PREMIER Mike Baird has rejected calls from new city Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp to put off the truncation of Newcastle’s heavy rail line, with work set to start in about five weeks.
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‘‘Premier will you now finally listen to the community in Newcastle and stop your plans to rip up Newcastle’s rail line on Boxing Day,’’ Mr Crakanthorp asked in Parliament on Tuesday.
But Mr Baird said the government was sticking to its decision to cut the rail line.
‘‘I’ll tell you why, because the people of Newcastle were ignored by [Labor] for so long, there is a strong majority of people who want to see that city renewed and it takes this government to actually deliver for them,’’ Mr Baird said.
He said Labor’s proposal to keep the line and install more level crossings in the city was contradicated by Victoria Labor.
The party in that state was campaigning to get rid of dangerous level crossings in that state, which its leader had described as a ‘‘relic of the past’’.
However, with just over a month until work kicks off, the government still hasn’t unveiled its plans for the rail corridor land as state development authority UrbanGrowth urges it not to rule out all development.
A spokesman for Mr Baird said no decision had been made about the future of the rail corridor and ‘‘this will be subject to consultation with the community’’.
The government is still in discussions with Lake Macquarie independent MP Greg Piper about his bill to prevent significant development on the rail corridor.
Labor has refused to back the bill.
