The proposed 32-kilometre cycling and walking track, which follows the alignment of the former Richmond Vale railway line between Hexham and Pelaw Main, has been spruiked as a significant community asset and tourist attraction.

The $480,000 design and impact assessment project awarded to GHD, has been funded primarily by Newcastle council, along with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services, Cessnock City Council and the Donaldson Conservation Trust.

Cessnock City Council committed $30,000 to the project’s first stage of trail development at its November 18 meeting.

It is currently undergoing trail development, including preparation of the concept design and tender specifications for the environmental impact statement, and establishing formal governance arrangements with council stakeholders.

The total project is estimated to cost $14 million, with economic analysis undertaken as part of an independent feasibility study predicting it will bring $5.2 million per year into the region through day trips and overnight stays.

​The trail incorporates three brick-lined rail tunnels and crosses Wallis Creek, Surveyors Creek, Fishery Creek and Ironbark Creek. 

Longtime advocates of the rail trail reacted enthusiastically to news Newcastle City Council is to move ahead with a concept design.

“I have been running with this since the late 1990s, so it’s been a long time coming but it is good news,” said David Atkinson, who has been one of the key proponents of the project and heads the Newcastle Cycleways Movement’s rail trail committee.

Richmond Vale Rail Trail Inc committee member Billy Metcalfe said he would like to see the rail trail become an artery that will connect with other parts of the Hunter.

“It’s going to be a great benefit for Kurri, but it must connect to Cessnock and the vineyards,” he said.