Glenreagh Men’s Shed the first step in community vision Coffs Coast Coffs Coast by News Of The Area - Modern Media - November 7, 2021November 7, 2021 Stewart Mackie hands over the keys to the Glenreagh Men’s Shed’s Dale Rogers. A MAJOR step in a visionary community project was taken at Glenreagh on Saturday, 30 October. As previously reported in News Of The Area, the Glenreagh Men’s Shed opened in September, and Saturday saw the official handing over of the keys by Stewart Mackie, the President of Glenreagh Mountain Railway Incorporated. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Mr Mackie said that the Shed was the first stage in a long-term plan to create a vibrant, community-based development using railway land handed over to the Mountain Railway 34 years ago by the State Government. The land was granted on the condition that it was used for heritage railway and community use. It includes the sites of Lowanna and Ulong stations. The Glenreagh section has 35km of track and approximately 48 hectares of land. A similar amount of track as it rises connects with 35km of track granted to the Dorrigo Steam Rail and Museum as it climbs 900m through world heritage rainforest areas to Dorrigo. The railway carried mainly timber and cattle freight with some passengers until the 1970’s. Currently, there is a usable track at each end, but the middle 28km is unusable because of bridges in disrepair. Mr Mackie said, “Heritage steam railways by themselves are rarely viable, so multiple uses are needed to make the overall project work.” His group envisages a range of uses on the land, including cycling trails, walking tracks and camping. According to Mr Mackie, handing over the keys to the Men’s Shed was an enormous step forward for community use. He said that his group is hoping to get a Men’s Shed in a similar building at Lowanna as the next step in the projects. The group also wants to use the facility with young people as well and have approached TAFE NSW to deliver training courses. The project currently sits in Coffs Harbour and Grafton Local Government Areas, and could also extend into Bellingen Shire. As such, support is needed from the State Government, local governments and community groups, and Mr Mackie said that there was a lot of in-principle support from all areas. Mr Mackie said, “It’s a long-term, expensive project.” “We want to establish business units at each end to fund improvements and provide jobs.” By Andrew VIVIAN
