The New England Rail Trail was a dominant issue in the lead up to, and during the recent local government election. The whole time the truth that the project had lost its funding was being hidden from voters.
Following Glen Innes Severn Council’s announcement yesterday morning that funding had been cut to their rail trail proposal, Armidale Regional Council were forced into making a statement. Around midday, a hasty statement went up on Council’s website and socials, quoting Mayor Sam Coupland defiantly stating that while they had lost funding from the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) Program, administered by the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), for the controversial project, it wasn’t their fault, and they weren’t worried because they had another grant application pending.
“I am gutted that a grant already awarded on the basis of merit, and backed by the community, has been withdrawn,” Coupland said in the statement.
“What frustrates me the most is the absurd amount of time NEMA consumed stringing ARC along and effectively running ‘down the clock’ on the grant, wasting Council time and ratepayer resources. The lack of urgency makes a mockery of the entire process.”
The lack of urgency in Armidale Regional Council communicating this news arguably makes a mockery of Coupland’s claims.
NEMA have confirmed, twice, that Armidale Regional Council was informed of the withdrawal of grant funding for the rail trail project in August.
Not yesterday, not last week, not ‘recently’, but in August, before the September election where the Rail Trail project was a significant issue.
New England Times has contacted several current and former members of council and some leading candidates in the recent election, and it seems none were aware in August or during the campaign that the NEMA grant had been withdrawn. Some say the claimed new application for $21.1m for federal funding for the project was also hidden from councillors.
Armidale Regional Council General Manager James Roncon was blamed by one of the duly elected members of Council for hiding the loss of the NEMA grant “as a matter of form”, while another accused Roncon and Coupland “and an inside few” of keeping secrets. A third said they were unsurprised, and that they considered it behaviour in line with the history of bullying and intimidating councillors, as was so painfully on display in the explosive recission motion relate to the Rail Trail in May.
Roncon denied it was his decision to withhold the information, and further denied that the loss of funding for the project he and Coupland championed is related to his decision to resign.
Armidale Regional Council and Mayor Sam Coupland were asked why this information was not communicated in a timely manner prior to the election but did not respond prior to publication.
‘Lack of viable progress’
A spokesperson for the Minister for Regional NSW said the $8.72m in funding under the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery fund to Glen Innes Severn Council to deliver a 35.5km New England Rail Trail project was withdrawn as “Council has not delivered on any progress for this project as is required under the arrangements.”
“Critically, the essential funding deed document between the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Glen Innes Severn Council had not been signed by the Council and consequently no payments have been made to Council.
“The Australian and NSW Governments have provided two extensions to the Council to make the project viable, firstly to 30 June 2024 and then to 30 June 2025.”
“Following an extensive review and discussions with Council it has been determined by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development that no viable progress has been made and the Council could not complete the project by 30 June 2025 as is required. Therefore, the offer of funding has been revoked.”
The ‘couldn’t get it done’ message is almost identical to the response from a NEMA spokesperson as to why the grant was withdrawn from Armidale.
“On 11 February 2022, the Armidale Regional Council was awarded $5.41 million for the New England Rail Trail to build 35km of trail from Black Mountain to Ben Lomond, with a total project cost of just under $10 million. This was done through a merit based process as outlined in the BSBR Guidelines.”
“Since this time, NEMA has received a number of project variation requests from the Council.”
“The grant agreement has not been signed due to a number of factors, including the inability of the project to secure relevant approvals and additional funding.”
“In August 2024, NEMA withdraw the offer of funding as the Council could not demonstrate they could deliver substantially the same project by 31 March 2025. NEMA could not be satisfied the project represented value for money because of the substantial difference between the original project and the revised proposal. The Council had still not obtained relevant site specific approvals or additional funding.”
The revised proposal is the 9.8km Armidale to Dumaresq proposal, which was astonishingly different from the 35km Armidale to Ben Lomond proposal that had been put forward in the grant application. The presentation of the ‘mini’ rail trail as being substantially the same was the issue that so fiercely divided Council in April. That meeting voted against the alternative plan for the same reasons NEMA pulled the funding, but that decision was then the subject of the recission motion in May to try and keep the troubled project alive.
ARC follows lack of transparency with false hope
The statement from Armidale Regional Council went on to state that they had submitted other grant applications to complete the 67km Armidale – Ben Lomond Section of the New England Rail Trail to the Federal Government.
“Our $21.1m grant application has progressed to the final stage of the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program and we expect to hear the outcome of this application in coming weeks,” Coupland said in the statement.
However, the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program has, as part of its eligibility criteria, that you must have written permission to use the asset.
NEMA noted that Council’s failure to obtain not obtained relevant site specific approvals was part of their reason to withdraw the grant, so it is extremely unlikely that the required permissions – which requires a ministerial regulation that can take months to process – was secured in the month or so between NEMA’s decision to revoke and an application being made to the RPPP.
Transport for NSW, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) which is administering the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program grant, and Armidale Regional Council, have been asked if permission to use the rail corridor for the rail trail project has been secured.
If not, millions more in potential federal government funding will be lost to the Armidale community by applying again for funding for the deeply divisive project.
Like what you’re reading? Support The New England Times by making a small contribution today and help us keep delivering local news paywall-free. Support now