With the fund raising component of Stage Two (Pre-Construction Phase) of our Rail Trail successfully completed, we now move to the “business end” of Stage Two. The overall goal of this Stage is produce a Reference Design which will be a blueprint for building and costing the Trail. This is planned to take 18 months and is budgeted to cost $500,000.
Initial work will involve developing an agreement between the Castlemaine Maryborough Rail Trail Inc (CMRT), the Central Goldfields Shire and the Mt Alexander Shire to create an Operating Model between the three parties. This will cover their relationships and responsibilities during the project. This will be followed by tendering for and selecting a Project Manager. Progress on the Stage will be monitored by a committee which will includes representatives from CMRT, CGSC, MASC and the State Government.
Initially a Preliminary Reference Design will be produced to be used as an input to inform:
- Community and landowner consultation
- Cultural heritage management planning
- Ecological due diligence
The Preliminary Reference Design will be updated to the final Reference Design by:
- The Land manager and authorities consultation,
- the Community and landowner consultation,
- Cultural Heritage Management Plan,
- Ecological Due Diligence
- and the Land manager and authorities’ consultation
Other key results and important objectives of the project are:
- The establishment of an Operating Model for the trail between CMRT and the Central Goldfields and Mt Alexander Shires
- The establishment of a Lease Agreement with VicTrack for the use of the rail corridor to construct and operate the recreational trail
- A costed approach and plan for the construction of the trail.