LANDHOLDERS can expect to know by mid-2018 how the controversial inland rail will be constructed across a 16km expanse of the Condamine floodplain.
Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester said inland rail builder Australian Rail Track Corporation would focus on the floodplain as a priority for engineering work.
“The planning for that is underway and ARTC will keep the community informed,” Mr Chester said.
“We expect to have preliminary design outcomes by mid-2018 - ARTC will then seek feedback from landowners and key stakeholders.
“ARTC has agreed to focus their effort on engaging with the community through ongoing public consultation, like the information sessions currently being undertaken along the alignment as well as through community consultative committees.”
We expect to have preliminary design outcomes by mid-2018.
- Darren Chester, Infrastructure Minister
The Condamine floodplain remains a particularly contentious section of the $10 billion 1700km Melboune to Brisbane project with ARTC unable to explain how it can be constructed without significantly impacting on farming systems and infrastructure.
To date it has been suggested the infrastructure will be constructed using a combination of “boxed culverts, pipes and bridges”, leaving farmers questioning how changes to flood flows and potential soil erosion will be realistically managed.
Meanwhile, ARTC said the project would not be limited by existing laws protecting prime agricultural land on the Condamine floodplain because it was not captured by the Regional Planning Interests Act 2014.
ARTC said its obligation was to assess any impacts on agricultural land when preparing the project’s environmental impact statement, a spokesman said.
The statement follows questioning on how the infrastructure could be built on some of Australia’s most productive land by the Member for Condamine, Pat Weir.
QFF president Stuart Armitage said it was in the interests of ARTC to conform to the prime ag land legislation if it was serious about being accepted by community.
