A formal submission has been lodged with Hilltops Council questioning whether the proposed Boorowa-Galong Rail Trail represents the best use of $11.54 million in public funds, despite assurances from the project’s proponents that construction costs will be sought through government grants and philanthropic funding, rather than from Council’s own budget.

The 27 kilometre trail, proposed to run along the disused railway corridor between Boorowa and Galong, has been the subject of a feasibility study (2022) and a development plan (2024).

Proponents argue the trail would generate $2.94 million in annual economic benefit from an estimated 24,790 visitors.

The submission, lodged by Peter Finch, a Queensland based researcher, contends that the economic case for the project has not been adequately established and that significant questions remain unanswered before any commitment of public funds, whether from grants or Council’s own budget, should proceed.

“Grant funding is still public money," Mr Finch said.

"The obligation to spend it wisely and to demonstrate genuine community benefit does not diminish because the source is State or Federal Government rather than local rates.”

Central to the submission is the absence of any meaningful commercial infrastructure at Galong, one of the trail’s two terminus towns.

With a population of just 235 people, Galong has no retail shops, no food outlets, and no operating hotel.

The submission argued that visitor spending projections, built on an assumption of $151 per day per visitor, presuppose the existence of businesses capable of receiving that spending, yet no such businesses exist at the Galong end of the trail.

The submission also challenged the feasibility study’s reliance on the Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail as a benchmark for visitor projections.

The Tumbarumba trail operates within the Snowy Mountains, one of New South Wales’ most visited recreational tourism destinations, with an established ecosystem of accommodation, restaurants, and attractions that amplifies visitor spending.

The Boorowa-Galong corridor, a working agricultural landscape on the southern tablelands, does not benefit from a comparable existing tourism catchment according to Mr Finch.

Mr Finch said two councils in adjoining South West Slopes regions to Hilltops can offer case study information - Upper Lachlan Shire Council withdrew support for the Crookwell to Goulburn rail trail in June 2022 citing financial risk, existing infrastructure priorities, landholder opposition, and regional benefit imbalance, with some councillors arguing that Goulburn would be the primary beneficiary of any benefits.

Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council shelved plans for the Cootamundra Tumblong rail trail in 2020 when it could not raise the $19.7 million needed to repair the Murrumbidgee River bridge at Gundagai and install a cycleway.

The 70 kilometre rail trail will cost an additional $31.5 million, making the cost of this rail trail around $51.2 million, plus annual maintenance of around $2.048 million.

Maintenance of the Boorowa to Galong rail trail is also of additional concern to Hilltops Council, it is an ongoing annual liability estimated at $66,400 on a flood-prone corridor requiring the inspection and if necessary, repairs to 18 bridges and culverts.

The submission recommended independent actuarial assessment of long-term maintenance costs before construction proceeds.

The submission recommends that Council commission an independent economic review of visitor projections, conduct a detailed assessment of the Galong commercial infrastructure gap, undertake a formal comparison of this project against alternative uses of equivalent capital, and conduct broad community consultation beyond the rail trail advocacy community before committing to any expenditure.

“The residents and ratepayers of the Hilltops Council area deserve confidence that this level of public expenditure, whatever its source, is the best available use of their resources," Mr Finch said.

"That confidence has not yet been established.”