On top of the world in Golden Plains

JUST west of Linton, a hill-top tower is tall enough to make anyone feel like the king or queen of Golden Plains Shire.

Seven hundred and fifty metres south of the Glenelg Highway on Flagstaff Road is a structure known as the Flagstaff Hill Lookout.

Climb four flights of stairs to the top, and the tower offers 360-degree views of the area, with a central compass pointing towards significant landmarks like Rokewood, Cressy, Mount Elephant, Skipton, Mount Cole, Ballarat, Linton, Mount Buninyong and more.

For many residents, the Lookout may be a gem they’re yet to discover. Recently, the site was a new experience for one of the Shire’s fresh councilors, Gavin Gamble.

“I go into Snake Valley a fair bit, but I’d never been to the Flagstaff Hill Lookout. It’s awesome,” he said.

“It’s like a fire tower anyone can go up if they’re not scared of heights, and it has a big platform.

“We have so much to be proud of in the Shire, and this is a pocket really worth knowing about.”

The tower sits within the Flagstaff Hill Scenic Reserve. This is monitored by the Ballarat Environment Network which assesses and manages any sign of threat across 51 crown reserves – 1000 hectares – in the district.

Driving up to the Lookout, and gazing down around the structure from its apex, visitors will see a native granitic grassy woodland with scent-bark gums, sparse native grasses, silky tea-trees, black she oaks and silver banksias. The Hill is also a former gravel reserve.

Although it’s a space the Shire encourages people to enjoy, BEN’s Peter Noble said reserves like this one are threatened by the antisocial behaviour of some visitors, rubbish dumping, weeds and biomass.

Development of the Reserve, including the building of the lookout, was officially opened on December 2, 2003, by the Member for Ripon, Joe Helper.

It was funded by the State Government, the Shire and the community of Linton.