Since the last meeting in August at Kalpower Hall, we have continued to work hard on handover due to the changes in roles on the committee at the July AGM. Focus is to reflect on the work that has been achieved by the group over the past month, focus on what we are currently working on and keep in mind the longer-term goals we are striving toward. There are so many “other jobs” we work on in between; however, I am going to focus on the 3 done, 3 doing & 3 to-do strategy to keep all this in perspective. In a nutshell:
WHAT HAVE WE ACHIEVED:
1. Gayndah Section – cr. Dael Giddins has been working with our valuable volunteers to continue to maintain the Gayndah section to keep it looking tidy as Mike Goebel has managed for a long time now. Thanks to all volunteers for your continuing efforts and coordinating a working bee.
2. Barrimoon Section – Mark McLachlan has been working with Miriam Vale Plant Hire to finish off the new grade of surface at Barrimoon to suit disabled access from the entrance at Barrimoon through Tunnel 6 onto Tunnel 5. It looks amazing and the contractor has also assisted in laying the concrete pipes that were donated to improve the entrance area and prevent erosion during weather events. What a great job done to date
under the Bradley Wolfe Foundation funding which was matched by TMR.
3. Munduberra Ski Area – cr. Sue Payne has been working with Rotary in the Munduberra area to enable the
funding provide by TMR to improve this area. Mick Colyer has been instrumental in ordering the grids and
gates which will become a major focus before the next meeting. Grading works have been completed and
clean-up in the section. Thanks for all your work guys, can’t wait to see it.
WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON:
1. Gayndah Section – with the maintenance funding we would like to seek approval from the group at this meeting to purchase a mower and trailer for the Gayndah section (that could be also be used in Munduberra as required) to help maintain the section without use of contractors. Thanks to Dael and Jen & Kev Roth for sourcing quotes and reviewing effectiveness of the equipment.
2. Barrimoon Section – quotes have come in for composting toilet blocks we would like to seek approval for the group to purchase in the short term to continue the works at Barrimoon with funding already received. We need to continue these works in the short term to prepare for opening this section in the near future as promised under the Bradley Wolfe agreement.
3. Funding applications – We thank Jill Hopson for offering to assist in the applying for the number of funding opportunities available. I have forward a number of documents to Jill to assist with these applications and will
provide her the support that she will need as these are time consuming jobs. These documents have included
BBIRT Strategic Plan, Concept Plan, Financial reports and Auditor reports to date. There are so many funding
opportunities out there, we just need to be prepared and spend the time on souring quotes to ensure we are
being considered.
WHAT WE PLAN TO DO:
1) Kalpower Bridge – it was highlighted by Kevin Roth in our management meeting that our requests to TMR for
major works on bridging is taking up to 6 months to approve, so we need to be prepared to start investing
time in applying for the next round of development funds in the short term. We will start working toward quoting decking and railing the Kalpower bridge.
2) Signage & Barricading – we are in desperate need of signage and some barricading across all sections of the
trail to ensure commuters are familiar in their surroundings and feel safe. It will also value-add to the experience of the trail with story-board signage educating users of history and environmental facts. We will
be focussing on planning appropriate signage and gaining quotes as soon as practicable. We will need to start applying for funding from some of the sponsors out there keen to assist us take this trail further into the future
and work with them.
3) Improving communication with our neighbours – we need to start focussing on communicating with those
neighbours in areas that are not in the immediate spot light of the trail and start building relationships. We may be able to commence mail-outs or attend networking opportunities to make this a focus for our future
development. Including our community groups in all that we do and share the opportunities is what will make this project work.
It’s a plan!
Vicki Mackay
