THE Alpine Shire Council unanimously voted to award a contract for the construction of phase one of the Dinner Plain Activation building works at their council meeting last week.

Council awarded the contract to Midson Construction Pty Ltd for $503,644.

Phase one of the building works includes the construction of two bus shelters and a bus bay at the entry to Dinner Plain, an upgrade to Scrubbers Hut, the construction of a shelter and amenities at the 'Peashooter' tobogganing slope and car park improvement works near Scrubbers Hut.

The car parking upgrades were completed in May 2022, while all phase one works are planned to be completed by 30 June 2023.

According to council, initial phase one plans also included a mountain bike shelter adjacent to the toboggan slope, however, after an assessment of the tender submissions the total project expenditure was forecasted to exceed its budget by around $150,000.

After community consultations council identified the mountain bike shelter as a low priority for the project and it was removed from the project.

The total budget for phase one of the project is $1,400,000.

This is made up of $500,000 of funding from the State Government 'Bushfire Tourism and Business Fund 2020', and a council contribution of $900,000 from the Dinner Plain Reserve, a fund maintained through special council rates on industrial and commercial land in Dinner Plain.

The three–phase Dinner Plain Activation project aims to upgrade and construct key infrastructure to support year–round visitation to the village and boost amenity for property owners and residents.

Phase two will deliver new and upgraded infrastructure and facilities in Dinner Plain, including enhancements to the village centre and improvements to recreational facilities, while phase three will upgrade snowmaking facilities.