The NSW Government is funding a multi-million study looking at extending the Gold Coast light rail network south into the Tweed, and possibly as far as Byron Bay.
But the announcement has been met with skepticism by NSW Labor’s shadow minister for the North Coast Walt Secord, who said few people doubted it would ever happen.
Nevertheless, Tweed MP Geoff Provest said he would meet Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to discuss the link-up but pointed out that interstate negotiations had been ongoing since last year when the Gold Coast City council endorsed plans to take trams to the border.
The Tweed Shire Council has also backed the proposal, with Deputy Mayor Chris Cherry and councillor Warren Polglase telling Gold Coast media that there was strong political support for the light rail to stretch south of the border.
Byron Shire mayor Simon Richardson has also thrown his support behind the idea saying a million visitors could visit Byron without their cars.
Mr Secord said however that he was skeptical.
‘In principle, I welcome the funding of a study on the possibility of extending the Gold Coast light rail project from the Queensland border down to Byron Bay, but it is like all National Party promises,’ Mr Secord said.
‘It is just a promise and very few people believe it will actually happen.
‘I will give Geoff Provest the benefit of the doubt this time … if he gets a light rail track constructed from the Gold Coast down to Byron Bay, I will be the first person to shake his hand and congratulate him.
‘The Nationals and Tweed MP Geoff Provest have a dreadful track record when it actually comes to delivery. They promise big and deliver very little.
‘The North Coast is littered with broken promises. Geoff Provest promised to increase police numbers; upgrade the Tweed Hospital; a high school for Pottsville and a homeless centre for the region – and in all cases, nothing has happened.
‘Deep down in my heart I want to believe Geoff Provest will deliver the promise, but his track record says otherwise.’
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