Staff
We welcome Rhonda McNeil to the Grampians team. Rhonda comes to us from Central Region and takes up the position of Fire Operations Officer which has a focus on the Grampians and Black Range as well as the wider Wimmera District.
We are excited about the return to work by Suzy Skurrie who has been on sick leave for several months. Suzy will initially work part time, one to two days a week.
Summer Ranger, Emily Bedggood, will assist over the next few months with the preparation work for the reintroduction of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby.
Fire Recovery Works
Easter will see the reopening of a number of destinations in the southern end of the Wonderland Range, including Sundial Car Park, Sundial and Lake View Lookouts, and Delleys Dell, Dairy Creek, and Mount Rosea Walking Tracks.
Silverband Road is reopening and will have a one-way direction between Rosea Car Park and Silverband Falls Car Park. The one way direction has been developed in consultation with VicRoads in response to the narrowness of this road.
Parks Victoria has appointed fourteen staff to assist with fire recovery works. After Easter the focus will be on restoration of access over the Major Mitchell Plateau. The logistics of this work is challenging and there will be a heavy reliance on the use of helicopters to transport staff, materials and equipment.
Roadworks
Resurfacing works have recently been completed on Jimmy Creek Road. This road is an important entry point to the Park and provides access to Mafeking and the Jimmy Creek Campground. In the past Jimmy Creek Road has been difficult to maintain and required frequent attention. The new gravel surface will provide an improved and safer driving experience that requires less maintenance.
We have received some strong feedback about the condition of a number of our key roads in the Grampians, particularly the Halls Gap – Mount Zero Road. We are well equipped in the Grampians with a large grader, but moisture is needed in the road surface to be able to carry out effective grading. The moisture is needed to bond with clay in the road surface, and without it, we end up with a dusty, loose surface. Adding water in the quantities needed is expensive and a drain on current supplies. The cheapest and easiest solution is good rain over a period long enough for moisture to penetrate the road surface, but this has been in short supply.
Campground improvements
Planning is well under way for significant improvements to a number of campgrounds in the Grampians. The works will be funded through additional major works funding totalling 1.5 million dollars provided over a two year period. The planning work will be carried out this financial year and works implemented in 2008 – 2009. We now have conceptual designs for improvements to Jimmy Creek, Smiths Mill, Boreang, Buandik, Plantation and Stapylton Campgrounds, and will carrying out the detailed design work over the next few months. Design work will also be untaken for the Rosea Hikers Camp to replace the site that was destroyed in the 2006 Grampians Fire. And a walking track between Smiths Mill Campground and Mackenzie Falls.