Liverpool Council has upped the fight against the intermodal freight terminal at Moorebank, launching a new community campaign, ‘The Right Move’, to lobby politicians and key decision-makers to locate the facility at the new airport at Badgerys Creek instead.
A document with two easy-to-fill-out letters of opposition for residents to post to NSW Planning and the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss is going out to 183,000 homes across the South West region this week, with Council also continuing to lobby influencers to support Badgerys Creek as the ideal location for the intermodal.
Mayor Ned Mannoun is urging all South West Sydney residents to make their voices heard by getting involved in the campaign and posting the letters by the cut-off date of 8 December, 2014.
“Building the intermodal at Moorebank will affect not only those who live around the site, it will have flow on effects for everyone in the South West, from increased traffic congestion, pollution, and fewer opportunities for future generations to enjoy our beautiful Georges River,” said Mayor Mannoun.
“On the M5, there will be an extra truck movement every 8 seconds, 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, with the impacts of this to be felt from Campbelltown to Botany.
“It is certainly not too late to change the outcome – NSW Planning is accepting submissions from the community about the Moorebank Intermodal Company’s proposal now until December 8 – which is why we need everyone to get involved and to make their opposition felt.
“The main thing we are asking people to do is to fill out and post the reply paid letters that will arrive in your mailbox, which must be done by December 8 to make the cut-off. We’d also love people to visit The Right Move page on Council’s website, and join in the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #therightmove.”
Standing with Liverpool Council and local residents in the campaign to have the intermodal built at Badgerys Creek is Federal Member for Hughes, Craig Kelly and State Member for Menai, Melanie Gibbons.
Mr Kelly said: “With the announcement of Westconnex, the airport at Badgerys Creek, Asciano’s upgrade of their [intermodal] facilities at Chullora, and the significant appreciation of real estate values in Sydney – the business case for an intermodal at Moorebank has collapsed.”
Ms Gibbons said: “We need the Federal Government to withdraw their proposal for the Moorebank site. It’s just not appropriate, especially when there are other better alternatives available. This site would be wasted as an intermodal and would likely bring many negatives and risks to our area. ”
Senate Leader for the Government, Senator Eric Abetz, also indicated his support for Badgerys Creek as the preferred location for the intermodal at a community meeting in Wattle Grove last week.
Mayor Mannoun reiterated that Council wants the intermodal, just not at Moorebank.
“There is no more logical and appropriate site in South West Sydney for a major transport intermodal than the new international airport. Only at Badgerys Creek does it have the potential to be a true intermodal for road, rail and air.
“What we are saying to our politicians and the community is that it is not too late to make the right decision, which is to locate the intermodal at Badgerys Creek where it can generate jobs as well as being the cost effective option with the required infrastructure integrated into the planned road and rail upgrades.”
Visit www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/therightmove to find out how you can get involved in the campaign, and register your opposition to the proposed intermodal at Moorebank. Follow Liverpool City Council on Facebook and on twitter @L_pool_Council , and use the hashtag #therightmove to join the conversation.
Why the intermodal should be located at Badgerys Creek, not Moorebank:
· It will be strategically located where the $3.5 billion of new road and rail lines will be built for the new airport
· Is next to industrial areas and freight markets in Western Sydney
· Is big enough to handle the number of containers required for a new intermodal – 1.1 million each year and expand further infrastructure
· Is already owned by the Federal Government
· Would save taxpayers’ money as the road and rail upgrades needed at Moorebank would cost more than $750 million
· Would be a true intermodal for road, rail and air
· Will reduce truck traffic, protect air quality and the local environment around the Georges River from permanent degradation, leading to better health outcomes
· The sale of the land at Moorebank could raise more than $482 million* to help fund an intermodal at Badgerys Creek and will house 40,000 people, helping to alleviate Sydney’s housing crisis.
