$140,000 rail trail art project launched

The $140,000 Great Southern Rail Trail Activation Project was officially launched on Friday, July 10, at a section of the rail trail between Koonwarra and Meeniyan.

The project added new artwork, nature appreciation and interpretation features, as well as a passport system designed to encourage visitors to stop and explore the towns and communities spread across the 130km route.

Eastern Victoria MP Tom Mcintosh and South Gippsland Mayor Cr Nathan Hersey were in attendance, joining councillors, community groups, supporters and rail trail users.

The project’s primary features include the Koonwarra Biodiversity Walk, public art installations and the unique Great Southern Rail Trail Passport, allowing trail users, whether walking or cycling, to collect stamps as they travel between Nyora and Yarram.

21 boxes, creatively designed to look like train carriages, have been built solely to house the stamps and ink pads, courtesy of local Men’s and Women’s shed groups.

For example, the Meeniyan Men’s Shed was responsible for constructing the carriages for Meeniyan, Buffalo, Koonwarra and Stony Creek.

Shed member Greg Kuhne said it was very rewarding to create something that would now be a permanent part of the rail trail.

“It’s good to take part in the community and do things that can help,” he said.

Mr McIntosh said the attractions would benefit local residents, but also the tourism economy.

He said the rail trail provided an opportunity for people to stay active while simultaneously bringing more people into local townships.

“People can come in, get amongst nature, but spend money in country towns,” he said.

“The more things we have along the way for people to stop at and enjoy, the better.”

Cr Hersey said the rail trail was already drawing families to the region and supporting local businesses, recalling his own personal experience when his friends visited from the Mornington Peninsula, staying at the Meeniyan Recreation Reserve and spending a weekend exploring the trail with their children.

“Those families all spent money here in South Gippsland,” he said.

“These sorts of activation projects are truly bringing people to the region who spend money, who spend time, and get to enjoy what it is that we have here.”

Rail Trails Australia Gippsland representative John Birrell spoke with the Sentinel-Times, saying the project would help the relatively new trail appeal to a wider range of users.

“It needs to have this sort of thing, like these passports, to attract a wider range of users,” he said.

Mr Birrell said further work was still needed to improve the trail’s accessibility for interstate visitors, including bike hire options at each end of the route.

The activation project also includes a two-kilometre Koonwarra Biodiversity Walk, which highlights the local flora and fauna, including the endangered Strzelecki Gum and the internationally significant Koonwarra fossil beds.

QR codes have been added to signs along the walk, allowing visitors to access even more information on their chosen topics, and also hear recordings of local frog and bird species to make them more recognisable if they come across one.

Also officially unveiled was Christabel Wigley’s public artwork, titled ‘Outside In’, a timber and steel listening space inspired by the Strzelecki Gum.

The sculpture incorporates fallen timber from the Mirboo North storm event and uses recorded and amplified live sounds to encourage trail users to stop for a second and engage with the surrounding nature.

The project received $100,000 from the Regional Development Victoria Fund and $40,000 from the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority.