THE lack of northern access to Metford Railway Station was an issue even before it was opened in March 1995.
It was built in the dying days of a Coalition state government led first by Nick Griener and then John Fahey, after lobbying by Peter Blackmore during his 1991-99 stint in state parliament as a Liberal MP for Maitland.
Warabrook station was also added that year, and officially opened in October, under the new Labor government headed by Bob Carr.
Despite this relative bounty of capital works, Mr Blackmore said last night that the decision-makers deemed it too expensive to provide access to Metford station on the northern side, where Timberlane estate was then the only nearby residential subdivision.
The present member for Maitland, Jenny Aitchison, says the rural surrounds north of Metford station today are an increasingly active area for housing developments.
A major arterial thoroughfare, Raymond Terrace Road, runs parallel to that part of the railway line, and no more than 100 metres to its north.
In a timely development, northside landowners David and Roma Boyle are interested in selling at least part of their property to the government for a commuter car-park.
As Ms Aitchison says, it's a "no brainer" for an area where virtually all of the population increase is now north of the rail line.
But in a statement straight out of Yes Minister, the Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Transport, Stephen Bromhead says the land needs to be "identified" by Transport for NSW before anything can happen.
As the MP for Myall Lakes, Mr Bromhed would know that bureaucrats may sometimes need to be prodded to "identify" anything north of the Hawkesbury River.
And in case he's forgotten, his government has an Unsolicited Proposals Process designed precisely to allow people "to approach government with innovative commercial proposals".
It came to prominence with the Barangaroo development, and a government website says it's being used right now to help build "critical supplies" during the COVID-19 crisis.
At the very least, the potential to buy enough land for a commuter carpark next to a railway station in one of the Hunter Region's major growth areas demands investigation.
And before someone else makes the Boyles an offer, and then charges the government a lot more when it realises it wants the site after all.
ISSUE: 39,397.
IN THE NEWS:
- Big stable redevelopment plans for Broadmeadow as NJC sells Cessnock dogs
- Merewether marathon swimmer Craig Clarke passes halfway mark in 36km epic to Newcastle
- Minister says safety blitz finds too many Hunter builders doing wrong thing
- Wheelchair-bound driver guilty over tragic pedestrian crash in Charlestown Square car park
- UoN research team wants public views on energy transition
