Article: Collision course: transport boss quits

[ozbob]

From the Sydney Morning Herald click here!

Collision course: transport boss quits

Collision course: transport boss quits

August 4, 2012 Jacob Saulwick
Transport Reporter

THE state's top transport bureaucrat has resigned from the body drawing up a 20-year infrastructure plan for NSW, signalling a big split over the O'Farrell government's agenda.

The split emerges from competing views about the relative importance of public transport or motorway projects to be built in Sydney in the next 20 years.

Les Wielinga, the director-general of Transport for NSW, was brought onto the board of Infrastructure NSW in September to provide a bridge between the transport bureaucracy and the new independent advisory body.

The government confirmed yesterday that Mr Wielinga quit the board of Infrastructure NSW last month but played down the reasons for his resignation. But sources said the departure confirmed and sharpened a tension that had been building since the early days of the government.
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One said Mr Wielinga resigned because Transport for NSW and Infrastructure NSW would soon release competing visions for Sydney and agreeing to both would be a conflict of interest. Another said Mr Wielinga's position had become untenable.

Transport for NSW, under the Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, should release its draft 20-year transport plan this month and a final one in November. Infrastructure NSW, chaired by the former premier, Nick Greiner, will hand the government its 20-year strategy in September.

Mr Wielinga's departure cements expectations that there will be little common ground between the reports. Infrastructure NSW's report is expected to make few recommendations about new public transport projects. Instead it will prioritise the construction of tolled motorways in Sydney. But the Transport for NSW document will emphasise the need for a second rail crossing for Sydney Harbour and commit to building light rail through the CBD and to the eastern suburbs, among other projects.

''They are recommending stuff contrary to the masterplan,'' a source said of Infrastructure NSW.

Mr Wielinga could not ''respond to it and defend the government's masterplan if he also signs off on a contrary plan'', the source said.

Mr Wielinga, who will remain director-general of Transport for NSW, was left off the board of Infrastructure NSW when it was set up in July last year to identify the most needed projects. His departure leaves the organisation without a representative from the transport bureaucracy.

The board has five private-sector representatives and the heads of the departments of Planning, Premier and Cabinet, Trade and Investment, and Treasury. Paul Broad is the chief executive.

The tension between Transport for NSW and Infrastructure NSW was illustrated in June when Ms Berejiklian, with the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, and Mr Wielinga, announced the latest plan for the north-west rail link. That plan was a commitment to a second rail crossing for the Harbour after the north-west link was finished. But on the same day, Mr Greiner said the second rail crossing should be delayed as long as possible.

A spokeswoman for Transport for NSW said the bodies had different roles. ''It was helpful for Mr Wielinga to attend initial meetings of the board to fully understand Infrastructure NSW processes,'' she said. ''Transport for NSW continues to work closely with Infrastructure NSW.''

A spokeswoman for Infrastructure NSW said Mr Wielinga attended board meetings until July.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/collision-course-transport-boss-quits-20120803-23kt2.html

[Stillwater]

Les Weilinga is a can-do visionary who gets the most out of people who work for him -- the sort of bloke you want at the top.  It seems he is a man of principle too.  Rare.