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Grampians Peak Trail Master Plan 27-May-2014 At 1:59:07 PM kieranl

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On 27/05/2014 Wendy wrote:
> Still, I think
>it's a bit over the top, but I'm not really seeing any major reason to
>object to it, especially as what private operator is likely to take on
>building and running all those hiker lodges anyway?
>
Yes. I imagine it will be fairly hard to get insurance for them. The Mt Difficult Range has been burnt twice in the last 8 years, The Mt Zero Range twice in the last 15 years and the Mt William Range 8 years ago. These huts are unlikely to be defendable from wildfire. Parks is intending to evacuate walkers in case of fire or code red days so the huts aren't being seen as potential fire refuges.
Parks Idea is for all of the built infrastructure to be basically steel with wood superstructure to soften it. After a fire the steel should still be intact and the wood bits can be replaced. It would still be expensive to replace the superstructure of a building as opposed to a tent platform. The other issue for a private business owning the buildings is the potential lengthy times when sections of the track are shut down after fire. With the track closed buildings on that section are unusable.