Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) was allocated the funding under Round 1 of the State Government’s Stronger Country Communities program.

It comes following a budget submission lodged by the newly-merged council with a focus on projects lacking funding which have strong community support and a strong focus on social and health benefits. 

Director of community and recreation for DRC, Murray Wood, said the grant will fund a shared granite pathway network around the perimeter of Pioneer Park with the potential of leading to the showground and Mount Arthur Reserve.

“It depends how far the money can be stretched,” he said.

“We are somewhat trying to replicate the riverside pathway network in Dubbo.

“This is what we want to achieve with this bucket of money, that’s how Dubbo’s was rolled out so people can consider this as just the beginning.” 

The news is music to the ears of Wellington’s Emmalee Holmes who has been the driving force behind the project since 2016.

She said a recreation path will allow the town to establish a Wellington NSW Parkrun. 

“Council got on board and have been very supportive, they’re the ones who applied for the grant and they hope to have it built by the end of this year,” she said.

“The main reason behind this was to launch a parkrun in Wellington and we didn’t have a track within a park big enough, so this will link up with the tracks already in Cameron Park to form a 5km parkrun track.

“The parkrun in Dubbo started about three years ago. Now more than 300 people take part in the weekly run of a Saturday morning.

“It will hopefully be similar to the Tracker Riley in Dubbo – a recreational track suitable for runners, walkers, cyclists, wheelchairs and prams.”