Cane train derailment unfounded: Wilmar Sugar
A PROSERPINE man has vowed to blockade the road leading to the Wilmar mill in Proserpine if the plans go ahead to cancel a rail contract between Aurizon and the town's sugar mill.
The man's alarm was sparked by a television news report last night based on a letter delivered to Wilmar employees from Aurizon stating it would not provide rail services to the Proserpine mill beyond December this year.
Neither Aurizon or Wilmar Sugar were used as sources in the broadcast.
Les Moffitt of the Train and Tram Bus Union said yesterday, the termination of the rail contract would force the movement of 2500 B-doubles for six months of the year.
"It's putting a lot of live at risk," he said.
The man who wishes not to be named until the cartage of sugar through the streets is a reality lives on a street adjoining Proserpine's Renwick Rd and understands how such a number of truck movements through the town would affect the population.
"It will stuff Proserpine. Who is going to buy a house with a truck going past every six minutes," he said.
"I will get as many people as I can and blockade them until they use the northern entry."
The man said the 2500 truck movements quoted by Mr Moffitt was were a conservative estimate, noting in his opinion it would be more like 5000 during the crushing season.
"Every six minutes there will be a truck for seven days of the week for five months of the year.
"They will come straight out of the mill and into Hinschen St, then turn left into Renwick Rd past St Catherine's Catholic College before turning right onto the Bruce Hwy," he said.
Wilmar Sugar Australia said it had no intention of moving the transport of its sugar from rail to road.
"Wilmar has been running a tender process for sugar rail freight from 2018 with existing and potential operators," a spokesperson said.
"We hope to make an announcement soon of a new rail contract for raw sugar from 2018."
Member for Dawson George Christensen told 7 News "Aurizon needs to have a good hard look at their pricing structure and get Wilmar and other sugar providers back on the rails".