New Mine Threatens Rail Trail

In early March, South Burnett residents were informed that Moreton Resources plans to use parts of the Rail Trail to carry coal from a new Kingaroy mine to the Port of Brisbane.

A meeting was called by the Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group (KCCG) to discuss the regional impact of Moreton Resources’ proposed coal mine near Goodger, and to alert residents that negative effects from the proposed mine would not be limited to Kingaroy.

The proposed $500 million rail route to connect the mine to the Port of Brisbane would have effects on every town and village between Kingaroy and Kilkivan and would also resume large parts of the recently opened Killkivan to Kingaroy Rail Trail, leaving unaffected only Kingaroy to Crawford section (approx 5 km) and short town sections at Wondai, Murgon, Goomeri where the new line is planned to bypass the CBDs of these towns.

President of KCCG, Gary Tessmann, said the Group’s aim was to provide as much relevant information as possible to people who might be affected by a proposed coal rail line, enabling them to respond to Moreton’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in an informed way when it is released for public comment.

About 75 per cent of the 200-strong audience at a public meeting indicated they were opposed to the idea of the coal mine and railway, with fewer than 10 appearing to remain in favour of a coal mine.

Source
Rail Trail Connections
Rail Trail Australia
Dafyd Martindate (local resident) & Mark Linnett
RTA Queensland Representative

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