Plan to abandon alpine road maintenance prompts fears of tourism hit
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Walhalla residents and various interest groups have voiced concerns for access and safety. (ABC News: Madeleine Stuchbery)
Locals and nature tourists are rallying together after moves from a regional Victorian council to abandon maintenance on a network of popular bushland roads.
The unsealed roads across Gippsland's Baw Baw National Park and surrounding bushland connect small townships such as Walhalla and Aberfeldy.
Residents are worried the roads could be forced to close permanently in the wake of a Baw Baw Shire Council decision to abandon maintenance.
Roads slated for removal from the Baw Baw Shire Council's roads register include sections of Walhalla Road between Woods Point to Jericho and Matlock, Cowwar-Walhalla Road, and Cowwarr Road at Toongabbie.
The council estimates that it will save $185,000 each year by abandoning grading and maintenance of the roads.
The shire's register of public roads procedure states if a road is "not maintained" it is deemed "to be not reasonably required for general public use".
But locals say the roads are a major drawcard for the state's community of alpine enthusiasts keen to access the iconic Woods Point Pub in neighbouring Mansfield Shire.
No rates? No roads
Walhalla Star Hotel owner Michael Leaney said tourism was essential to the economy of Walhalla, Woods Point, and the surrounding regions.Recently the town hosted Hollywood actor Liam Neeson when Walhalla was used as a film location for Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky.
Michael Leaney and Rudi Paoletti inspect the northern end of Walhalla Road. (ABC News: Madeleine Stuchbery)
Mr Leaney said while the roads may not have had ratepayers living on them, they were major thoroughfares for tourists and local traffic commuting between key locations such as Woods Point and Matlock.
"If these roads fall to no maintenance, what that means is it will actually lead to closure," he said.
"At the moment they are maintained to a very basic standard, they're graded infrequently."
'Absolutely insane'
The Walhalla Road sign signals to drivers which alpine roads are open or closed. (ABC News: Madeleine Stuchbery)
A petition with more than 3,000 signatures has called on the Baw Baw Shire Council to reconsider the decision.
It came after a recent proposal to tear up the only bitumen road in Aberfeldy, a remote township in the most northern part of the shire.
The Gippsland Destination Management Plan, a joint venture between Visit Victoria, Parks Victoria and the six local government councils of Gippsland under the banner Gippsland Local Government Network (GLGN), has identified the role of destination tourism and nature tourism to the region's economy.
The plan found tourism across Gippsland generated about $1 billion for the local economy, or more than 10 per cent of the region's economy.
Walhalla was identified as a destination hub contributing to nature tourism.
Carly Burdon, who has run the Commercial Hotel Woods Point in neighbouring Mansfield shire for the past five years, said about 60 per cent of her customers came via Gippsland from the south.
She said the response to the proposal was strong.
"Everybody thinks this is absolutely insane," she said.
"There are a lot of people who do day trips, who don't camp but do the loop.
The Commercial Hotel Woods Point won the Best Bush Pub award in 2024. (Facebook)
Aberfeldy resident Rudi Paoletti is the founder of the West Gippsland Relic Mining and Heritage Protection group which maintains the Aberfeldy track historic touring route.
For two decades Mr Paoletti has researched the history of the region.
He said he was concerned for future access through the alpine region should roads deteriorate and become impassable.
"It's a major thoroughfare through the alps," he said.
"It's one of the few that's open 365 days a year … from one divide to the other."
The call of the wild
Baw Baw shire interim chief executive John Bennie said maintenance of Walhalla Road north of Aberfeldy was shared between Baw Baw and Mansfield shires on behalf of Baw Baw.Maintenance records show grading works on the road, undertaken in February this year, cost $86,000 for 31 kilometres of road.
Mr Bennie said while the council recognised that the roads were used for various recreational purposes, there were "no rateable properties on these sections of roads".
A Baw Baw shire traffic count in December 2022 recorded an average of 13 vehicles a day on the road north of Aberfeldy.
Another count on the Australia Day long weekend in 2019 recorded an average of 210 vehicles per day between the Thomson Dam Access Road and Aberfeldy.
"Outside of this peak time traffic volumes drop back to between 10 and 40 vehicles per day," Mr Bennie said.
He said due to ratepayers living on the section of Walhalla Road between Thomson Dam Access Road and Aberfeldy, the council would continue to maintain it.
According to the council, unless the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action accepted road management, Baw Baw would remain the responsible road authority and would make any decisions around road closures.
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action has also been contacted for comment.
Written by: Madeleine Stuchbery, ABC News.
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