$4 million project to blaze the way for Rokeby to Noojee Trail
Published on 06 October 2022
The popular Rokeby to Neerim Trail is set for a $4 million upgrade thanks to funding secured by Baw Baw Shire Council through the Victorian Government’s Regional Tourism Investment Fund (RTIF).
The RTIF helps fund delivery of high value tourism projects in regional Victoria that activate and revive tourism assets that have a significant impact on the visitor economy.
In addition to the $3 million secured through RTIF, Council has allocated $1 million towards the project as part of its 2022/23 Capital Works Program.
The scope of works included within Stage one of the project are:
- Upgrades to the existing section of the trail between Rokeby and Crossover.
- Upgrades to the existing roadside trails and connecting missing links from Crossover to the Apex lookout in Neerim.
- Detailed designs and preconstruction work for the extension of the trail to Noojee.
The upgrades aim to create a high-quality shared trail that provides excellent user experience, a safe and accessible trail, better connections between communities and more opportunities to engage with local natural vistas and historic sites.
Following completion of the first stage of works, construction works will be undertaken to extend the trail to the north to create a link to key historic tourism destinations including the Noojee Trestle Bridge, the tallest remaining wooden railway bridge in Victoria, as well as the historic township of Noojee. These works are subject to additional funding which will be pursued in due course.
Quote attributable to Mayor Cr Michael Leaney
“It’s great to see one of our top four advocacy priority projects receive funding to bring this much-loved local trail to its full potential.
We thank Regional Development Victoria for their investment in Baw Baw and seeing what we already know – that this is a beautiful place to live and visit.
With greatly improved facilities such as our beloved Rokeby trail, we will draw more people to our towns and improve the user experience for both visitors and locals.”