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WIMMERA emergency service leaders believe the Grampians Peaks Trail will bring additional challenges for emergency response in the area.
The 144-kilometre trail will run from Mount Zero in the north to Mount Abrupt – overlooking Dunkeld and the surrounding volcanic plains – in the south.
The trail is being completed in stages, with the first stage – a 36-kilometre, three-day, two-night circuit walk from Halls Gap – opened in 2015.
The full 13-day, 12-night experience is due to open in late 2019.
Country Fire Authority district 17 operations manager Dale Russell said tourism potential for the trail was huge.
“There will be increased tourism as it gets built and the campgrounds are put in, and it's reasonable to expect emergency service responses will increase,” he said.
“The more people there are, the more likelihood there is of injury, which puts more pressure on emergency groups.
“For any rescue situation or medical emergency at Mt Arapiles or in the Grampians, clearly there's a time and space issue in terms of where the person is, and where responders are to get to them.
“Because of the Grampians the way it is – and with the peaks trail being so long – we’ll find it increasingly challenging as an emergency sector.
“We don’t want to stifle tourism and activities, but the more people doing these sorts of activities, the more chance there is of someone hurting themselves.”
Stawell State Emergency Service unit controller Alan Blight said access to the peaks trail was a concern for unit members.
“We know the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Parks Victoria are working very hard to implement evacuation plans and areas that we can get into on the trail,” he said.
“But until then, as the trail is being built and campgrounds are set up, access is an issue and a concern for us.
“The majority of the peak trail can be quite difficult to access, and a lot of the camping areas are not accessible by road.
“The peaks trail will be fantastic, but it will certainly make our job harder.”
State Emergency Service mid-west region operations manager Kendra Clegg – who is based in Horsham – said Parks Victoria, the department and governments had ensured emergency service agencies were well informed during every step of the trail project.
“We see the positive economic advantage the trail will bring and what a fantastic project it is, and we also acknowledge what the project will mean for us and our resources,” she said.
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