Chris Dobney
A section of the closed Casino to Murwillumbah railway line in Byron Bay has been covered over with road base by developers of a new shopping mall.
The move has riled supporters of the return of trains to the line, some of whom have contacted Echonetdaily.
Photographs supplied to us by contributor Mary Gardner show a section of the line behind the Mercato development in Jonson Street covered with road base, under which has been placed a geotech-type fabric.
Reader Bonny, from Ocean Shores, wrote ‘Where did the developer get permission or approval for this, or is this an illegal act? Isn’t this public land or at least railway land? How does this impact council’s – or the mayor’s – plan to have a railmotor run between Byron, Billinudgel and Bangalow, and possibly Yelgun for the music festivals? So many questions to be answered, but I am appalled. It is unbelievable.’
Transport for NSW told Echonetdaily in a statement that it had issued a licence to ‘a private party’ in March 2016 ‘to utilise the disused railway corridor for site access, vehicle parking and material storage over a 12-month period.’
‘As part of the licence conditions, the railway corridor must be returned to the original condition once the issued licence expires in March 2017. John Holland Rail will inspect the site to ensure it is returned to original condition,’ the department said.
But Byron Shire Council had a slightly different story, saying it was John Holland Rail, the company tasked with maintaining the rail corridor, not the department that had issued the licence.
Council’s sustainable development manager, Wayne Bertram, told Echonetdaily ‘approval for access and use of the rail corridor was required from the land manager, John Holland Rail Pty Ltd.’
Mr Bertram said he was aware that ‘temporary approval to access and use the rail corridor for a construction staging area has been given by John Holland Rail Pty Ltd.’
‘A traffic management plan for the redevelopment of the Mercato site has been approved which proposes that construction vehicles will access the site via the existing driveway on Jonson Street.
‘A construction certificate for the site has also been issued for the upcoming construction phase,’ Mr Bertram said.
People are requested to be patient and abide by traffic signage and any directions given by traffic control personnel during the upcoming construction phase.
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