Narrow corridor becomes a battlefield over transport needs

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday September 30, 2009

Paul Bibby URBAN AFFAIRS

THE narrow corridor of state-owned land running from the southern suburb of Loftus to inner-city St Peters appears unremarkable at first glance. A strip of wetland and a golf course are the only notable landmarks.But the 20-kilometre stretch has become a battlefield in the debate over whether public money is better spent on building more public transport or extending the road network. For more than 10 years a row has raged over whether the strip should be used to extend the F6 motorway from Wollongong, or for a public transport corridor using light rail. The debate was reignited last night by a meeting of the Independent Public Inquiry into Public Transport."In 2003 [the former roads minister] Carl Scully ... announced it should be used for public transport, not a motorway," the chairwoman of the Sutherland Shire Environment Centre, Jenni Gormley, told the Herald before the meeting."Since then we've had Michael Costa reverse the position and Bob Carr and Morris Iemma dancing around the issue by saying the question of road or rail was 'yet to be determined'."Now [Roads Minister] Michael Daley seems to be suggesting that the road extension is back in favour, even though they don't have any money to build it."Ms Gormley said the strip should be used as part of a light-rail link along Botany Bay to cater to a big and growing local population. "The problem with transport in southern Sydney is that there's really only one rail line ... so a huge part of the region is completely car-dependent."But the plan faces opposition from state and federal members and the NRMA, who argue that extending the F6 would cut the travel time from Wollongong to central Sydney by 15 minutes. The NRMA said research it conducted in 2005 found two-thirds of residents wanted a combination of a motorway and busway.LAST CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAYTHE final public meeting of the independent inquiry into Sydney's long-term transport plan will be held tomorrow at Angel Place in the CBD.The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, will speak at the meeting.