Farmers along the Narromine to Narrabri (N2N) corridor of the Inland Rail are concerned about the impact of land acquisition by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).

For Gulargambone farmer Willow (not real name), the Inland Rail project expected to run through her property has "dominated" life for the last few years. 

She doesn't know how much she and her partner may receive by way of financial compensation, although they say the money isn't the issue. Her real concern is for the habitat on her farm and how construction of the rail line will impact them.

The approximate 1700km freight line will run through woodlands of Weeping Myall trees on her land, listed by the Australian Government as endangered since January 2009.

"They're beautiful trees, but they're (the ARTC) not listening," Willow said of her attempts to communicate her concerns.

"They'd have to change where the line was going to be, and it's got to be between Melbourne and Brisbane in 24 hours or else it won't be feasible. That's their attitude.

"Even an environmental issue like that is not important to them."

The N2N section of Inland Rail is currently planned to run east of Gulargambone between the Castlereagh River and the Warrumbungle Mountains. 

ARTC has been contacting local landholders to gain access to land, although the company can 'compulsorily acquire' it if push comes to shove. 

Willow said that's been a source of stress, especially with a revolving door of stakeholder engagement personnel over the years who she's had to explain the same concerns to.

For her, consultation has largely been a box-ticking exercise. 

"In today's world consultation is expected. I mean, it sounds better, doesn't it?

"It's been going on so long and there have been so many changes of staff over that time that it's hard to really develop a relationship with anyone.

"They're a government body. In the long run, what they want will happen," she said, noting other landholders had buckled under the stress from the acquisition process and sold their properties.

Ponding could be an issue

Landowners have consistently raised concerns around potential ponding on the eastern side of the line, which will affect a myriad of ephemeral creeks and swamps that carry water from the Warrumbungles into the Castlereagh River.

One of them is Gulargambone landowner Sandra Winsor who previously owned land close to the planned line. She said the Gilgai biomes between the mountains and the river are integral to local land function. "Hydrology should just not be messed with in this way. That’s why they built the existing line on the western side of the river a century ago. Not one creek enters the river from the west and drainage patterns were not jeopardised. Obviously we had smarter engineers in 1903," Sandra said.

"Failing to mitigate properly below culverts is going to cause ongoing erosion. We only have to look at what happened between Narrabri and Moree for examples of how they can get it so wrong.

"If contouring in spill zones is not right, entire Gilgai systems will miss out on being filled up and the country below just won’t function as it should.

“Inland rail have assessed this route from a desktop review, they do not understand the intricacies of Gilgai systems.”

"They keep saying 'but we're putting culverts in to let the water through,' but that's going to concentrate all of that water but then they don't spread it properly, you only have to look at the plan to see that."

She also fears the route will destroy old Aboriginal walking tracks known as songlines and modified 'scar trees,' including Memsie, Fergusons, Yarrandale and Boxridge roads.

"Thousands of years of history in the form of culturally modified trees and camps, signposts in this country depicting how the land works, how drainage lines work, high ground , where to camp, all of these signposts are there," Sandra said.

"Yet it’s all being ticked off and approved to ‘plough through’ from Google Earth desktop reviews. 

"I honestly don’t know why we are having this conversation when there is an existing corridor. It's economics over environment again."

An impacts assessment on the N2N published in February 2023 by the then NSW Department of Planning and Environment identified 152 Aboriginal heritage sites with "high social significance" throughout the project site. 

It also said it expects impacts to cultural heritage values, with the "potential loss" of heritage sites. 

The report said limited field surveys had been carried out, including desktop surveys, searches on heritage database the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System, consultation with Aboriginal groups and, where possible, site walk-overs. 

In their latest update, the Inland Rail team say they "are working very hard to achieve voluntary agreements negotiated in a fair, transparent and well-informed manner.

"We are committed to ensuring all parties are informed and supported throughout the voluntary acquisition negotiations."

Compensation for land acquisition expenses are governed by the New South Wales Government’s Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991.

*A journalist has reached out to the ARTC for comment but had not yet received a response at the time of publication.