Transport for NSW is still going ahead with a plan to send thousands of tonnes of rock to Port Kembla by rail every day.
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Though Illawarra residents are still waiting to find out when the project will begin.
In what has been tagged a “spoil management project”, 9000 tonnes of rock dug up from WestConnex will travel by rail daily to Port Kembla to the BlueScope Commonwealth Rolling Mills (CRM) site on Old Port Road.
The project has been granted planning approval but other approvals are needed before the project can begin, said a Transport for NSW spokesman.
“Transport for NSW is assessing various options around the removal and repurposing of spoil, including sandstone, siltstone and shale by freight to Port Kembla,” the spokesman said.
Nine thousand tonnes of rock dug up from WestConnex will travel by rail daily to Port Kembla.
“If selected, TfNSW would develop detailed plan to minimise noise, traffic, safety and community engagement as part of project approval.”
He declined to state whether the project was expected to start later this year.
A key concern in the Illawarra is the effect the extra freight movements will have on a South Coast rail line that is already at capacity in peak periods.
The project would create six freight movements – three towards Port Kembla and three back to Sydney.
“The freight trains would be scheduled so as to minimise impacts with passenger services,” the Transport for NSW determination report stated.
“TfNSW is working with the freight industry on the options available. Passenger services would be unlikely to experience impacts as a result of this proposal.”
Once delivered to the CRM site at Port Kembla, the spoil will be taken by truck to construction sites in the Illawarra that have a need for uncontaminated fill.
“The Illawarra currently has a number of projects underway which require the import of clean fill,” the determination report stated.
“Spoil would not be transported to the CRM site without a destination to receive it.”
The spoil brought down to Port Kembla would be classified as “virgin excavated natural material”.
“No contamination would be present in the materials transported as part of this proposal,” the determination report stated.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
