LOCAL PROVISION TOWONG PLANNING SCHEME 21.04-3 TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENT Overview The Shire of Towong is located on the north eastern border of Victoria and New South Wales and occupying an area of approximately 6600 square kilometres. The Shire’s location is significant in terms of being at the headwaters of the mighty Murray River. A number of areas in the Shire, particularly Corryong, relate extensively to areas in New South Wales. The Shire of Towong has an enormous tourist base due to its proximity to the Kosciusko Alpine region, a number of State and National Parks, the Hume, Dartmouth dams and the legend of the “Man from Snowy River”. Seventy percent (70%) of the Shire is public land controlled by either State or National parks, with a large proportion of this public land being used for forestry. The Shire is bordered by Victoria's largest National Park, the Alpine National Park. Other National and State parks are also located within the Shire, including: • Burrowa - Pine National Park (18,400 ha). • State Parks such as Mount Lawson and the Wabba Wilderness Park. These large natural environments provide suitable areas for bushwalking, camping and exploration by vehicles. There are significant buildings, mining heritage and railway bridges which all contribute towards the built and cultural heritage of the Shire. Aboriginal cultural heritage values are also an important part of the history of the municipality, for example, along the Murray River near Bungil. The historic Wodonga - Cudgewa railway line traversing a scenic route over rivers and gullies and including numerous historic bridges and crossings. The use of this alignment as a walking track is currently under investigation. National Trust listed landscapes are located within the municipality. The Upper Mitta Mitta River is also classified as a heritage river under the Heritage Rivers Act 1992. These and other features can provide numerous tourist activities and developments, based around active and passive recreation, accommodation and service related industries. The Shire’s numerous assets, orientated to the attributes of the natural environment provide a comprehensive tourist product. These attributes are however largely unknown and not promoted throughout the State. This situation could be expanded and improved by developing linkages to: • The Milawa, Murray Valley and Gippsland tourist regions. • New South Wales regions such as the Kosciusko, Snowy Mountains and Alpine regions, enabling the natural tourism features to be marketed as a comprehensive product. Improved linkages to other activities associated with agriculture and tourism could be developed, due to the production of gourmet type products. The increasing development and role of the Hume corridor as the nation’s major transport corridor, and the possible development of faster, larger capacity transportation modes also places the Shire in an excellent position to promote its products and environmental attributes. VicRoads has an important role to play in providing thematic signage for tourists travelling within and through the Shire. MUNICIPAL STRATEGIC STATEMENT - CLAUSE 21.04-3 PAGE 1 OF 2 16 DECEMBER 2004 LOCAL PROVISION TOWONG PLANNING SCHEME Issues • Protection of heritage landscapes from plantation development. • Protection of the historic Wodonga - Cudgewa railway bridges and development of the former rail reserve as a recreation trail. • Protection of Koori cultural sites and places. • Development of tourist linkages to other Victorian and New South Wales tourist regions. • Ensure that as much roadside vegetation is retained as possible, and that roads are maintained to an appropriate standard. Objectives • Protect National Trust listed landscapes and other major natural, heritage and built features of the Shire. • Ensure tourist development and experiences are linked with the agricultural economy and, the attributes of the natural environment. Strategies • Strengthen the position the Shire’s tourist product around its natural environment, heritage assets, its location and accessibility to Melbourne and Sydney via the Hume Freeway, Canberra, Snowy Mountains, alpine areas, Gippsland Riviera and Murray Valley tourist regions. • Develop tourist trails based on cultural, environmental, railway, mining and built heritage. • Develop, implement and manage a rail trail using the former Wodonga - Cudgewa rail line. • Railway lines, disused road reserves and miscellaneous crown land policy to ensure that remnant vegetation and habitat is not indiscriminately destroyed and to use these areas for the stockpiling of seed and vegetation types. • Carry out a heritage study to identify heritage places and buildings. • Have regard to the Aboriginal cultural resource management grid map and guidelines provided by Aboriginal Affairs Victoria. • Develop an agricultural tourist trail based on the natural products from the region. Planning scheme implementation Apply the following zones, overlays and local policies: • Significant Landscape Overlay to protect the visual quality of landscape identified by the National Trust and those landscapes surrounding Lake Hume. • Tourist development policy to assist both builders and designers to have regard to the natural environment, site constraints and environmental hazards when designing and locating buildings. MUNICIPAL STRATEGIC STATEMENT - CLAUSE 21.04-3 PAGE 2 OF 2 16 DECEMBER 2004.