By Colin MacGillivray

A bid to extend the Grampians Rail Trail to Halls Gap continued to gather momentum as Northern Grampians Shire Council last month committed to providing up to $20,000 annually for trail maintenance.

The council’s financial backing is contingent upon volunteer management group Friends of Grampians Rail Trail securing a $300,000 grant through the Western Renewables Link Local Grants Fund.

The grant, if secured, would fund the bulk of a planned trail extension from its current western terminus south of Lake Lonsdale to Halls Gap.

The council will write a letter supporting Friends of Grampians Rail Trail’s grant application, with Western Renewables Link to announce successful applicants in December.

With the planned extension set to cross land managed by GWMWater and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, DEECA, a report from senior planner Tony Dark recommended the council commit to funding trial maintenance only on council-owned land.

But councillors voted to commit up to $20,000 annually for maintenance across the entire trial, commencing in June 2028.

Cr Jenny Greenberger said it made ‘a lot of sense’ to support the volunteer committee with maintenance costs.

“The committee will get the work done much cheaper than if council were to do it, which has been proposed, as it is a well-organised committee run by volunteers, whereas if the council were to do it there would be a lot of overheads and a lot of additional paid staff to implement the project,” she said.

“Council officers will support the committee to obtain funding from elsewhere if possible, so this is a bit of a fallback position for the committee if they are unable to do that.

“They’ve also made a commitment to raise $6000 annually themselves by running events and seeking financial sponsorship and support.”

Cr Greenberger said modelling by economic data analysts REMPLAN showed the rail trail, as currently constructed, brought an economic benefit of $2.4-million to the region annually.

“This will certainly grow if it’s extended to Halls Gap,” she said.

Cr Karen Probst said agreeing to fund maintenance across the entire trail was ‘a very difficult decision’.

“One of the issues is, part of this is on council land, part of it’s not, so council is making basically an indefinite commitment to cover maintenance costs up to $20,000 per year if the committee is not able to support it themselves,” she said.

“But the rail trail from Halls Gap to Stawell would have a great impact on our communities.

“I think sometimes we focus a lot on money but not on the social and community benefit, which can’t always be measured in dollar amounts.

“I think $20,000 a year is a small commitment for a $300,000 grant to get the trail completed.”

Friends of Grampians Rail Trail founder John Pye thanked the councillors for their support.

“It’s very much welcome. Our grant application depended on that particular aspect,” he said.

“That money is just not available anywhere to us, so we were in a quandary – there’s no way you could be asking for a grant saying we’re going to build this wonderful facility and then in a couple of years’ time it could fall into disrepair.”

Mr Pye said he believed the committee stood a good chance of securing the grant.

“I’ve written a lot of grant applications before and it’s a really strong one,” he said.

“We’ve got a good story and all the fine detail that they would expect. We’ve got a series of key approvals that have been done, so we’re already well on the way.

“Once we get the trail fully open, it will become an iconic trail. In the submissions there’s a bit of a ticklist of things that highlight what a top rail trail is, and we pretty much tick every box.”

Mr Pye said he understood the council’s hesitancy to commit to funding maintenance across the entire trail, but that he believed they had made the right decision.

“This is such a great model because we end up getting a thing built like we already have with the first 12km of the trail and then they get a bargain-basement price on maintenance,” he said.

Mr Pye said the committee had also recently secured a separate $8803 grant from the Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal, FRRR, to extend the Stawell end of the trail from Grampians Road to Federation Park.

He said while the $300,000 Western Renewables Link grant would fund the majority of the trail’s extension towards Halls Gap, more money would be required to complete the project.

“The next stage, which is 2700 metres, we’re now starting to look for funding for, so we’re not stopping. We’re on a roll here,” he said.

“That would be the last link, which would get us to Halls Gap.

“We’re almost there. Each time we get closer it provides a bit of an avenue for cyclists, but getting to Halls Gap is the key.”

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