Farmers, residents and even the state's transport service have registered their opposition to plans for the longest section of the enormous Inland Rail Project.
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Others, including Narrabri Shire Council, warned of flooding risks to farms, or even the town of Narrabri itself.
Nearly three-quarters of 86 public submissions opposed the project, concerned it would threaten home valuations and risk ecological damage.
A development application and environmental impact statement for the 306-kilometre Narromine to Narrabri leg was put to public submission by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) before Christmas. The project is set to run largely through agricultural land - but also the ecologically-significant Pilliga forest.
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Narrabri council, which did not take a position in favour or against the project, criticised it's flood modelling.
"The model does not appear to include the impact of the rail on Mulgate Creek flooding of properties," the council said in it's submission.
"The detrimental flooding impact on Narrabri Shire properties is not acceptable to council."
Transport for NSW flatly opposed the project, complaining that the proposal includes six crossings of roads which would cause a risk of car accidents. The service also warned project modelling had been done for 1,800-metre trains, but the project could one day carry freight trains double that length.
Residents were equally critical.
Narrabri farmer Paul Dunne said the proposed freight corridor would send trains along a line just a few hundred metres from his house.
His house is just 70m from the Namoi River. Mr Dunne said he is concerned the new railway line would affect the region's hydrology to inundate his home and the town of Narrabri in a flood event.
"I am horrified at the prospect of a total intrusion on my lifestyle with frequent noise, vibration and scenic obstructions," he said.
"All my hopes and dreams have all been shattered, they are all a fanciful notion if this becomes a reality."
Curbin resident Noeline Lummis told the DPIE her house had been unsaleable for 10 years as a result of the project, forcing the retirement-age farmer to continue working. But she's also been unable to receive a pension because she owns her property.
"We have attended so many presentations I've lost count, mostly telling you the same thing. And when you ask questions, you are told that they will get back to you - which never happened," she said.
Coonabarabran resident Rosemary Vass complained the railway would bisect the Pilliga Forest, which is just a handful of kilometres north of her home.
"The integrity of the Pilliga is being destroyed in a 'death by a thousand cuts' as the cumulative impacts pile up year on year," she said.
"With such a large section of the unfenced rail line cutting directly across the Pilliga and a high frequency of proposed rail traffic, there will undoubtedly be many road kills of fauna."
She said the railway line should be built on existing easements to the west and north of the forest instead.
Narromine Wiradjuri and the Wurundjeri woman Taje Fowler said the project will destroy culturally significant plants like lilies, orchids and other herbs, and the project's EIS does not plan to restore them.
Just five residents wrote in support of the scheme as designed.
Narrabri resident Terry Francis backs the project, but said the one-in-a-century project should be used to shift Narrabri's shunting and train adjustment yards "well out of town".
Peter Shepherdson, also from Narrabri, said the project would mean a boost to the community and would create jobs, but at a substantial personal cost to him.
"The problem for us is that we will lose our property and our two homes. The closest house to the rail corridor is only 20m," he said.
"Our lifestyle and health will be dramatically impacted."
NSW Farmers and the Country Women's Association of Australia also objected. Both organisations have repeatedly threatened legal action over hydrology mapping for the large section of rail line.
The EIS forecasts that the new rail line will indeed affect the course of floodwaters, though not very much. The assessment estimates a total of 22 sensitive buildings in Narrabri and Narromine - homes, educational, health or community facilities or businesses - would flood an additional 10 to 100mm during a flood. All but one of them already flood.
Construction is anticipated to start in late 2021, with trains to be operational in 2025.