December 14th, 2023Creswick Trails project ‘on track’: council

Progress on the Creswick Trails project has hit a major milestone with around 30 kilometres of trails completed and the project expected to be completed in December next year, the council says in a prepared statement.

Hepburn Shire mayor Cr Brian Hood says he was pleased to see the project meet such an important milestone, but had a few words of caution to add as well.

“There are no completed trail areas that are currently ready to ride,” Cr Hood said.

“We understand the excitement that surrounds this project and the desire to have parts of it open early, but it’s important to be patient and to stay off the trails until they are officially open,” said Cr Hood.

“We have looked at ways of having a staged opening of trails, but this is not currently possible given the site is a construction zone and we need to ensure public safety. However, we will continue to look at options of how we can possibly open a portion of the trail before the entire trails are complete,” he said.

“Accessing the construction area and the partially completed trails could damage the trails or place you or our construction crews in danger.”

The trailhead for the Creswick Trails, Hammon Park, is open for use.The trailhead is home to three lines of cycling jumps, pump track, learn to ride area, BBQ area, play area, rope climbing tower, parking and toilets, including a shower and Changing Place accessible amenities block.

“In the coming months we will be looking to name some of the trails within the Creswick Trails network. We will reach out to the community with more information on this shortly,” said Cr Hood.

The council has engaged independent experts to oversee parts of the construction process to ensure the trails are built in line with cultural, ecological and heritage controls. The council says it’s been able to minimise impact through careful siting of built trails within the approved trail alignment. Where possible, the edges of new trails are revegetated with soil from the site to take advantage of the seed bank and to replace ground cover. 

The most challenging of the jumps at Hammon Park, the whale tail, remains closed to the public. We understand that it has been closed for some time and that is disappointing, however the closure is to provide time for this very challenging element to be assessed and reviewed for safety. We ask for your continued patience while we work with contractors.