The Castlemaine Maryborough Rail Trail [CMRT] is moving forward, with another step taken in the community’s quest to build a world-class rail trail in Central Victoria.
The Central Goldfields and Mount Alexander Shire Councils have both agreed to contribute $40,000 each as co-funders, together with a $20,000 amount from the CMRT community group, for a grant application to the State Government’s Enabling Tourism Fund (ETF).
To assist CMRT’s fundraising effort, three Bendigo Community Banks have made a much needed community contribution of $20,000. So the ETF application will seek a total of $500,000 to complete a Stage 2 of the rail trail’s development.
According to CMRT Inc. President Sue Simpson, “What that community grant does is, it matches ‘4 to 1’, so if we provide $100,000, this would mean that we get $400,000 from the State Government. You may think this is a lot of money before we start building, it is, yet there is a big list of tasks needing to be completed at a cost estimate of $520,000.”
Successful EFT applications will be announced in July 2024.
