Brakes Come Off For Track
Newcastle Herald
Friday January 18, 2008
CONSTRUCTION will begin this year on the third stage of the Fernleigh Track, a four-kilometre section from Whitebridge to Redhead, Shortland MP Jill Hall said yesterday.
Ms Hall said the Federal Government would provide $780,000 to allow the $2.4 million project to start.She said contracts were being prepared.Charlestown and Swansea MPs Matthew Morris and Robert Coombs said last night the Roads and Traffic Authority would provide $320,000 for the project.Mr Morris said Lake Macquarie City council should call tenders for the project today.He criticised the council for waiting until Christmas Eve to ask MPs to lobby for the RTA money, which had been the subject of a grant application.Mr Morris said the project should be completed by the end of the year.Lake Macquarie and Newcastle City councils have jointly committed $500,000 and the NSW Department of Planning $787,500 towards the latest stage of the cycleway.The project will add to a 5.5-kilometre section of the track from Adamstown to Whitebridge. Lake Macquarie council is working on a historical study of the track.Council senior landscape architect Lyn Patrick said the former railway line was built in the late 1880s to transport coal and passengers between mines and Newcastle port.Ms Patrick said the council wants former track workers, train staff, mine workers, people who lived near the track or mines and people who commuted on the train line to fill out survey forms. The council plans to display restored artefacts, art and memorabilia at a cultural centre near the track.Survey forms are available at www.lakemac.com.au, council libraries, the council's customer service centre at Speers Point and by phoning 4921 0333.
© 2008 Newcastle Herald