The path ahead

IF YOU’VE driven, ridden or walked along Scenic Road recently, you might have noticed the temporary fencing and wondered what’s happening.

As your Barrabool Hills Ward Councillor, I’m pleased to share that something exciting is about to get underway.

Work is set to begin on a 600m shared path that will fix a missing link between two existing footpaths near The Ridge and Wallaroo Way.

Currently, pedestrians travelling past the Montpellier Service Basins must tread more than half a kilometre uphill over bumpy and uneven terrain.

This is certainly a deterrent to those wanting to travel on foot to enjoy the great outdoors while keeping fit, healthy and active.

As a Highton local, I’ve often seen older residents, schoolkids and mums pushing babies in prams trudging up the hill to the supermarket, school and Barrabool Hills Plaza.

Building this new shared path will make life much easier for them, while giving younger and less confident cyclists an alternative to riding on the road.

But we’re not just building a missing link – these works are part of a larger upgrade to improve accessibility across almost a kilometre of Scenic Road.

They also build on another recently-constructed shared path on Scenic Road from Providence Boulevard to Barrabool Road that Council completed in mid-2021.

As part of the latest project, we’re replacing approximately 350 m of old footpath with a wider shared path connecting to the new section.

We’ll build new concrete stairs, a new handrail and a new bike ramp at Wallaroo Road and build a new pedestrian connection to the existing footpath at Highett Road.

Once the main works are finished, we’ll complete landscaping, which will encourage even more people to pound the pavement.

Which, as a Council, is something we want to encourage.

According to the most recent Geelong Preventative Health Survey, 36 per cent of residents in Belmont, Ceres, Highton and Wandana Heights (planning area 8) did not meet physical activity guidelines.

More worryingly, 25 per cent of respondents in these suburbs classed themselves as sedentary, meaning they spend most of the day sitting or lying down, doing little to no physical activity.

We need to give these community members more opportunities for active travel, and this project is just one example of how we’re doing this.

The health and wellbeing of our community is central to everything we do, and the health benefits of walking and getting outside are undeniable.

The City of Greater Geelong’s Community Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025-29 prioritises physical activity and active living through investing in and upgrading infrastructure, which is what this project is all about.

The project also aligns with our Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, which guides us in building an even more accessible and inclusive community for all.

This is an upgrade that I have advocated for as a councillor, and I’m proud to see it becoming a reality, with an expected completion date of Easter.

And in an added bonus, the City of Greater Geelong’s internal construction team are completing the works using local contractors and suppliers, supporting local jobs and our local economy.

I look forward to seeing residents out and about enjoying a stroll or ride on this new shared path for decades to come.

Cr Ron Nelson

Barrabool Hills Ward, City of Greater Geelong