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It’s 2016 and Council staff, Councilors, a Trail Builder and State Government reps walk into a conference room at the RACV resort and are confronted with some rubber ducks on a table.
The ducks are in a row.
It took a lot of work to get that meeting to occur and the ducks represented what had, what was and what needed to happen to make the concept of a Creswick Trail Network a reality.
The community stepped all the decision makers through the process and it worked, but there was opposition.
The council staff in the room said it couldn’t be done.
"It was too hard, too big and unachievable" they said. One even had the audacity to suggest the money would be better spent in Daylesford. You NEVER do that to a group of Creswick locals so that only steeled the resolve of the community members present.
As it turned out those council staff weren’t around for much longer anyway.
There has always been a lingering reluctance (of varying degrees) from council regarding this project, but when $2.54m is given to you in April 2017, they reluctantly came on board.
The community members continued to push behind the scenes with varying levels of success. But they never gave up, they remained passionate, they attended all the feedback sessions, wrote letters, lobbied government and did everything in their power to ensure this project moved forward.
And move forward it did. Sometimes with good pace and often at a glacial pace. It was a lesson in how ineffective government processes can be and how much of a black hole it can be when it comes to visibility of how money is spent.
But the goal was achieved. Sure the goalposts were moved a number of times from that first meeting, but we are now at a point where the local community will benefit from this project. New businesses can start, tourism can flourish and our youth have an incredible asset on their very doorstep. It is not unreasonable to think that a future Mountain Bike World Champion or Olympian may get their start on the Creswick Trails. It is our dream that that may occur one day.
If you are one of those community members who pushed this project before the ducks appeared, if you were in the room on that day in 2015, or if you’ve advocated for this project in the nearly 2700 days that have passed since the funding was announced in 2017….Thankyou.
We aren't going to mention names because we will miss someone but know that you are seen and your efforts appreciated - a subtle tip of the hat, a wink and a knowing look to you all. You did it.
This is a legacy project developed by the community, for the community. May it forever stay that way.
Now get out, ride the trails and know that some rubber ducks in a room nearly a decade ago played a big part in getting this project done.
The ducks are in a row.
It took a lot of work to get that meeting to occur and the ducks represented what had, what was and what needed to happen to make the concept of a Creswick Trail Network a reality.
The community stepped all the decision makers through the process and it worked, but there was opposition.
The council staff in the room said it couldn’t be done.
"It was too hard, too big and unachievable" they said. One even had the audacity to suggest the money would be better spent in Daylesford. You NEVER do that to a group of Creswick locals so that only steeled the resolve of the community members present.
As it turned out those council staff weren’t around for much longer anyway.
There has always been a lingering reluctance (of varying degrees) from council regarding this project, but when $2.54m is given to you in April 2017, they reluctantly came on board.
The community members continued to push behind the scenes with varying levels of success. But they never gave up, they remained passionate, they attended all the feedback sessions, wrote letters, lobbied government and did everything in their power to ensure this project moved forward.
And move forward it did. Sometimes with good pace and often at a glacial pace. It was a lesson in how ineffective government processes can be and how much of a black hole it can be when it comes to visibility of how money is spent.
But the goal was achieved. Sure the goalposts were moved a number of times from that first meeting, but we are now at a point where the local community will benefit from this project. New businesses can start, tourism can flourish and our youth have an incredible asset on their very doorstep. It is not unreasonable to think that a future Mountain Bike World Champion or Olympian may get their start on the Creswick Trails. It is our dream that that may occur one day.
If you are one of those community members who pushed this project before the ducks appeared, if you were in the room on that day in 2015, or if you’ve advocated for this project in the nearly 2700 days that have passed since the funding was announced in 2017….Thankyou.
We aren't going to mention names because we will miss someone but know that you are seen and your efforts appreciated - a subtle tip of the hat, a wink and a knowing look to you all. You did it.
This is a legacy project developed by the community, for the community. May it forever stay that way.
Now get out, ride the trails and know that some rubber ducks in a room nearly a decade ago played a big part in getting this project done.
