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The small community of Gilmore has delivered a strong message to rail trail advocates – “we are not going to go away”. The Tumut-Batlow Rail Trail Project held a launch day at Tumut on Saturday, but was met with around 100 angry protesters. The proposal is to spend $6 million of taxpayer money to make a 34-kilometre rail trail from Tumut to Batlow, going through Gilmore. But the majority of Gilmore residents are against the project, according to the Gilmore Progress Association. Its president, Jonathan Caffery, said landholders were being left in the dark in what the plans actually involve. “No one has been consulted,” Mr Caffery said. “We tried to have a sit down and go over plans 12 months ago. Today, we still haven’t seen a business plan. “How can we talk and discuss the proposal if they don’t even show us a business plan?” Mr Caffery said a rail trail posed a serious biosecurity risk, as well as landholders’ personal security. “If one farm gets footrot on their land, it’ll spread right down the pathway. Farms would be quarantined and then what?” Mr Caffery added there were already established walking trails nearby. “We’ve already got the Hume and Hovell walking track and it’s been left to disrepair. “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’d tell people what’s going on.” The Gilmore Progress Association, representing all concerned landholders, was told it would not be involved in discussions with the Tumut-Batlow Rail Trail Project organisers. Mr Caffery said the project wished to speak to landholders individually. The proposal would see the entire rail trail fenced off – a move that Mr Caffery said would hamper farmers in the area. “They’d be cutting off stock routes and access for landholders,” Mr Caffery said. “Farmers bought the land to farm, not to have a cycleway run through it.” The issue will be raised in Tuesday night’s council meeting, to be held at Talbingo.

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