{"id":74494,"date":"2014-07-15T21:38:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T11:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=74494"},"modified":"2020-11-30T10:10:19","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T00:10:19","slug":"push-to-open-rail-trail-missing-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/07\/15\/push-to-open-rail-trail-missing-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Push To Open Rail Trail ‘Missing Links’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Winston Wells, Paul Heymans, Kerry Davis and Sharyn Bastow riding the Lowood to Coominya section last weekend (Photo: Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 15, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

The South Burnett isn’t the only area hoping to get funding from the State Government to develop a rail trail – residents further down the Brisbane Valley are campaigning for “missing links” in the trail to be developed as well.<\/p>\n

Paul Heymans, from Wivenhoe Pocket, is agitating for the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail to be finished and for Somerset Region Council to apply for funding to do just that.<\/p>\n

He has launched a petition on Change.org<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0which has attracted 922 signatures so far, a Facebook page<\/a><\/strong>, and has been been cycling open sections of the rail trail to help promote the trail as a whole in a bid to build pressure on Somerset Council.<\/p>\n

He plans to ride the section between Yarraman and Linville on Saturday, August 16.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul is calling for supporters of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail to gather in Yarraman at 10:00am on August 16 to display their support for the rail trail and walk, ride or cycle the section alongside him.<\/p>\n

Somerset Council has estimated that the cost of maintaining the rail trail through its region could be as much as $500,000 a year, a figure which is disputed by supporters of the project.<\/p>\n

Mr Heymans said this figure was based on using the “gold-plated Fernvale to Lowood section” as a benchmark which may not be necessary.<\/p>\n

He said the rail trail would benefit the local economy if it was completed end-to-end.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the State Government announced that $3.5 million would be made available towards the State’s regional trails, spread across four years.<\/p>\n

Somerset Mayor Graeme Lehmann said that\u00a0as soon as full details of the grant become available it would \u00a0be an agenda item at a future Council meeting.<\/p>\n

UPDATE August 14: Due to the weather the ride has been postponed to August 30.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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