Member for Parkes Mark Coulton says the government will consider the recommendations made in a Labor-led senate report into the Inland Rail, and respond in "due course".
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The federal project is designed to to improve speeds and tonnage capacity along 1700 kilometres of railway between Brisbane and Melbourne via regional NSW.
However the Senate Regional Affairs and Transport Reference committee released a 211-page report that provided a scathing assessment of the management of the Inland Rail project, in particular failures by the federal government and Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).
Issues raised by the Labor-led senate committee include the business case for the development, failings in community engagement and consultation, route selection issues and flooding and hydrology concerns.
The report detailed concerns raised about the Narromine to Narrabri (N2N) section of rail, which is the project's longest greenfield section, with 306 kilometres of new rail which will travel through Burroway, Curban, Mt Tenandra and Baradine.
Questions have been asked about the rationale and suitability for the proposed alignment through greenfield, rather than using the existing Dubbo-Coonamble rail line.
The report says the ARTC had not conducted a "thorough and detailed review" of this option or the economic benefits for residents in the Coonamble region.
However federal member for Parkes, Mark Coulton said the N2N alignment had been "extensively reviewed" under multi-criteria analysis in 2016-17 to examine several alignments.
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He said these reviews included consultation and community input, and confirmed that the selected N2N greenfield alignment provided the best outcome, in that it was shorter and would allow for a reduced transit time.
"The current N2N alignment delivers the Inland Rail Service Offering of a transit time of less than 24 hours from Melbourne to Brisbane, which is essential to drive the modal shift from road to rail that will help us meet growing volumes," Mr Coulton said.
Another main concern with regard to the N2N's alignment, was the fact it crosses known floodplains. Various stakeholders have questioned the flood modelling used by the ARTC and expressed concern for an increased flooding risk posed by the Inland Rail.
The report highlighted significant shortcomings with the ARTC's lack of "meaningful consultation", in particular by those stakeholders, residents, flood and hydrology experts and landholders who felt the organisation had dismissed local knowledge about floodplains and historical flood conditions.
For this reason, local farmer groups called the government to conduct an independent review of the ARTC's modelling, which was supported by the report.
However Mr Coulton said the project was being designed to identify and mitigate potential impacts on watercourses and accommodate natural flows during flood events.
He said in NSW the flood modelling for Inland Rail was automatically subject to independent review as part of the Environmental Impact Statement process.
"The N2N route has been designed with input from local residents and flood modelling takes account of expertise and personal experience with regard to local flood events," he said.
"This local input has allowed highly qualified flood modellers to design a freight rail line that can withstand the one in 100-year flood events, while minimising impact on traditional water flows."
Landholders of the region also expressed their concerns about the alignment, in particular those subject to land acquisitions. Many stakeholders concerned about the potential dismantling of farmland along the proposed alignment, and a huge sacrifice to businesses.
However Mr Coulton said the government would work with industry, stakeholders, communities to get the nation-building project built.
"As with other greenfield infrastructure projects, the construction of Inland Rail will lead to unavoidable impacts for some property owners, including the acquisition of property," he said.
"Over the years, I have spoken to many impacted landholders and most are now accepting of their individual circumstances as they understand the significance of this project."