Rail Trail reduced

Works on the trail have been ongoing since September 2021. Picture: File.

Wattle Range Council has voted to scrap more than 7km of the Coonawarra Rail Trail.

The decision was made at a council meeting on Tuesday night after councillors were asked to consider the scope of the Coonawarra Rail Trail project due to a major cost blow-out.

The councillors were given two options – increase the project’s budget to $2.6m to allow for the increased costs of the project and complete all four stages, or reduce the scope of the project by cancelling works to complete Stage 3 and also not install footpath lighting within the Penola township.

The first option presented to the meeting would have cost an extra $500,000 while the second option maintained the costs within the original project budget of $2.06m.

Council voted for the second option.

The section of the trail which will now not be completed as a result of the decision – Stage 3 – was 7.2km between Glenroy Bool Lagoon Road to Penola Hundred Line, the last section of the intended route.

Council engineering services director Peter Halton told the meeting that the trail would still be functional without Stage 3.

The report to council considered at the meeting detailed that various aspects of the trail had already been reduced including the removal of all bike racks, water fill stations, bike maintenance stations, connections to significant landmarks, toilets outside of what had been completed at Coonawarra Memorial Park, and car parking works (excluding works at Coonawarra and Penola sidings).

Councillor Sharon Cox raised concerns about potential impacts from the removal of toilet facilities along the trail.

Mr Halton said existing toilet options should be sufficient for riders and compared the project to other trails in the Limestone Coast, such as a rail trail in Grant District Council which did not include any additional toilets.

Councillor Peter Dunnicliff moved the motion to adopt option two, which was seconded by Councillor John Drew, who said he had no appetite for a half-a-million-dollar budget blow-out considering the council was in deficit.

Councillors voted unanimously for option two to down-scale the project.

The overall budget for the project is $2,064,648 of which $200,000 was contributed by council, with the remainder coming from State and Federal government grant funding.

Mr Halton indicated that the Federal and State governments would be notified of the variation.