If you’re in Bendigo for the Labour Day long weekend and can spare an hour or so, come and help clean up a section of the O’Keefe rail trail. Meet at the car park near the corner of Pratts Park Road and Tresize Track before 9.00 am (hint it’s not the marker shown in the map below). Safety vests and rubbish bags are being supplied by Bendigo council. Bring some gloves, sturdy shoes and a hat. Look forward to seeing you there.
Posted by: scratchpaper | March 3, 2010
Keep the trail beautiful – Clean Up Australia Day Sun 7 March
Posted in Activities
Posted by: scratchpaper | March 3, 2010
Mitchell Shire gives trail in principle support
At its meeting on 22 February, Mitchell Shire Council voted unanimously to give in principle support to the extension of the trail to Kilmore and to advocate on behalf of the Friends as opportunities arise. The council is working on an Off Road Trails Strategy which includes the development of walkways and cycle tracks and the Bendigo-Kilmore rail trail fits nicely into this broader vision.
The Friends acknowledge that the council’s priority for at least the next 18 months is the Goulburn River High Country Rail Trail, but it is fantastic to have the council’s in principle support for the long-term vision. See the Mitchell Shire Council’s web site for the agenda which includes the report about the rail trail that was presented to council (PDF 984 kb).
Posted in Activities
Posted by: scratchpaper | February 11, 2010
Count bikes and help extend the rail trail
Tuesday 2 March is the Super Bicycle Count
Bicycle Victoria is looking for volunteers to help count bikes in Melbourne and Bendigo, and they’ll dontate $50 to a cycling organisation nominated by each volunteer to support the organisation’s activities.
The Friends of the Bendigo-Kilmore Rail Trail are on the list of organisations you can support. So if you can help gather vital data about bicycle use to help councils with their transport planning, please register on BV’s web site. Select the Friends when you register (down the bottom of the supporters page) and you’ll also be helping get the rail trail to Kilmore. BV will send you a pack of goodies to help with your counting.
Even if you’re counting in Melbourne, you can still nominate the Friends.
See you out on your bike on Super Tuesday.
Posted in Activities, Funding
Posted by: scratchpaper | January 19, 2010
Tell Regional Development Victoria why you support this trail
As we reported in December, the City of Greater Bendigo is preparing a submission to Regional Development Victoria for funds to get the trail to Heathcote, which is the boundary of this council. We need to demonstrate community support for the project.
Please send us an email using the form below or letter of support to include in the submission, stating where you’re from and why you’d like to see the trail extended. The more statements of support we can collect the better, so a small investment of your time could have big returns on the ground.
Council has given us a pretty short deadline – please have your statement to us by midnight next Tuesday 26 January.
Post
Mr Craig Niemann
CEO, City of Greater Bendigo
C/- Friends of the Bendigo-Kilmore Rail Trail
PO Box 1238
Bendigo Vic 3552
We look forward to hearing from you! Here’s the form for your email statement of support. It comes to the Friends and we’ll collate for the submission:
Posted in Funding
Posted by: scratchpaper | December 23, 2009
Wins on getting to Heathcote
- Council votes to apply for funding
- New bridges between Bendigo and Axedale
- Counters installed on the trail
- Job opportunities
Unanimous vote for funding
At its meeting on 16 December, the City of Greater Bendigo council voted unanimously to support preparing a detailed grant submission to Regional Development Victoria to fund the extension of the trail to Heathcote. Councillors spoke enthusiastically about the tourism and economic development potential and what a marvellous asset it will be for local communities to enjoy and improve the health and wellbeing of their members. Some Councillors even mentioned going to Kilmore, which is well outside this council’s boundaries, yet is definitely the ‘big picture’ vision of our group..
The resolution means council is willing to fund part of the development, as grants generally require co-contributions from local government.
The grant submission should be ready by March 2010. (Read the report submitted to council. PDF 100 kb)
Six new bridges
The City of Greater Bendigo has called for tenders to design and build replacement bridges between Bendigo and Axedale for the trail. Construction does depend on funding, but that’s being worked on (see above). See the council’s web site for details.
Counters installed
You are being watched! The council has installed two counters on the trail, one at the Strickland Rd original wooden railway bridge (only one of two between Bendigo and Heathcote) and the other at the Axecreek swing bridge. This information will help back up anecdotal evidence about the trail’s usage with some hard figures – all good when you’re applying for funding to upgrade and extend.
Job opportunities next year
Bendigo council is very supportive and things are happening at the Bendigo end of the trail, but there’s still lots of work to do. Early 2010 we’ll be preparing our ‘battle plan’ for the year ahead – and looking for some more hands to help.
Immediately, we’re looking for someone to take on either the communications or the secretarial duties. (The two are a bit big for one person to manage.) So if you have skills to fill either and a couple of hours a week to put in, please let us know.
Thanks to all those who’ve done some fabulous work this year. We’ve achieved some great things so far, in a relatively short time frame.
Have a safe and happy Christmas and we look forward to meeting up with you all on the trail next year!
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: bendigokilmore | December 14, 2009
Council to vote on funding for rail trail
We’ve been advised that the City of Greater Bendigo council will vote this Wednesday on whether to put some resources into applying for funding to get the rail trail to Heathcote. Council officers had prepared a report on the trail, its needs and its potential which has been distributed to councillors. This week they’ll vote on whether to support it.
Can you show your support?
We know it’s awfully short notice this close to Christmas, but if you’re available, please come and show your support:
- When: Wednesday 16 December, 6.00 pm
- Where: Reception room (upstairs at the town hall, Lyttleton Terrace)
We believe the rail trail will be discussed sometime between 6.00 and 7.00 pm.
Look forward to seeing you there.
Posted in Funding
Posted by: scratchpaper | November 1, 2009
Upgrades on the O’Keefe trail
A new off-road path joins the O’Keefe trail at Longlea Lane.
For some years past, the trail has meandered partly through private land at Arakoon Water Park. Through our good working relationship with the City of Greater Bendigo Council, this part of the trail is currently being realigned back onto the original railway alignment. Works are in progress, with the installation of a culvert pipe for drainage and reforming/gravelling of the trail. Arakoon will soon be ‘officially’ bypassed by the trail.
The trail from Longlea Lane to the Axe Creek swing bridge has been regraded, and we are hoping for a new gravel surface to be installed soon.
Also, from our discussions with council, the crossing over Longlea Lane has been realigned. No need to ride down a 100 kph road. You can now zip straight across (carefully!) and ride down a new off-road path to rejoin the trail. Final path surfacing of this new section is expected to be completed soon.
The City of Greater Bendigo has engaged a landscape architect to redesign the approaches to the Axe Creek bridge, to improve the safe access onto the swing bridge, although the bridge itself will stay. Gaining funding/grants for this work will now be the next step to allow this upgrade to begin.
The council has also been assessing the missing bridges on the trail, between Bendigo and Axedale, and the outcomes of this should determine how best to deal with their replacement. We await the outcome of this study, and then possible funding options to address the recommendations.
Posted in Works
Posted by: scratchpaper | November 1, 2009
Can you help with the Bendigo Bushland trail?
Our Bushland Trail champion, Lindsay Clay, has been talking to council, DSE and Parks about lavishing some TLC on this iconic, but much-neglected trail. (See map on bikely.com)
We learned recently that a council officer has drafted a Memorandum of Understanding to underpin cooperation between the three agencies. We’ve also spoken with CVGT about the possibility of taking on part of the resignage project that’s desperately needed. If you want to help out on that project – on the ground, or lobbying the three agencies, contact us using the form below:
Posted in Community consultation
Posted by: scratchpaper | November 1, 2009
Iconic trails study
Have your say – what makes an iconic trail?
The Loddon Mallee Region Iconic Trails Strategic Plan is a joint project of
ten local governments and number of state government departments to identify
potential walking, cycling, mountain biking, canoeing and horse riding
trails of regional significance that will attract domestic and international
tourists to the area.
The study is looking at what makes a trail significant; what features are
required to attract trail users and which natural and cultural features are
likely to be of interest in this region to potential trail users. Have
your say on this online survey (open until end November).
There will also be a number of workshops held throughout the region:
- Cycling / mountain biking workshop in Woodend on Monday 16 November
- Walking trail workshop in Wedderburn on Tuesday 17 November.
See www.communityvibe.com.au for details of other workshops.
Posted in Community consultation
Posted by: scratchpaper | November 1, 2009
Meetings, meetings
Coliban Water
We met with Coliban Water and its representative Karin Van Poppel, Property Risk Officer at Coliban Water at the end of September. Coliban Water is keen to support community based recreational development where it can on land under its control. Initial indications are that parts of the proposed trail do go through Coliban Water controlled property.
Since that meeting, an eagle-eyed Friend spotted a property for sale near Derrinal that includes a lease from Coliban for a section of the original railway reserve. We have been got in touch with Coliban Water to see whether they were aware of the sale (they weren’t) and we have now registered our interest in this particular lease.
If you see anything like that, please let us know by email (see how to contact us) or by phoning Garry Long 0409 565 404 and we’ll get in touch with the appropriate authority.
Damian Drum MLC (Nationals)
Damian also indicated support for development of the trail. Rail trails had come up during a recent tourism enquiry, so he was familiar with the concept. State elections are due next year, which raises opportunities for commitments to projects like this. Damian said he would aim to have it put on the coalition’s tourism agenda, which should put some pressure on Labor to match it. However, they would all want to see a feasibility study with costings, hurdles, routes and so on before committing to the project. We will continue to lobby both councils and the state government for a feasibility study to be completed. Here’s the handout we left with Damian (PDF 225kb).
Mitchell Shire council
Kilmore sits within Mitchell Shire and we were fortunate to be able to brief the Mitchell Shire council late in October about the proposed trail. Mitchell Shire is currently up to its ears in the development of the Goulburn River High Country Rail Trail (134 km from Tallarook to Mansfield). We made it clear we didn’t expect them to commit any resources at this stage, but we would like an in-principle agreement to support the project. Such agreement would help protect public lands through which the trail might pass from being sold off or designated for other purposes. The Mayor said they would take it to a strategic meeting for a decision. We’re now waiting to hear. Here’s the handout we left with the council (PDF 485kb).
Jacinta Allan (MP) Minister for Regional and Rural Development
We have a meeting in Bendigo with the Minster in mid-November. We’ll be briefing her on the proposal and asking what we need to do to secure funding for the project.
Posted in Community consultation, Funding
