A NOT-FOR-PROFIT community group has been left disheartened after council knocked back their plans to establish a miniature railway in Geelong.<\/p>\n
Geelong Family Park and Miniature Railway Association pitched the idea to the City of Greater Geelong (COGG) in March 2018 and again this year, suggesting potential locations including the Eastern Park and unoccupied land near Anakie Road.<\/p>\n
But the COGG has since notified the group their project does not fit council\u2019s social infrastructure planning and cannot be supported.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city acknowledges the efforts of community members who have a vision and invest their time and effort into achieving that vision for the betterment of the community. For this, the city does thank you for your work to date and your enthusiasm to achieve your goal,\u201d a letter from Travis Kirwood, COGG\u2019s manager property and procurement, read.<\/p>\n
The letter claimed the city does not have any land that meets the requirement for the group\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n
It also said if the city did have land that met the proposal\u2019s needs, the use would not be supported or offered because the miniature rail is not a \u201cstrategic option\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe City will not be providing land for the use of miniature rail in the foreseeable future,\u201d Mr Kirwood said.<\/p>\n
Geelong Family Park and Miniature Railway Association president Brian Gray said the lack of support from council has meant members within the group have been forced to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really sad and we\u2019re losing members and business support because of it. Things seem to be getting dragged out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Gray said the closure of Alcoa and Ford in Geelong has left many skilful people out of work, a driving force in the group\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole idea of this project is to reach out to the community and provide jobs to lots of people who can\u2019t find work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Gray said the group has garnered community support, scoring 36,000 likes and comments across posts on their Facebook page and receiving signatures on a petition to build the miniature railway.<\/p>\n
He also said the group will now approach the Surf Coast Shire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are definitely not going to give in. We are a group of community-minded people who want to give people who aren\u2019t currently working a sense of self-worth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To learn more about the group, search \u201cGeelong Family Park Miniature Railway Association INC\u201d on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A NOT-FOR-PROFIT community group has been left disheartened after council knocked back their plans to establish a miniature railway in Geelong. Geelong Family Park and Miniature Railway Association pitched the idea to the City of Greater Geelong (COGG) in March 2018 and again this year, suggesting potential locations including the Eastern Park and unoccupied land […]<\/p>\n