Hills in living link

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE Dandenong Ranges is set to become part of a multimillion dollar network of environmental walking tracks stretching as far as Frankston.
The Ranges will be one of many tourist-style stops along the Living Links walking and bike-riding network.
Living Links is a multimillion-dollar, 30-year project that will let people walk or ride on a web of paths linking environmental wonders in Melbourne’s south east without the need to step foot in suburbia.
The project will become an environmental wonderland and a major drawcard for tourists both domestically and internationally.
Living Links will be the flagship project of the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority (PPWCMA) and will be backed by State and local governments, industry and recreational bodies.
A preliminary ‘vision’ map of Living Links shows that people could walk or ride from the Dandenong Ranges National Park to Frankston, Cranbourne or Narre Warren without the need to use Melbourne’s road or rail network, and remaining in a green environment.
It is anticipated there could be up to 500 individual sites along the web of paths.
PPWCMA chief executive officer David Buntine said the project would inject the environment back into the urban sprawl.
“Fortunately many of the building blocks are there,” Mr Buntine said, “like Jells Park, Shepherd’s Bush and the Bushy Park Wetlands.
“At the moment they’re isolated from each other.
“This is about making living links to enhance the environmental and economic attractiveness of the region.”
He likened the effect to New York’s Central Park, and said people on the trail would not realise they were in the middle of suburbia.
The project will also have benefits for the local environment, including council projects put on the back burner because of a lack of priority.
Mr Buntine said participation in the project would give environmental projects within municipalities a purpose to be completed sooner rather than later, with the promise of economic benefits generated by tourism thanks to the Living Links walking trail.
Councils participating in the project include Knox, Greater Dandenong, Monash, Maroondah, and Kingston.
PPWCMA is uncertain of the project’s exact cost, but says it could cost tens of millions of dollars.
To fund it, the PPWCMA is calling for contributions from all levels of government and will open the Living Links paths to business sponsorship programs.