The first stage of the Casino to Murwillumbah railway was opened in 1894 and shortly after the line was extended to Byron Bay and Lismore. The railway was a vital form of transport and carried farm produce, timber, construction materials and passengers as well as holiday makers and surfers in more recent times. Prior to the railway being suspended, the service consisted of multi-carriage XPT that ran once a day in each direction. This did not meet the needs of those who might have used the train, so it was poorly patronized.
In 2004, without any warning or a public meeting, the government suspended the service. I think that the community had a right to be advised before the closure took place thus enabling it to suggest alternatives. One of these could have been to test the demand for the railway to be kept operational by running a pair of single or two carriage trains. This type of service might have been popular with residents and visitors. Unfortunately, it was not put to the test. It should be noted that these small trains are now in common use on branch lines in the UK.
The State government commissioned a consultant to carry out a study which included the costs that would have been incurred before the railway could reopen. When the rail service was suspended one must assume that the track and bridges were safe to use at least in the short term. In addition, the consultant’s report grossly inflated the cost, so I think it is fair to assume that government did not want the service ever to be reopened for some undisclosed reason.
A private enterprise group is trying to raise funds so that a solar train that currently operates from Byron to Sunrise, a suburb of Bryon Bay, can be extended to Mullumbimby.
In contrast with the decision to close a railway which was considered an important component of public transport In the Northern Rivers, State Government decided to construct a high-level bridge on the Pacific Highway at Harwood. This bridge is 1.5km long, has a minimum clearance for boat traffic 30m and cost $250 million. If the clearance had been reduced to, say, 10m, the length and cost of the bridge would have been substantially less. This comparison is provided to illustrate that State government generously funds some infrastructure projects while being very cost conscious with others such as the Casino to Murwillumbah railway. There seems no logic to its decision-making processes. In order to support democratic processes, government and/or council needs to consult the community at the start of the planning process of a project and then at key stages during the design. This would avoid situations arising such as the decision to construct a housing development at 57 Station Street and to only involve the community when the design work was all but completed. If the development does not proceed any further, and the community has raised compelling reasons why it should not go ahead, council has added unnecessary costs to be borne by ratepayers of Byron Shire.
In summary, if the NSW government had involved the community in its decision making process we might still have our railway. In addition, council would not have wasted limited rates on a development at 57 Station Street Mullumbimby which should definitely not proceed. I am sure that there are many other projects where inadequate community consultation has occurred.
Chris Abraham, Mullumbimby
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