With the new year well and truly here, fingers around East Gippsland are crossed that bushfire recovery projects will finally be complete.
Four years after the Black Summer Bushfires, projects such as the Cape Conran Cabins, East Cape Boardwalk and the Thurra River Bridge are yet to be completed. 
Factors such as flooding, erosion and the discovery of Indigenous artefacts have hampered these projects from beginning. 
However, a Parks Victoria (PV) meeting late last year indicated works would start in 2024.
The new cabins for Cape Conran, subject to conditions and approvals, are expected to be brought to site for installation in the middle of the year, after three cabins and five wilderness retreats were destroyed in the bushfires.
Other projects in the Cape Conran area include the replacement and extension of the East Cape Boardwalk and reinstating the Yeerung Bridge.

IMAGE: There are hopes that bushfire recovery projects around East Gippsland, such as the East Cape Boardwalk (pictured on New Year’s Eve), will get back underway this year. Recovery works ground to a halt in June last year (inset) after Indigenous artefacts were discovered at the Cape Conran Cabins site.