7 June 2024

Proposed Loop Walk
Not Going Ahead As Planned 

Last week the Great Ocean Road Coastal Trail Project Control Board recommended that the proposal to extend the Kennett River Nature Walk to create a Kennett River loop walk, as proposed in the Great Ocean Road Coastal Trail Master Plan, be removed from the Great Ocean Road Coastal Trail project’s scope.

The decision has been made on the back of the feature level survey undertaken in February 2024. This showed that the river has moved since the title boundaries were originally established and extending the Kennett River Nature Trail to create a loop walk could not be constructed on the proposed alignment.

For a loop walk to be established, it would need to have a new alignment on the northern/eastern side of Kennett River.

Establishing the proposed loop walk on this new alignment would include at least one, if not two, new river crossings, which would cause significant cost implications and delays to the broader project delivery. This has resulted in the difficult decision to remove the proposed loop walk from the Great Ocean Road Coastal Trail project scope. 

The project is proceeding with planning the trail to link Kennett River to Grey River via Mt Meuron. 

This is particularly good news for the local mob of kangaroos, who are being heavily impacted and frequently disturbed through high visitation on the planned foraging corridor - now not being upgraded.