Resignation sparks fears for Inland Rail committee

A third resignation from an Inland Rail community committee has prompted residents’ fears they were being railroaded after a committee meeting in which doors to a hall were locked.

Houses along the track where residents say they are concerned about noise, and dust and air pollution.

A THIRD resignation from an Inland Rail community committee has prompted residents’ fears they were being railroaded.

Dorinda Hall, from Hillcrest, resigned from the Kagaru to Acacia Ridge and Bromelton Community Consultative Committee last month.

Her resignation followed that of Costas Alexandrou, from Peet Flagstone, who resigned at the first meeting in November and another committee member who resigned before attending any meetings.

ARTC COMMITTEE FIRST MEETING

The ARTC said committee members were “being canvassed” on whether they wanted to replace Ms Hall and if they did “a process would be run to find a replacement”.

Residents who wanted to remain anonymous, said they wanted the latest committee vacancy filled by a resident living along the line.

They also said they were concerned that the doors to the Jimboomba Community Hall were bolted and locked during the last committee meeting on August 5.

The committee originally appointed in October.

But ARTC said the front door was bolted at times as it was difficult to keep it shut without the bolt being engaged.

“However, the side doors were not locked at any point, and we had a member of staff located next to the front doors who would have opened them immediately in the event of an incident.

“Anyone who wanted to leave the meeting early was able to do so.

“People were not refused entry until approximately 6.30pm.

“It was clearly advised on the promotional material for the meeting that access would not be permitted after the meeting begins. It is distracting for members and observers alike to have people entering the meeting after it begins.”

Jimboomba Community Hall, where some doors were bolted locked during a committee meeting on August 5.

The 16-member committee was appointed in October with former Scenic Rim mayor John Brent as chairman.

Since its inception, there has been differences between Mr Brent and other committee members, who say the former mayor was not an independent appointment.

Mr Brent took up the position after resigning from the Scenic Rim Consultative Committee which was consulted over the Inland Rail’s Calvert to Kagaru leg of the line.

He has described himself as a long-time advocate of Inland Rail, which he said would unclog roads.

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The Jimboomba meeting included a series of presentations which ran for two hours with half of that time dedicated to air quality monitoring.

Air quality is one of the major areas of concern being flagged by local communities in this section of Inland Rail and most of this presentation was dedicated to questions from observers.

Other presentations on the night included a progress update on environmental investigations and information on how community representatives could request independent technical advice through the committee process.

The committee’s next meeting will be on November 4 at a venue to be determined by the committee.