The councils of Mitchell, Murrindindi and Mansfield obtained a grant in 2005 to develop a Concept Design and Business Plan for a rail trail along the former railway from Tallarook to Mansfield (and Alexandra) in North East Victoria. A draft of the plan prepared by Urban Enterprise was released in mid February and is available on the Mitchell Shire website.
Click here for more details of the rail trail including map.
What is not clear in the online document is that plan only really refers to stage one. Stage one in Mitchell Shire is the 12km Tallarook to Trawool Valley section, in Murrindindi shire it is the 10km Yea to Homewood section and Mansfield shire it the 14km Maindample – Mansfield section. The total length when completed would be 120km plus 14km from Cathkin to Alexandra.
As expected the rail trail proposals is creating controversy, mainly to do with costs and the affect on adjacent landholders. The councils, councillors and consultants have conducted a lot of public and private meetings with residents. Bicycle Victoria and Railtrails Australia have attended several of the public meetings which have all been very well attended The way many local people passionately and eloquently express their views has been very impressive (minutes of one meeting are also on the above website). It is pleasing to see the strong majority support for the trail in the community. Public comment on the plan is now open in the Mitchell and Murrindindi shires and will be soon be in the Mansfield shire, until the end of March. The councillors in the three shire councils will then vote in April and May on whether to support the stage one sections in their respective shires.
If you would like to use this trail one day please have a look at the report (also available in shire libraries) While concerns of affected landholders are an issue, they are addressed in the plan and have been done so on many other open rail trails in Australia. What is always harder to agree on is whether the ongoing maintenance costs of the trail will be justified. At the meetings in Mitchell shire many of the opponents expressed the view that the council does not adequately maintain existing infrastructure. So this could be the main consideration of the councillors in deciding whether to support the proposal or not. Please write to the councils to express your support and desire to use it and the benefits it will bring for locals and visitors alike.
Council Contact Details
Mitchell Shire Council
Christine Gibbins Tourism Business Officer
113 High Street Broadford 3658
03 5734 6207
Murrindindi Shire Council
Cindy Ferguson Tourism Development Officer
PO Box 138 Alexandra 3714
03 5772 0325
Mansfield Shire Council
Ian Geer Tourist Officer
Private Bag 1000 Mansfield 3724
03 5775 8585
If you would like ot attend a meeting the Murrindindi Shire Public Information Session is on the 9th March 2006 at the Yea Shire Hall from 7:00- 9:30pm
A time and location for the Public Information Session in Mansfield has not been finalised as yet, but it is likely to be around the end of March.
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Sign UpThe New South Wales State Government has provided a framework for the development of new rail trails in NSW. The NSW Rai...
The East Gippsland Rail Trail (EGRT) recently received an $82,500 grant from the East Gippsland Community Foundation’s...
The NSW Government, Regional NSW, has just released the long-awaited report of the impact of the construction of the Tum...
Walking, running or cycling on the O’Keefe Rail Trail in northern Victoria, it may seem that nothing new has been happ...
An impressive turnout of riders came together to ride the Hamilton – Coleraine Rail Trail. Riders traversed throug...
A 2km extension of the Barossa Rail Trail from Kalbeeba to Gawler East is nearly complete. After significant weather del...
The Boorowa to Galong Rail Trail group in south-western NSW has obtained funding to conduct a rail trail feasibility stu...
The Kotta and Lockington Communities in Victoria recently welcomed back the Kotta Station to its original home after for...
Sunday, 29 May saw the inaugural Mansfield Marathon event along the Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT) organised by the n...
Lifecycle for Canteen is the biggest WA fundraiser for CanTeen, the cancer support charity dedicated to providing suppor...
In a joint bid with Central Goldfields Shire Council and Mt Alexander Shire Councils, Castlemaine Maryborough Rail Trail...
The Tourism Industry Council South Australia named the Riverland town Renmark, a three-hour drive from Adelaide, as thi...
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