A wise decision !

The night ban on coal truck movement through Wollongong has been lifted.

This ban was imposed way back in 1982 and restricted coal movement by road to the period 7 am to 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. The reason was noise mitigation for residents living on Mt Ousley and Springhill roads.

A lot has changed since then. Concrete noise barriers have been installed to shield residential sections of haulage corridors, modern trucks have more efficient exhaust systems - and few would argue against any measure that increases the number of jobs in this region.

Coal trucks are a very expensive item. Operating them 24/7 means getting a better return for the expenditure, and working a truck over three shifts a day opens up a whole new world of employment for more drivers.

At present the coal loading terminal is moving about 5.2 million tonnes of coal a year. Demand is increasing and it will now be able to reach it's design capacity of between 7.2 and 10 million tonnes throughput !

Spreading truck movements over twenty-four hours, seven days a week means diluting truck and car sharing of our roads during morning and afternoon peaks. In particular, night movement will add to safety by moving coal at a time when the roads are at their lowest traffic volume.

Some people will be unhappy about this decision, but most will not notice much change. A very limited number of roads are involved and for many it will simply means seeing fewer coal trucks because at present they are at peak in the times we are usually travelling.

There will also be the usual squawk about global warming and the burning of coal increasing carbon emissions.

The reduction of coal as a fuel will only happen when we either move to another energy medium - or learn how to use it without generating the release of carbon. If Australia ceased to export coal, the slack would be quickly - and happily - taken up by other coal mining countries.

This decision has nothing to do with increasing global warming. It merely makes coal movement by road more efficient and allows Australia to claim it's share of an existing coal market worldwide.

And most importantly - opens up a whole lot more jobs for truck drivers in this job deficient region !