petition. They need more than 1000 names on the list to show community support so that they can get the funding to start the project.
The NERT committee are members of your community. They are trying to create something great for this town. The alternative is to do nothing, have nothing. - except for the remnants of a disused railway line. We can have better than that, Guyra!!
Delena Tibbs
Guyra
Bring in the new era
How many people use that line now? Zero.
By allowing walkers, riders, scooters, etc to at least access the magnificent areas occupied by the isolated and lonely old northern line, the stories will multiply. People will come, and experience a once great rail adventure in their own minds, on their own legs. In a new way. Even five tourists on that trail will be an increase of more than 100%.
I love Victoria’s rail trails. They’re not just for a weekend stroll. They attract geocachers, horse riders, the Oxfam 100km walk, families, photographers, sportspeople, tourists, locals..... Hell, some people make it their business to travel the length of every rail trail in Australia. It would get them too!
I love the idea.....just in case you didn’t notice, and even though I’m not a Guyra local, I visit regularly, and would do so much more often if there was a rail trail.
I was at the Railway Museum in Armidale just today, and I couldn’t help but think how nice it would have been to continue the story into the future, of a well nurtured rail trail, keeping history alive, allowing travellers a glimpse of country life they don’t get from the highway, at a pace city dwellers dream of. Instead, it stopped at 1973. “The last opportunity to experience that line was in 1973”. Fullstop.
Don’t let it end there. Bring it into a new era!
Kirsti Abbott
Armidale
Think big Guyra
I was home in Guyra recently and read the front page story “Hands off our track”. It was disturbing reading. The rail trail should not run from Black Mountain to Ben Lomond – it should go all the way from Armidale to Tenterfield.
If people have doubts about the merits of this proposal they should go to New Zealand to see the incredible success of the Central Otago Rail Trail – a 150km, walking, cycling and horse riding trail on a disused rail line. For the eight months of the year the trail is open (it snows for four months) more than 12,000 people use it. That’s more than 50 people a day and they are predominately people in their 40s and 50s, who spend money – these are not grey nomads.
It is now the largest non-rural industry in the district and has completely revitalised that region of New Zealand. A 2011 study estimated the rail trail generated $12.3m each year and employed 121 people. Imagine fifty tourists, every single night, staying in the pubs and motels in Guyra and eating at its cafes and restaurants. It would change the whole complexion of the town and it probably makes a store viable in Black Mountain and Ben Lomond.
This is an opportunity this town should seize. Think big.
Greg Bearup
Former Guyra resident
NSW Farmers support
At the October meeting of the Guyra branch of NSW Farmers the New England Rail Trail was a point of discussion. The following motion was passed.
“That the Guyra Branch of NSWF’s conditionally support the Rail Trail proposal conditional on;
1. Neighbours give consent and right of way is maintained to manage farms
2. No cost to ratepayers
3. Interests of leaseholders not compromised.
4. Corridor is available for use as a rail corridor in the future
A letter with the above support was sent to the New England Rail Trail Committee.
All of the concerns that were raised at the NSW Farmers meeting have been acknowledged and addressed by the proponents of the New England Rail Trail.
Jason Siddell
Chairman Guyra Branch NSW Farmers
Why do I support the Rail Trail?
I believe it will bring tourists to our area, letting us give them a unique experience. Tourists have money, and cyclists are generally well mannered people who care for the environment.
What about trains?
I believe that the real era has passed us by. We live in an era where people expect fast delivery to their door. Trains can’t do that in rural areas.
Air travel is also much faster than conventional rail travel, and in Armidale it’s often only $20 dearer to fly to Sydney.
What about grazing along the trail?
I am led to believe that this will remain, as graziers are important in the maintenance of the soil and weed control.
What about people falling off the embankments?
I believe they’re planning to run rails (hehe) along the rail trail to stop that :)
Is it a waste of money?
Maybe. It’s a gamble but based on the Victorian experience it has a good chance of being a net positive.
The line has not been used for over 20 years. Why not try something new and celebrate the history of the line at the same time? What’s the point of having something of nobody gets to see it?
Does it mean there can never be a rail service again?
No. If times change and rail makes a comeback, it’s still their path to reclaim. But it’s been 20+ years and they still haven’t. The existing lines are too badly maintained to carry any decent weight now; and no doubt by the time they want to lay a new line there will be a machine that sets the rails in place.
To see how successful they can be, check them out at http://www.railtrails.org.au/
Michael Kean
Black Mountain
Undecided no longer
I have been undecided about the whole thing ever since people started talking about it, and really leaning towards being against it, because there are other things the community needs, and there’s a few things we don’t.
However since Monday (7/7/14) I have really thought about it because I had someone at my door wanting me to sign a petition against the rail trail. Yesterday (9/7/14) when I was chatting to other locals about it, they said something about their kids having somewhere safe to ride, and at the moment they have their 8yr old trying not to panic when a semi-trailer goes flying past them at 70+ km/hr.
Now that other positive things have been pointed out (it’s not just for the bike riders) I’d be happy for this Rail Trail to go ahead, I think it would be great for the community , it’s something that everyone for all different reasons will benefit from! (If they make the effort!)
Cherie Mulligan
Guyra
On Track
It appears there has been a lot of huffing and puffing over a few old railway tracks.
A lot of steam rising to say leave them alone, they could be useful in the future; whilst on the other side of the lines people peddling stories about the great money spinning benefits for tourism (their’s?) if it becomes a bicycle track. Not to mention whispers of it being the next Mecca McFat Burner.
I mean, let’s get real, no-one in their right mind is going to holiday in Guyra nine months of the year unless they have a great love for tomatoes, and the next three months they’ll all be splashing about in the surf with our beloved Transport Minister.
Listen, let’s get back on track and stop chooing the fat. Some things need to change and some things don’t. And this DON’T.
Marcus Trevitt
Black Mountain
Glen Innes ‘watching’
From someone just “up the line” in Glen Innes, we are watching Guyra’s Rail Trail proposal with interest, and I would like to congratulate the Guyra Argus for covering this issue so well, and for the positive and constructive community discussion that has been generated.
I was also fascinated to read in your pages about the transformation of the Central Otago region of New Zealand thanks to a Rail Trail (‘Go for it Guyra’, July 10).
I last visited that region of NZ in 2000, just before their Rail Trail opened. Back then, many of the little Central Otago towns felt very “closed-in”, and were declining due to a lack of economic diversity and outside interest.
It is wonderful to hear that they are back on their feet thanks to the increased visitors and economic diversity brought in by the Rail Trail. Now I have the excuse I needed to book another holiday over there. I can’t wait to see those same little towns again, with a new lease on life!
Just imagine what could happen to our region if we only have the same courage to stand up and say yes to a great proposal?
Mercurius Goldstein
Glen Innes
The facts about rail trails
It astounds me in a small community such as Guyra, a township so heavily reliant on trade to survive, would even contemplate not pursuing with rigor this opportunity to be one of the first in the state to undertake a rail trail showcasing the New England High Country. We are in drought, local businesses are struggling, shops are closing in the main street.
It appears that the majority of the naysayers, including the “Save the Great Northern Rail Group” are living in the past. I see no evidence that they even know or have even bothered to understand the facts, rather representing views based on personal emotion rather than coming up with sound proposals to help sustain and grow this community.
All of the points raised in the ‘Hands off our track’ July 3, 2014 article are sound, rational questions – but all of them have already been addressed by those 100 communities before us who have embraced this concept.
So I would challenge anyone objecting to the New England Rail Trail initiative to come up with an alternate, sound, proven community proposal that equals or surpasses this initiative to attract tourism dollars into this community, otherwise get on this train!
So for the naysayers and fence sitters in the community - some facts:
• Rail trails are shared paths on disused railway corridors. The ageing tracks and rotting sleepers are removed and replaced with road base or gravel or sometimes a sealed surface. They are re-used for safe walking, cycling and horse riding trails. They remain in public ownership and can be re-utilised for rail should demographic and /or technological progress make that feasible. They preserve corridors for flora and fauna that have existed in most cases for over 100 years.
• There are already over 100 Rail Trails in Australia. But NONE in NSW!
•There have been over 150 councils/communities in Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the NT and NZ who have solved any problems and developed their RT’s with great success. Rail Trails have been developed, built and operated by local communities in conjunction with Local Government.
• NSW is currently handicapped due to unique legislative hurdles which don’t facilitate the development of Rail Trails. The state government is very aware that New South Wales is currently missing out on this growing tourism sector, and there are plans to update this legislation.
• The NSW government has pledged Regional NSW will receive $110 million for a new tourism infrastructure fund for towns to upgrade airports, develop facilities and build “rail trails”.
• NSW has over 1000 kilometres of disused rail lines which present a fantastic opportunity for NSW to develop world class Rail Trails traversing our diverse and spectacular countryside. Rail Trails are a nationally and internationally proven way of generating income and jobs in regional communities.
• There are currently 14 proposed Rail Trails before the government for NSW.
• At the moment there is a cost to the State as these lines and infrastructure have to be maintained.
• The O’Farrell Government estimated the cost of reinstating the 130km Casino to Murwillumbah line at $900 million”. NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said a 130-page report on the cost of reinstating the rail line was conducted by experienced transport project director Tim Poole. That’s more than $6.5 million per kilometre, and not too far off the Armidale to Glenn Innes section of track.
• There are numerous Rail Trail development and administrative models in operation in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada and Europe. These are proven schemes, many in place for decades.
• Victoria’s Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail attracts over 30,000 bike riders per annum.
• Tourists from NSW, other States and from overseas are spending their cash on rail trail visits in all States of Australia including the Northern Territory except NSW, as well as in New Zealand.
• Data collected from the existing 100 rail trails across Australia estimate overnight visitors each spend $250 per day on food, accommodation, and souvenirs, etc.
• A joint tourism venture between Armidale, Uralla, Walcha, Guyra, Inverell, Glen Innes and Tenterfield councils has collaborated to launch a new brand “New England High Country - Experience the Highs” for the region of which the NERT would be closely associated.
Wake up people of Guyra, this is not a flash in the pan idea isolated to this town – it is a proven community based tourism initiative that has been tested 100 times over in Australia alone. Unless you can find $900m to re-instate the lines, and the business case to support it, the trains aren’t coming back.
We are currently competing with at least fourteen other communities for the government’s tourism dollar. We don’t need resistance, we need overwhelming community support. Let’s get the legislation changed, get the funding, and then we can establish the governance and standards to ensure all the communities’ views are represented.
The New England Rail Trail is well positioned to be the first in NSW to establish a Rail Trail – do you want to be responsible for denying this community that opportunity?
Want to know more:
http://www.railtrails.org.au
http://www.railtrailsnsw.com.au
Peter McCook