The Goondiwindi Council’s proposal would see the rail line head straight north, crossing the river as close as possible to Goondiwindi before joining the Queensland line. Goondiwindi mayor Graeme Scheu said the council’s preferred route would limit the aggregation of properties, and that Goondiwindi would be a major feeder to the Inland Rail.

“(There would be) less inconvenience and impact on the landholders for a start, but also that gives the best possible end result to the end user,” he said.

“We believe that we’ve got a valid case.”

The Inverell Shire Council responded positively to a letter from the Goondiwindi Regional Council requesting support for their proposal, and moved to support any community seeking to be served by the Inland Rail, providing that the integrity of the project was not compromised.

“We think that they should be given an opportunity to advocate their case,” Inverell Council general manager Paul Henry said.

“At this stage there’s four routes. It appears that the Inland Rail Group are narrowing it down to a choice of two, and whether or not the Inland Rail Group agrees to deviate up and take in Goondiwindi, well that’s up to them,” he said.

“But we’re happy to support the principle of any community that is in close proximity to the rail being serviced by the rail route because of the economic benefits that that would bring.”

“I think it’s good all round that all the councils are working together,” Mr Scheu said.

“There’s obviously landholder resistance to the eastern route. We’ve just got to come up with the best solution, and if our solution’s not the best, then we’ll address it.”

Giving primary producers another transport option, Mr Henry said the Inland Rail project was good for inland Australia, regardless of the final route. “It certainly will provide a benefit to our agricultural producers, particularly up in the north.”