Rail trail to reopen with fishy twist
THE Great Southern Rail Trail is complete and will be officially relaunched this Saturday at Fish Creek.
The day will also include an official opening of the Commonwealth Games fish which is now installed in the town, between Ride the Wild Goat and the Butter Factory.
Taking place at the Fish Creek station site, the relaunch of the rail trail will be officiated by Eastern Victoria MP Harriet Shing.
The rail trail project cost around $4.75 million, with $3 million from the State Government and $1.75 from South Gippsland Shire Council, and was delivered over three stages.
The project included an 18.5 kilometre extension of the trail from Foster to Port Welshpool and the development of the Black Spur section of the trail.
The trail is now a continuous 72 kilometres between Leongatha and Port Welshpool.
The opening will take place this Saturday, November 26 at 11.30am at the John Terrill Memorial Park, at the Fish Creek station site.
The opening of the Commonwealth Games fish will take place after the opening of the rail trail at noon.
South Gippsland Shire Council councillor Meg Edwards said the fish added another element to the town’s growing public art collection.
“The combination of art and agriculture in the public space has been welcomed by the community and is indicative of the culture of Fish Creek,” she said.
Cr Edwards said the fish has been helped greatly along the way through the donations and generosity of the local community.
She said the artists Andy McPherson and Ray Jones donated their time to create the installation.
“Thank you to everyone involved in the project over the long period of time, including people willing to store the fish in their sheds, Deidre Grainger for her past work, Ned Dennis and the South Gippsland Shire Council, Tony Walker, to Andy and Ray and everyone else who has volunteered,” she said.
Flying fish: Andrew McPherson, left and Ray Jones with the Commonwealth Games fish installed at Fish Creek. The fish will be officially recognised this Saturday, after the official relaunch of the Great Southern Rail Trail in Fish Creek at 11.30am.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Nov 22 2016. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
