Although flooding has changed our plans somewhat, there is still plenty of progress in evidence as Parklands roll out our ‘Building Resilient Trails’ program.

Including a number of different projects, the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery funded program focuses on improving the functionality and amenity of regional tracks and trails.

Partners Wodonga Men’s Shed and regional Friends groups, as well as individual volunteers, are providing skills from arts to engineering to deliver the program.

The 66km Murray River Red Gum Trail has been the focus in recent months, with Parklands installing numerous chicane gates along the Murray River frontages to improve access. These stock-excluding pedestrian gates were expertly fabricated by the award-winning Wodonga Men’s Shed.

While infrastructure installation is now on hold due to flooding, First Nations artists have commenced work on a different aspect of the program. Nine original murals are currently in the creation stages, to be installed on the bridge structures of the popular Gateway Island river trail later this year.

This program has received funding from the Australian Government. We thank the National Recovery and Resilience Agency for the significant improvements to our regional trails made possible by their Black Summer Bushfire Recovery program. Our thanks also to the Wodonga Men’s Shed who have been fitting in this fabrication work amongst their many other projects.