MICHAEL SMITH AND ASSOCIATES
Lavers Hill Off-Trail to Crowes and Melba Gully Feasibility Study
Client | Colac Otway Shire
Year | 2016
Colac Otway Shire Council engaged our practice to investigate the feasibility of the establishment of an off-road trail of approximately 3.9 kilometres in the Otway Ranges linking Lavers Hill to Crowes and Melba Gully, the wettest place in Victoria. The process reviewed alternatives of using part of the Old Beechy Railway Line and for most of the trail’s length use of the road reserve of the Great Ocean Road.
Key principles were to keep the trail away from the busy road with a separation buffer of indigenous vegetation, avoid private land, provide safe crossing points and minimise the loss of indigenous vegetation.
We met with the Lavers Hill Community Association and several of their members spent most of the day walking the trail back and forth with us. We met with representatives of the Old Beechy Rail Trail Committee to discuss the route on site. We conducted a community meeting on the preferred route of 2.5 kilometres of trail. At this meeting locals were all in favour of the preferred route.
