Thomas George (local member for Lismore) and Geoff Provest (Tweed) have started a petition that they would like to be sent back to Thomas’ office by 15th September. They are asking that the Federal Government support the project by providing matching funding to the States $6.5M. This doesn’t give us much time, so we need everyone on board again to help with obtaining signatures. The petition must be filled in clearly with all details, if it is to presented to parliament. You can find the petition on the block below. Please download and print and get as many people as you can!
The petition is also being circulated through both MPs offices with the support of Tweed Shire Council and the Northern Rivers Rail Trail group.
It can be signed at Geoff Provest’s office at 103 Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads South, and Thomas George’s office at 55 Carrington Street, Lismore. You can also find it at Sunrise Cycles in Byron, Harris Cycles in Lismore and Bangalow News agency.
Casino to Eltham Business Planning underway
NRRT, together with Richmond Valley and Lismore Councils, submitted an expression of interest for State Government funding for the Casino-Eltham section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail. A response from the State was scheduled for July but so far NRRT and the councils have not been informed of the outcome. In spite of this hold-up, we are moving ahead with preparation for the detailed business case for this section.
The business case will be needed regardless of the outcome of this current submission. We are targeting December 2017 for completion of the business case. This will put us in a good position to make strong submissions for State and Federal Government funding in 2018.
NRRT members met with representatives from Richmond Valley and Lismore Councils this week to work with them on the Casino-Eltham business case development. So work has already started thanks to the generous donations from the crowd funding.
NRRT are now in contact with various people to get aspects of the business case underway. This includes environmental and heritage consultants and a number of engineers who have approached us to either volunteer their time or work with us at a reduced cost. We are also in touch with submission writers to access their expertise to ensure the business case is as good as it can be.
We have already collated an asset register for the corridor from previously available information. Over the next two months, we will be very busy producing the necessary information for the business case:
- Developing a preliminary project management plan with Lismore Council to ensure we retain access to the funding set aside by Lismore and Richmond Valley councils for the business case;
- Engineers will be undertaking fieldwork to update the asset register and provide a more detailed cost estimate;
- Consulting with timber bridge experts to gain a better understanding of the options available for the many timber bridges that are in poor condition
Progress has been a little slow at the start because of the delay in State Government response but we expect to be able to report some significant achievements within two months.