MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors have thrown their support behind a proposal to build a scenic path connecting Mornington to Moorooduc along the railway corridor. The initiative would form part of the grand vision for a Peninsula Trails project, a 170km network of connected trails traversing the Mornington Peninsula. Construction of the Somerville-Baxter Trail began in January as part of the project and is expected to be completed by the end of the year (Work begins on the Somerville to Baxter Trail, The News 14/01/25).
However, councillors only narrowly supported the new trail at their 20 May meeting after some expressed concern about environmental impacts. Under the proposal, the Mornington to Moorooduc Station path would connect from Wooralla Dr, and from Mornington Station to the Esplanade, however, it would ultimately need approval from VicTrack, which owns the Mornington railway corridor land. The path would also use two rail crossings that are not currently on the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model register. Council officers would investigate whether the two crossings can be used safely for trail users.
Deputy mayor councillor Paul Pingiaro said the proposed path was already used daily by people, some spots where vegetation had been trampled on, which was now about the council “tidying it up”. “It’s about us taking control of what’s being used there and working with the key stakeholders, being both VicTrack and the Mornington Tourist Railway,” he said. “There are already environmental overlays in there and the friend’s groups are doing a great job. It’s up to Victrack to tell us what we can do but we’re not talking V-line trains here; we’re talking about a tourist railway that runs typically on a Sunday or a public holiday.”
A council report said the proposed path alignment “offers a high-quality experience through grassy woodland while complementing the tourist railway”. “It connects well with schools and open space and provides a direct route from Moorooduc to Mornington with fewer major road crossings. Formalising the trail would improve safety, replace informal tracks, and help manage the impact on fragile vegetation,” it said. However, the report noted it would “require the removal of significant and ecologically valuable vegetation, which could result in an unacceptable and irreversible environmental impact”.
The council will also consider Anthony’s Nose, an escarpment located on the southern shore of Port Phillip Bay, between Dromana and McCrae, which would form a Bay Trail link. The council will work with the Dromana Foreshore Committee to create designs. “From Anthony’s Nose boat ramp to McCrae, the preferred solution is a combination of a concrete pathway and a boardwalk adjacent to the existing seawall,” the report said. “There is still risk associated with this alignment, specifically around the cost required to design a safe and durable solution given the predicted rising sea levels.”
Cr Max Patton, who did not support the proposed path, said while the project was a good idea, it was “incredibly complex,” and the “best thing to do would just be to have a path that goes straight through; no biodiversity impacts, no problems with rails”. “I have really strong concerns about committing to that alignment when there’s so many unanswered questions,” he said, noting up to four hectares of biodiversity “would be irrecoverable”.
Cr Kate Roper said while she really wanted the Peninsula Trail to be linked, she was concerned about the council being unlikely to get permission to use existing railway crossings, as well as a loss of vegetation. “I’m really torn; I really want to go ahead but I think this is the wrong moment,” she said. “It’s going to delay it longer … we’re going to go through this process, never get permission and be back to square one and back here deciding on another alignment.”
Cr Bruce Ranken stated that as the path was already being used, “unless we get on and we preserve it, it’s only going do more environmental damage”.
Flinders MP Zoe McKenzie committed $5m in funding during the federal election for the Mornington to Moorooduc section via the rail corridor, conditional on the election of a Dutton Liberal government.
Mornington Community Safe Link member Ross Kilborn said their group was supportive of the proposal given the existing Peninsula Link Trail runs from Melbourne and stops at Moorooduc.
“More importantly, from a resident’s point of view, if you go within the rail corridor, you’re going to connect up with most of our schools, most of our shopping centres, and most of our sports,” he said.
“You also create a whole corridor that is going to attract visitors, because you’re going to have a heritage steam train running alongside a path where people can walk and ride.”
Andrew Swain from the Mornington Peninsula Tourist Railway said they had been pushing for the new trail for the past five years. “We’re totally in favour of it. It will help us and the rare and endangered species along the corridor as well because by being able to put people onto a coordinated path we can stop people wandering off along the corridor which they are now”.
In term of environmental impacts, Kilborn said a vegetation plan was critical including planting and addressing “what is a lot of degraded environmental areas” due to people already using the unmade path. The safe link group has launched an online petition in support of the proposal, attracting 3761 signatures. Council has put $660,000 in the 2025-26 budget to progress with detailed designs for the Peninsula Trails.
First published in the Mornington News – 27 May 2025
