Continuous wet weather is hampering efforts by the Ballarat City Council to stabilise 2.5km of Moneghetti Track around Lake Wendouree.

Heavy rains during May and June caused damage to the track which has since deteriorated and become very muddy.

So far this year, rainfall in Ballarat has been 150% above the average. Rainfall to date for July has been 133% above average.

City of Ballarat’s Director Growth and Development, Eric Braslis, said Council was aware that the path condition was not favourable for lake users.

“We’ve been attempting to fix the condition of the lake track for some time now but the continuous wet weather has stalled progress on the job”.

“So far, we’ve been able to cement stabilise 700m of the path east of the end of the rowing course and another 200m through ‘Fairyland’ west of St Aidens Drive. The cement binds the granitic sand and prevents water penetrating the path”. 

Mr Braslis said forecasts are predicting drier weather opportunities over the next couple of weeks and Council hopes to make good progress in that time.

“The work done thus far has been very successful and we expect to see similar results on the remainder of the Moneghetti Track”.

“Extremely dry conditions over recent years have ensured the good condition of the track so the large amounts of rain in late 2010 and so far this year has caused high deterioration of the surface”.  

“The lake track is a popular destination for many walkers, runners and cyclists for obvious reasons and we thank our residents for their patience during the works”.