Yelarbon to Gowrie Project Reference Group Report from the Chair

The Project Reference Group was formed to provide local community input into a like-for-like review of four alignment options for the section of Inland Rail between Yelarbon and Gowrie in Queensland.

Recommendations from the review

As Chair of the Yelarbon to Gowrie Project Reference Group, my recommendations to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the Hon Darren Chester MP, are applicable to any of the four alignments chosen by the Minister to go forward to the detailed design and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) phases.

I recommend Minister Chester:

1. Makes his decision on the preferred Yelarbon to Gowrie Inland Rail alignment as quickly as possible to remove the planning uncertainty from the communities along the alignments that will not be progressed to the detailed design and EIS approvals phases.
2. Releases to the community in the study area my report and, as much as appropriate, other information that formed the basis of his decision.
3. Establishes (in consultation with the community along the preferred alignment) a communitybased forum to provide a means for further community engagement with ARTC during the time between his decision on the preferred alignment and the commencement of the formal EIS process.
4. Requests ARTC, in consultation with the community along the preferred alignment, to continue to optimise the preferred alignment prior to the commencement of the formal EIS process.
5. Requests ARTC to provide to the community along the chosen alignment examples of proposed engineering treatments of key design challenges that are of particular concern to the community.
6. Seeks independent validation of the appropriateness of key engineering treatments developed during the detailed design process so the community can be confident the final design solution represents best practice.
7. Seeks, concurrent to the detailed design phase, further assessment of the potential opportunities Inland Rail would bring to the local community.
8. Sincerely thanks all PRG Members for the substantial time they volunteered and their robust contribution to the PRG process, particularly with respect to their desire to ensure the best possible outcome for their local communities.