Mitchell Shire Council has welcomed the findings of the independent review of Inland Rail led by Dr Kerry Schott AO.
In her report, Dr Schott recommends a staged approach to delivering Inland rail, prioritising its delivery from Beveridge in Victoria to Parkes in New South Wales - increasing resilience and improving supply chain productivity between Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Newcastle, the Illawarra, and Adelaide.
Council has been a strong advocate of Inland Rail, and more specifically the terminal at Beveridge, and recognises it as an essential infrastructure project for the country.
Mitchell has led the advocacy for the Beveridge terminal as a key piece of infrastructure to unlock the potential of the Inland Rail Project and fundamentally transform freight and logistics.
The Report recommends that two new intermodal terminals should be developed concurrently in Melbourne. Beveridge should be available as soon as practical and the second, WIFT at Truganina.
The Report acknowledges Beveridge and Truganina in Victoria, as the preferred locations for open-access intermodal terminals, with Beveridge and Ebenezer, in Queensland, as the endpoints for Inland Rail's double-stacked service.
The Report recommends addressing modifications to limit noise and enable connectivity within our townships during construction and operation.
Mitchell Shire will be one of the most heavily impacted communities along the Inland Rail route with seven of the 12 Tottenham to Albury project sites situated in the shire.
The Inland Rail project is the single largest infrastructure project to ever come through Mitchell Shire.
