Rail Trail ruckus
Scottsdale Rotary railway precinct project manager Robin Thomspon and North Eastern Tasmania Chamber of Commerce chair Fiona Auton are angry at what they say is a laco of strategic vision by some Dorset Councillors over Stage 3 of the Rail Trail.
By Rachel Williams
Five Dorset Councillors have voted to delay a decision on whether Dorset will keep the $6 million North East Rail Trail expansion as a priority project in a move that leaders fear will cause reputational damage to the area.
In what’s been described as embarrassing flip-flopping, the Council’s stance on the major development will sit in limbo until Councillors nut out their position at a closed council workshop next month.
Mayor Rhys Beattie and North Eastern Tasmania Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman Fiona Auton are furious that the matter was back on the agenda at Monday night’s meeting.
Cr Wendy McLennan moved a motion for Dorset Council to remove stage 3 (from Scottsdale to Lilydale) from the Strategic Plan as a priority project and, as a consequence, remove it from the Annual Plan and Operational Plan.
Cr McLennan argued there is ongoing uncertainty regarding the project’s viability and net benefits to Dorset, the project was divisive and did not have clear, broad community support.
It’s the latest in a long running saga for the project which was subject to a new independent business case when the Council was under the management of Commissioner Andrew Wardlaw that found a 1:5 cost benefit ratio.
Councillors voted in support of the project just last June subject to City of Launceston (CoL) collaboration. CoL is midway through investigations to support its side of the trail, as well as a potential connection from Lilydale Falls into the Lilydale Town Centre.
Cr Beattie said the situation was an embarrassment and Mrs Auton agreed, saying those against the project had no fiscally sound alternative plan to create jobs and bring visitors to the region.
“This is irrevocably damaging our reputation. It’s embarrassing. It makes us look like a bunch of amateurs who don’t know what we are doing,” Ms Auton said.
“It goes against what the chamber is trying to achieve in boosting business activity in the region. It was very clear that the bulk of the councillors don’t know what a strategic plan is and how it works. The strategic plan should not be changed at this point as this is what has been voted on and accepted by Council last June.
“Cr McLennan needs to take this off the agenda and get out of the region’s way.”
The 40km Rail Trail extension is deemed a transformational project by General Manager John Marik and is listed as a Regional Priority Project by the Northern Tasmania Development Corporation.
Mr Marik said changing course now would be seen as a blow to the Council’s values, trust and integrity given COL had spent a “huge amount of money” on the project at Dorset’s request.
“If Dorset Council were to reset the strategic direction at short notice and only eight months from the June 2025 decision by Council to pursue stage 3 Rail Trail funding, this poses a significant relationship risk as a result of wasted effort and resources,” Mr Marik said. “This notice of motion has far-reaching consequences.”
Cr McLennan’s motion was seconded by Cr Nick Bicanic, both of whom were not in attendance at the June 2025 meeting when support was last confirmed.
She said she had raised the matter now because Dorset Council could not afford it and it was not essential to core services.
But Mr Marik said there was no money budgeted for the project by Council, with meetings being held as recently as last week with federal politicians to lobby for funding.
Cr Bicanic said as a business owner he didn’t think the numbers stacked up. “If you think the projected 59 people a day will use it then you still believe in Santa,” he said.
Cr Vincent Teichmann suggested putting the project “on the back burner” in the short-term in favour of “more realistic projects”.
He had abstained from the vote on supporting the project last June after wanting to see the trail expanded to include an extension to Legerwood and Branxholm – a matter he again raised on Monday night.
Cr Anthony Richards, who was not an elected Councillor at the June 2025 meeting, spoke in support of Cr McLennan’s motion. While he said he “wouldn’t like to see it chucked forever” he’d prefer to see a focus on the Railway Station Precinct.
Cr’s Mervyn Chilcott, Kahlia Simmons, Jan Hughes and Rhys Beattie all spoke strongly in favour of the Rail Trail.
Cr Chilcott said the only reason it hadn’t already been built for a much lesser cost was “futile” court appeals.
“People will come as they have done in other areas across Australia and New Zealand,” he said. “Now is not the time to hesitate. Now is the time to press in to go harder.”
Cr Hughes said she was worried Council would lose respect over the matter given it was still not recovered from the reputational damage of the Board of Inquiry.
“We need to show big picture thinking. If we can’t think ahead for our future generations then we are not doing our job,” she said.
Cr Simmons said the project aligned with the Council’s liveability and sustainability goals and would bring economic and community benefit.
“Abandoning it at this stage would come at a poor time. We would lose momentum, stakeholder confidence and funding opportunities.”
Cr Beattie was ropeable during debate.
“The business case says it will return $44.3 million over 10 years. Any businessman who thinks that’s poor should be looking at something different to do,” he said.
Cr Beattie said arguments to focus on the station precinct instead of the trail were misguided, given that the station precinct project was already being progressed as a complementary project.
“Would you paint a picture without paint, would you build a kitchen without screws, would you go to a woodchop without an axe? I am a bit wild about this to tell you the truth.
“We have to be patient. If we weren’t in such difficult fiscal times, I would borrow some money and get it built.”
Deputy Mayor Edwina Powell said it was timely for all Councillors to have an opinion and express it to the public.
She said discussions with CoL had been conducted in good faith and the timing was wrong for a change of heart.
“Businesses are expecting an upshift. The Rail Trail is a long-term plan grounded in a better future for nature-based tourism.”
However, she supported a procedural motion to defer a decision until after a workshop – along with Cr’s McLennan, Bicanic, Teichmann and Richards.
Cr McLennan is standing by her decision to raise the issue, despite being subject to personal attacks. After the meeting she said she was “glad she put her head on the chopping block”.
“They are ropeable at me but I am doing my job as a Councillor to ask questions about why we are pursuing a priority project when we haven’t done anything to finish stages one and two before we launch off onto the next stage. The Rotary Club has had funds since 2018 and the station is so badly vandalised it nearly needs to be demolished and stage one finishes in the middle of nowhere at the top of the Billycock.”
Rotary Club of Scottsdale member Robin Thompson, who is project managing the Railway Station Precinct renewal project said the “flip-flopping” was beyond disappointing because the Rail Trail and Railway Station projects were interlinked.
Mr Thompson said there was a $150,000 government grant, $100,000 from Dorset Council and $50,000 plus in-kind support from Rotary ready to spend on new doors, windows and external painting to get the building to lock up stage. Quotes are currently being sourced ready for work to start.
“The problem is that the Councillors can’t decide what they want to use the building for. We have had discussion of potential relocation for the Visitor Centre and some of them are anti a private-public partnership which is a shame because you don’t want to create a public purse dependency.
“There is enough space for the visitor information centre, rail trail users and private investment to co-exist there.
“I have walked Councillors through it. I have been to their workshops. They know what is going on. They need to empower their operational staff to actually carry out the policies they set so we can get on with it.”