By JESSE GRAHAM
A PASSIONATE Healesvillian is spearheading a campaign to create a path from the town’s station to main shopping strip and take a snapshot of the town in one unique project.
Robyn Johnson is at the helm of the Healesville Railway Walk project, which will see a path constructed between Healesville’s railway station to the main street.
The path will be unique in that it will comprise pavers purchased by community members, with family names and local business logos laser cut into the surface.
Ms Johnson pitched the idea, which will run in partnership with the Yarra Ranges Council, and at last week’s Healesville Chamber of Commerce meeting, members were supportive of the plan.
She said the idea came from her observation that there was no signage or proper path connecting the town to the station, and wanted to make it a project as part of Healesville’s 150th birthday.
“What we want to do is to create a safe walking path from the station to the town,” she said.
“The bigger idea is, if you’re strolling up from the station, wouldn’t it be great if you could look down and see the families that lived in town in 2014 – a snapshot?”
The path, when completed, will stretch from the outside of the station, travel parallel to the Maroondah Highway, crossing Glenfern Road, and finish at the corner of Church and Nicholson streets (Maroondah Highway).
Ms Johnson said she hoped that street lights could be installed along the walk once completed, in a similar fashion to the green, powder-coated lights lining the main street of the town.
She said there was an extremely short timeframe for the project, which was estimated to cost $140,000, but that she hoped community members would embrace the idea.
She said the path would not just be for tourists visiting the town or travelling on the trains when the railway line between Yarra Glen and Healesville re-opens, but for locals to access the railway station park with their families.
Chamber of Commerce president Graham Taylor applauded Ms Johnson’s project and urged community members to get behind it.
“We believe that the chamber, for Healesville’s 150th year, needs to adopt a project – we want to get involved in a project that will make a big difference,” he said.
“We think it’s marvellous that Robyn is volunteering to do all this work – we endorse it as Healesville Chamber of Commerce and recommend it.”
Pavers for the Railway Walk range from $35 for small pavers, through to $70 for larger, two-paver family packages, and up to $845 for nine large pavers.
Raffle tickets are also on sale at a number of local shops for $5, to raise money for the project. The raffle, which features a number of prizes from local businesses, will be drawn at November’s Heritage Festival.
For more information on the Railway Walk, visit www.facebook.com/pages/Healesville-Railway-Walk/248561441995928 or contact Robyn Johnson on budgie41@bigpond.com.
