Truck noise tirade.

Decades ago the proposal to make Port Kembla an export coal port brought a tirade of opposition from residents who feared noise and congestion from truck movements bringing coal to the coal loader.
In a pacification move, the state government implemented a movement ban. Coal trucks were banished from the regions roads from 6 PM to 7 AM, mainly to mollify the residents of the affluent suburbs surrounding Mount Ousley road and Springhill road.
As a result, the coal loader has never gained full efficiency - and now there are moves to rescind that ban and allow twenty-four hour road and rail movement.
There will be vigorous protests against this move, but many things have changed since the ban was introduced twenty-five years ago.
For a start, noise barriers have been installed on Mount Ousley road and while coal trucks are banned there is almost continuous movement of freight during the prohibited hours by semitrailers carrying other goods.

It must be remembered that Mount Ousley road is the extension of the F-6 motorway - the main connection between Sydney and Wollongong. It is reasonable to expect that if people choose to live in a suburb bordering an expressway then they must expect to put up with a noise factor.
The same applies to those who live next to a rail line - and it is a well known fact that after a while that background noise becomes normal to the resident. They simply fail to hear it because it is always present. In compensation, they tend to turn up the television and speak a trifle louder.

The suggested dumping of night truck movement restrictions will accelerate pressure to complete the Maldon-Dombarton rail link. Without it truck movements on Mount Ousley road must increase sharply once the import car facility is under way and the general container terminal moves to Port Kembla. There seems little gain in maintaining a restriction on coal when all other goods are free to move during this time frame.
Completing this rail link will be the answer to many of Wollongong's transport problems, including getting coal freight off the existing rail line and leading to much needed improvements in commuter traffic.