Mayor Robyn Gulline and Council staff took Senator Bridget McKenzie on a guided tour of Horsham on Thursday that took in a key Horsham Rural City Council priority north of the railway line.
Senator McKenzie is the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development as well as The Nationals' Senate Leader.
The excursion included Horsham Town Hall and Regional Art Gallery as well as a stopover at the riverfront area where Federal and State Government-funded activation projects that are now coming to fruition.
Cr Gulline said the push for Horsham City Oval funding, the Wesley Community Centre reactivation and the plan to remove highway trucks from the city were all on the agenda, but front of mind was the Horsham North Rail Corridor Revitalisation project.
Senator McKenzie spent time at the Horsham North site where Council's plans to create community open space in the former rail yards area was discussed in detail.
"We thank Senator McKenzie for taking the time to visit the rail corridor site and hear our plans to develop parkland and open space there," Cr Gulline said.
"The revitalisation of this unattractive area is a high priority for the community and Council is continuing to talk with higher levels of government about the funding required to advance it.
"Remediation of the contaminated land has taken lot longer than expected, and the fact that Council doesn't own or lease this part of the rail corridor has stalled progress up until now.
"But we are currently looking at options that would give us greater control when it comes to delivering what the community and Council wants to see happen," she said.
The rail corridor has been vacant since the relocation of freight operations from the site to Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal at Dooen in 2012.
A landscaping plan for this project is being completed and Council has started works on the smaller parcel of land on the south side of the station that we currently lease from VicTrack.
Site owner VicTrack is currently completing remediation works on the site with the clean-up due by March 1, 2023.
The Horsham North Rail Corridor Revitalisation Project is a $2 million project and HRCC is seeking $1.9 million in external funding.
The project includes the following project:
- Rehabilitation of previously contaminated land along the rail corridor
- Landscaping, recreation and open space improvements
- Further provision of parking and public access to the new silo art.
