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LIFE & STYLE Page 16
INSIDE TE Page 14
MAGIC IN THE AIR
2012 FASHION IN REVIEW
QUENCH YOUR THIRST
LOCAL NEWS
DECEMBER 19 2012 WWW.NEWCASTLEPOST.COM.AU
PROUDLY INDEPENDENT PH: 49 610 310
Railroaded over trains Hunter residents say they’ll fight to save the CBD rail line
HARD LESSONS Two classrooms that were ransacked by vandals at Rutherford Public School recently will be operational by the time school goes back in the new year, according to a spokesman from the Department of Education and Communities. The assurance follows the incident that occurred on Sunday, December 9, which saw two Year 2 classrooms and the canteen vandalised.
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SHOW AND TELL Student takes Paralympian to school PAGE 5
Save Our Rail’s Joan Dawson with Opposition Leader, John Robertson, condemning the State Government’s decision to cut the inner city rail line in Newcastle on Friday
TRICIA MOROSIN
M
any disappointed Hunter residents have vowed to fight the State Government’s decision to rip up Newcastle’s inner city rail line. After months of speculation that a decision was imminent, the Minister for Planning, Brad
Hazzard, announced on Friday that the rail line will be cut at Wickham as part of the State Government’s new Urban Renewal Strategy for Newcastle. Speaking from Newcastle’s Town Hall, Mr Hazzard said the plan would be the “rebirth of Newcastle” and blamed the rail line for holding the city back. “There has been a division down the spine of Newcastle,” Mr Hazzard said.
“What we’re saying is let’s move that transport option to Wickham.” The Government’s plan proposes a new “21st century interchange” be built at Wickham, with increased bus services to get people around town. However, the Minister could not confidently confi rm how long it would take for people travelling from Maitland to Newcastle proper in the new transport arrangement. Continues on page 3.
SWINGING INTO IT Maitland’s best young cricketers given a hand PAGE 24
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