Sky time for tourism plan

By Melissa Meehan
MARYSVILLE visitors could soon be looking to the sky if former Chamber of Commerce president David Barton gets his way.
He has proposed that both Federal and State Governments should build a Skyrail from Marysville to Lake Mountain.
Without a truly international tourism draw card, Mr Barton said the town needed something to significantly increase visitor numbers to survive.
“Without a large infrastructure project Marysville would struggle to see any hope of an improved, bright and sustainable future,” Mr Barton said.
He said Marysville was already a struggling town in need of a “massive injection of support” before the Black Saturday fires razed the town and business owners needed to know whether there would be stability in the future before making a decision to rebuild.
Mr Barton said the proposal has the potential to be a major tourist attraction to the immediate eastern side of Melbourne which would draw visitors.
The proposed Skyrail would include a continuous cable mounted gondola system being constructed between Marysville and Lake Mountain, similar to one built north of Cairns.
“Such a project would be unique to Victoria and the construction phase would provide employment for hundreds of people, both locally and nation wide,” he said.
Such employment opportunities would provide the seed for business growth and help fill local schools and community centres, he said.
While many residents believed that Marysville needed a conference centre to survive, Mr Barton said relying on the centre and Lake Mountain was not enough.
“They cannot bring in sufficient tourist numbers to underpin the year-round functioning of Marysville,” he said, “or employ sufficient staff numbers to boost the essential resident population of the town.”
Mr Barton said that Marysville required a large government department, a large industry and a major tourist attraction to provide employment.
Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA) spokesperson Melissa Arch said there was no current plan to build a skyrail in Marysville.
“The community was widely consulted with by the CRC (Co-operative Research Centres) and provided a list of things that the town needed.
“A skyrail was not on the agenda,” she said.
Last week Federal Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson and State Minister for Tourism Tim Holding visited Narbethong to make a funding announcement for bushfire affected communities.
The two ministers met with Narbethong tourism operators to discuss the final details of the $10 million Victorian Bushfire Tourism Industry Support Package.
Funding for the area includes $170,000 for event support and marketing including the Marysville Longest Lunch, Marysville Marathon, and support for the key towns of Yea, Alexandra, Marysville and Lake Mountain as well as $15,000 funding for both the Grape Grazing Festival and Melba Festival in the Yarra Valley.