Less than 10km from Ballarat's CBD sits a gem that could become a new jewel in the city's crown.
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Woowookarung Regional Park has already been a favourite bush escape for many outdoors lovers in the community, particularly throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Parks Victoria is working to make the area accessible and inclusive for more people in the community and is making progress creating new trails and infrastructure in the park.
The Courier visited Woowookarung with Parks Victoria Acting Area Chief Ranger Alex Schipperen and walked along the newly created Grass Tree Trail.
Starting at the lookout, the trail is a key piece of the new 10,000 step trail network throughout the park that caters for users of all abilities.
The first section of the trail was completed just before Christmas, when work also began to build a new carpark for the dementia friendly forest and sensory trail.
That trail network and a new visitor node, with car and bus parking and a picnic area, are currently the major project focuses, with work also in progress to incorporate the Goldfields Track into the park.
This is the first significant piece of work that is creating visible changes and new usage opportunities since the strategic directions consultation and planning process was completed between 2016 and 2018.
Mr Schipperen said he was excited to create opportunities for the park to be more accessible to a broader range of people in Ballarat, including people in wheelchairs and people with dementia.
But some community members, particularly mountain bikers, have expressed feelings of anxiety and concern after hearing about plans to close a number of informal trails they have used for many years.
Mr Schipperen said there was about 120km of tracks and trails in Woowookarung Regional Park, many which had been created by members of the public informally in the past.
"At the moment it is very hard for people to navigate through the park because you have to be quite confident and not scared of the bush to go through if you don't want to get lost," he said.
"For families who want to come here, you can imagine parking your car at the lookout and walking down this trail and not getting lost.
"That is an important part of it, the opportunity to navigate through the park, but also to make sure that extensive track and trail network works not just for users, but also for the environment."
Mr Schipperen said Grass Trees in particular locations of the park were under threat due to a disease called Cinammon Fungus that can be spread through footprints and bike tyres.
There is no cure for the disease and it could wipe out all Grass Trees in the park if not managed.
Mr Schipperen said this was a key consideration in deciding the future of informal trails.
"The forest was covered in Grass Trees at one stage. There is still a lot here but the numbers are dropping," he said.
"That seems to all be in locations where human activity is.
"We still want people to move through the park. It is about finding a balance that people can recreate, but not at the detriment of the environment."
Parks Victoria has installed hygiene stations for pedestrians and bike riders, allowing visitors to sterilise their shoes and bike tyres as they move through the park to prevent the spread of disease.
Parks Victoria will investigate how to create hygiene stations for other users like people in wheelchairs and horses.
Mr Schipperen said the organisation was currently reviewing the informal trail network between Bakers Road and Katy Ryans Road, including trails that are much loved by the mountain biking community.
"Some of these trails we see as environmentally sustainable and they can remain open. Some of the trails not and those we flagged for closing," he said.
Mr Schipperen showed an example of a trail intersecting with the new Grass Tree Trail that would need to be closed.
He pointed out soil erosion and exposed roots which has created poor tree canopy health.
Other issues for that trail are the dangerous crossover with the new Grass Tree Trail and and the spread of Cinnamon Fungus in the area which is wiping out the Grass Tree population.
Mr Schipperen said Parks Victoria would continue to consult with all user groups, including the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club which has expressed concerns about the informal trail closures.
"We need to fit all different user groups in. That is a puzzle and it means there is a bit of give we need from all of those people," he said.
Mr Schipperen said track closures and the creation of new trails would not happen instantly, but there was a five year plan to work through the park and create a specialty mountain bike trail network.
That new specialty network is planned for the area on the south side of Recreation Road near the existing mountain bike trail head near the back of Mount Clear College and could be completed in about five years.
"Although I can understand there has been a lot of enjoyment from riding on some of those trails that have been cut in by people in the past, that cannot be to the detriment of the environment," Mr Schipperen said.
"We can come up with alternatives by creating a new network in another part of the park, or reducing the amount of trails and make sure we have hygiene stations so people are supported to do the right thing.
"The park has been quite damaged environmentally. There is a lot of environmental repair necessary because otherwise the trajectory is downhill.
"The support of community members to dip their feet in there and run their bike through there is the only way to keep this park as you see it now in this area with Grass Trees."
Woowookarung Regional Park is a former state forest and pine plantation and has a history of antisocial activity including rubbish dumping.
Parks Victoria became the responsible management authority in 2016 and it was renamed from Canadian Regional Park to Woowookarung Regional Park in 2017, meaning 'place of plenty'.
Mr Schipperen said the public would be notified of any informal tracks that are set for closure through signage explaining the reasons for the closure.
Some closed informal tracks will require a physical barrier and soil restoration work which may begin in winter, while others are expected to naturally disappear.
Mr Schipperen said his long-term vision and excitement for the park was to create an opportunity for recreation and nature appreciation in a healthy park, that is close to Ballarat's centre.
"What I really like is the community of Ballarat, be it on foot, by wheelchair, by bike, by horse, by car to an extent to, comes out to Woowookarung to recreate with each other, get fit, stay mentally fit and appreciate the park in a way it can live as it is now and even better for generations to come," he said.
"If there were more people out here having a great time and respecting what is here, we would be absolutely thrilled.
"There are not many regional cities that have something like this on their doorstep."
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