Governments have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in East Gippsland after the closing of the timber industry, but we still don’t have any dynamic iconic infrastructure to fearlessly employ local people and bring people to the region for the future economic benefit of us all.
The closing down of the timber industry chipped away and destroyed many businesses in East Gippsland and no one knows or can quantify the real damage to our economy.
Recently Omeo has had a downhill mountain bike track constructed and according to locals it has been a tremendous success, bringing people from all socioeconomic backgrounds to the district with many making return visits.
So it’s a big tick to the people who have promoted such a successful piece of infrastructure.
The next step after the success of the Omeo track for the State and Federal governments is to make East Gippsland the tracks and trails capital of the South Pacific region.
We already have a successful 100-kilometre rail trail from Bairnsdale to Orbost. It’s a great start and it could be extended from Orbost
to Marlo and from Bairnsdale to Paynesville making it one of the best trails in the world.
The spur trail off the East Gippsland Rail Trail to Lakes Entrance is also a great asset. Other trails could be constructed in the Orbost region to the border and along the wilderness coast.
Whether the trails be bike trails or walking trails, the vision would be: East Gippsland, the tracks and trails capital of the South Pacific.
There has been conversations about constructing a walking trail from Bright over the Great Dividing Range to Bairnsdale. Imagine being able to promote East Gippsland beyond its current mediocre position with a real and dynamic, competitive edge having the most tracks and trials for local people, visitors to our state and international guests.
It’s a big idea and not hard to do and the State Government, especially, owe it to East Gippslanders.
