Paths and Trails
Paths and trails play an important role within the Baw Baw Shire, providing a means of access to community facilities, services, public transport and open space. The provision of paths and trails make communities more liveable, improve connections and make people healthier and physically active. Paths and trails enable safer passage for pedestrians, particularly those with limited mobility, including children and parents with prams.
The existing paths and trails network is comprised of approximately 450km of Council maintained paths and trails within Baw Baw Shire.
The Principal Pedestrian Network (PPN)
Council has developed a paths and trails strategy(PDF, 20MB) to guide investment in the construction of paths and trails within Baw Baw Shire.
Baw Baw Shire Council uses the Principal Pedestrian Network (PPN) methodology developed by Transport for Victoria which provides a platform for strategic pedestrian network planning for local governments.
Council has categorised the Shire's PPN into primary and secondary networks. Primary networks provide access to key destinations and points of interest. Secondary networks link to the primary network or to minor points of interest within the community. The PPN has been mapped for major townships and localities within Baw Baw Shire.
Principal Pedestrian Network Maps
Is a PPN path or trail in your local area? Check out the maps below:
Major town maps
Minor town maps
Villages
Tourist Towns
Inter-Town Connections
The need for footpaths is dependent upon the traffic and physical conditions on any street, road or other location and the nature of the pedestrian demand at that location.
These conditions and the pedestrian demand can vary over time and consequently, a flexible methodology for assessing footpath requests is considered necessary. The Paths and Trails Strategy includes a strategic tool for assessing and prioritising requests for footpaths (the Prioritisation Matrix) which takes into account all these factors.
The Prioritisation Matrix will enable Council to evaluate and prioritise requests for the design and construction of footpaths as well as determine appropriate pavement types for precincts within the Shire. The most highly ranked footpaths can then be considered for inclusion in the Long-Term Infrastructure Plan.
The Strategy allows community requests for pathways to be considered at any time and prompt advice provided to those requesting footpaths. The priority of any path can also be easily re‐evaluated if circumstances change. The listing of footpaths for construction is consequently prioritised and will be monitored based on the allocated budget each year and updated on an ongoing basis as more projects are assessed for inclusion.
The total approximate cost to Council to construct all the missing footpaths within the PPN across the Shire (as per this Strategy) is estimated to be:
- Primary Network – 30.6km at a cost of $6.7M
- Secondary Network – 21km at a cost of $3.7M
Click here to download a copy of the full Paths and Trails Strategy(PDF, 20MB) adopted by Council on 10 July 2019.
If you would like to request a pathway, please email the Civil Asset Planning team or call 1 300 BAW BAW.