ALPINE Shire councillors have approved a $478,335 contract for the civil works component of the Alpine Better Places Harrietville - Tronoh Dredgehole Precinct Upgrade.

They last week awarded the contract to Stadelmann Group, to help deliver the project to improve public facilities and revitalise open spaces in Harrietville.

In 2021, council secured a Black Summer Bushfire Recovery (BSBR) grant up to $1,090,712 from the federal government to fund the Tronoh Dredgehole Precinct portion of the Alpine Better Places (ABP) project in Harrietville.

The project seeks to improve the access and visibility of the recreational trails in Harrietville and will improve the amenity and function of Pioneer Park, Tavare Park and the Tronoh car park by formalising vehicle activity and promoting safe pedestrian activity, whilst bolstering the amenity and appearance of the areas.

New toilets at Pioneer Park will better meet user expectations, with a new six-unit pre-fabricated facility replacing the existing two unit facility.

Due to the works being a funded project, construction will commence this month and be completed by the funding due date of March 31, 2025.

The project's design was informed by community engagement and refined through the appointment of a Project Reference Group (PRG) comprising members of the Tronoh Dredgehole Committee, Harrietville Historical Society, and the Harrietville Community Forum.

Significant alterations PRG saw made to the original concept plans and reflected in the detailed design are: improvement of the existing toilets in Pioneer Park, rather than creation of new toilets at Tronoh Car Park and; provision of a linking path between Tronoh and Tavare/Pioneer.

At last week's meeting councillors were told that after a tender evaluation assessment, site visits and reference checks, the tender from Stadelmann Group was considered the best option due to the company's price, experience and availability to deliver the project within the timeframe required.

Mayor Sarah Nicholas asked council's director of assets, Alan Rees, if bus access will be maintained in the area, and inquired after bicycle parking.

“Yes, bus access will be maintained as snow traffic is picked up and dropped off there,” Mr Rees said.

“This design will improve the efficiency and use of that space and there will be some additional carparks on the northern side of the Feathertop Track as well as formalisation of car-parking at Tronoh Dredge.

“We also plan to put bike racks in at the Tronoh Dredge carpark as it is a staging post for the great valley trail from Bright to Harrietville.”