03 May 2017 Wangaratta Chronicle, Wangaratta VIC (General News) by Leah Tindill A SIGNIFICANT share of $29 million has been allocated in the latest State Government budget to optimise cycling opportunities in Wangaratta and the North East. The North East Cycling Optimisation Project was flagged in the 2017-18 state budget, released shortly before 2pm yesterday, as one of seven key projects for regional Victoria. The exact amount of funding is yet to be announced but the Chronicle understands it will be several million dollars, with the Victorian Premiers office yesterday confirming it was a large share of the $29 million available for the regional projects. Tourism North East chief executive officer Amber Gardner said the organisation was delighted that the project was recognised as a priority project by the government. Essentially what we will be delivering is a broad range of cycling optimisation opportunities, Ms Gardner said. The project involves looking at improvements to the rail trail and extending it to key visitor hubs: for example, from Beechworth to Yackandandah. Were also looking at enhancing the trail with artistic installations. Ms Gardner said some money for the project could also go towards a marketing campaign to attract visitors to the revamped rail trail. Within the cycle tourism space, TNE has focused on the activation of the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail, a hero cycle tourism project for the region, she said. This includes extensions to the core trail, artistic and interpretive enhancements along the trail, private sector activation opportunities associated with the product, and marketing to drive visitation associated with this cycle tourism experience. Labor MP Jaclyn Symes (MLC, Northern Victoria) said the investment in cycling would be a major boon for North East Victoria. The cycling project is something that is supported by all North East councils so Im sure they will be pretty excited to see this, she said. She said Wangaratta could expect to see more money filtering down in coming years, particularly with the announcement of $1.9 billion to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Family Violence. In North East Victoria we have some really hardworking organisations which have been battling away on shoestring (budgets) so any support will help make their jobs easier, Ms Symes said. My job now is to identify the buckets of money that have been allocated and thats where I will go to make investments in my electorate. Caption Text: CASH BOOST: The North East Rail Trail is set to be enhanced and expanded with several million dollars in State Government funding. Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.