SECTION 2 - THE STUDY APPROACH

2.1 Scope of the Project

• An overview history of rail trail developments in WA and other States and give an outline of the basic concepts and features of existing rail trail developments;
  
  
• Advice on the practicality of establishing a trail on the former railway formation between Torbay and Elleker;
  
  
• Identification and discussion of the main issues concerning the proposed trail and give recommendations concerning the subsequent approval and implementation process;
  
  
• Examples of successful techniques used in other rail-trails overcoming the concerns of adjoining landowners and farmers; and
  
  
• A outline of the costs in developing a rail-trail between Torbay and Elleker, and the works involved.

Naturally, those living alongside the corridor have a direct and often very personal interest in the corridor and perceive that they will be losers out of any conversion to a rail-trail due to interruption to long-established farming practices, negative impacts on lifestyles, and loss of currently-used land. The "winners" from such a project are often a much more diverse and geographically-spread group - local users, visitors, local businesses. This is a typical pattern for the impacts of most public infrastructure projects. It is important that such a project be cognisant of all these interests and concerns.

Section 3 (community consultation) goes into detail about consultation undertaken to elicit the range of views and concerns.

It is must be remembered that the corridor is public land and is owned by all residents of Western Australia (while acknowledging existing use and practice by adjoining landholders).

The disused railway corridor provides the Torbay Catchment Group with opportunities to get involved in a range of land care issues. For the Green Skills organisation in Denmark, the Denmark Rail Trail involved not just construction of a recreational trail, but also fencing, revegetation and bush rehabilitation work at various locations along the Rail Trail. This project undertook weed control on 6ha of trail reserve as well as 2.7 ha (and 4000 plants) of revegetation with local native species. Green Skills also coordinated fencing 400m to ensure stock exclusion from the Quarram Rail Reserve and Siding site and the revegetation site.

Similarly, the proposed Torbay Elleker Rail Trail would enable the Torbay Catchment Group to be involved in weed eradication, revegetation, stock control and fencing of remnant vegetation along the disused railway corridor, as well as providing the community with a recreation resource that evidently is in demand.

This Rail Trail development plan includes various environmental projects very relevant to the work of the Torbay Catchment Group which could proceed even if the trail project did not.