Reserve open for recreation

RECREATION Road Bushland Reserve and its section of the Bunny Trail were officially opened on Tuesday morning in Mount Clear.

A project driven by community group Friends of Canadian Corridor, the reserve and its pathway features the remnants of an historic bridge and connects the Mount Clear College area with Woowookarung Regional Park.

Walkers, runners, and cyclists are now able to travel from Mount Clear all the way into Ballarat on a rail trail.

Some infrastructure works funded by Community Bank Buninyong, and completed at working bees, have been undertaken to ensure the site was safe and accessible.

“The bank was generous in funding the bridge, tracks, and fences,” FOCC president Bob Hartmann said.

“The labour has been from volunteers in the community, which is significant.

“Students from Mount Clear College have done five sessions of clearing pine saplings, and planting grasses.”

In 2019, the land was owned by the Victorian School Building Authority, but after FOCC members lobbied the City of Ballarat and then Member for Buninyong, Michaela Settle, it was purchased by the municipality for public use.

“With the opportunity here, it was a no-brainer,” Mr Hartmann said.

A 40-metre easement was provided by neighbour Tracie Currie to ensure the reserve’s path and the park could directly connect.

“Without that, the whole project, the Bunny Trail and this connection point, wouldn’t have been possible,” he said.

Community Bank Buninyong chair Ian Corcoran said the initiative aligns with the aim of his organisation to invest profits in projects that have a meaningful impact.

“Today, the reserve symbolises exactly what we do,” he said.

“It builds a community asset that will remain in the community in perpetuity and will have an impact beyond just our existence, right through this whole corridor.

“We thank the City of Ballarat for purchasing the land to enable this project to come to fruition, and the Friends of Canadian Corridor who are very strong enthusiasts for this area and the custodians of this parkland.

“On behalf of the board we also thank our sustainability director, Andrea Mason, for being a champion of this project and bringing our support into gear to make it happen.

“We congratulate the FOCC team who had the vision, the purpose, were driven to succeed, and did.”

Mr Hartmann also expressed his gratitude to FOCC secretary Jeff Rootes, who has been the key driver of the project over the last four years.