Transplan's Trail Log

Transplan Pty Ltd has been appointed to prepare a detailed trail development plan for the proposed rail trail between the Busselton Jetty and the Flinders Bay Jetty (in Augusta), Western Australia. The trail development plan will set out the detailed construction requirements and cost estimates for the proposed 108km multi-use trail. Already sections of the rail trail are in place. The idea of a trail on the former railway reserve was first proposed way back in 1973, when the National Trust sponsored the preparation of a report to examine the feasibility of a walk trail. The current project is long overdue. Both the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River and the City of Busselton now have policies in place that paves the way for the trail to be developed. Preparation of the trail development plan will by necessity involve working with adjoining landowners to ensure their issues are satisfactorily resolved. No further land swaps (which has occurred in the past) or deviations off the formation (or railway reserve) are anticipated. The policies of each Council indicate that the trail is to be “constructed on the alignment of the old railway formation”; and “where this is not possible, the trail be constructed within the existing reserve”.
A steering committee was established in September 2010, with representatives from the National Trust of Australia (WA) and the two shires, to oversee the planning, design and construction of the project. Work completed to date includes obtaining funding for environmental studies, a survey of Aboriginal cultural heritage values, trail planning and interpretation planning. A Business Plan and a Marketing Plan will be prepared by the steering committee.