BY JACQUELYN RICHARDS
A proposal to build a new seven-storey car park in Newcastle West could threaten future light rail route preparations.
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp was a strong advocate for preserving the corridor on Tighe Street whilst in opposition and previously hoisted criticism at the former government for their inaction on the issue.
However, following a recent court appeal related to the proposed car park, the MP's promises have been brought into question.
Mr Crakanthorp agrees the car park plan does appear to go over one of the future light rail routes.
In response to the concern, he assures the light rail extension and preserving the corridor are still his priority which he said is why he requested a urgent briefing on the issue.
"As soon as I was alerted to this yesterday, I requested a brief with the Minister," Mr Crakanthorp said.
"What we need is certainty about what our light rail system will look like in the future and this is part of it."
"I've always advocated very strongly to get light rail routes out of the interchange so we can one day look to expand the light rail."
"We need routes out of the interchange and over to Broadmeadow or Hunter Park, that's the priority," he said.
Mr Crakanthorp has been critical of the former government's efforts and says a number of unresolved problems are to blame for the delays.
"The other government's done very little if nothing when they were in," he said.
"It's clear that as a new government, we've inherited a lot of unresolved problems and this is one of them."
The timing on when the light rail extension will come into effect is still unclear.
"We need to clarify exactly what's been spent and what needs to be done to get the job finished," Mr Crakanthorp said.
