Baw Baw Shire's two innovative projects 'Active by Design' and 'Two Town Trail' won the 2009 Heart Foundation Local Government Awards, both at a national as well as state level.

The ‘Active by Design’ project involved developers to create a toolkit so that new housing developments incorporated accessible destinations and attractive environments. “Baw Baw’s ‘Active by Design’ project is a strong example of how local governments can influence active living through urban planning,” said Heart Foundation (Victoria) Chief Executive Officer, Kathy Bell.

The 'Two Town Trail' (link above) is an 8km trail linking Drouin and Warragul built to enable half of the Baw Baw population to walk or cycle between the two towns. The project was 20 years in the making and is a great community asset. The project was funded by Vic Roads, Council, DPCD and Federal Government with a total cost around $1.8 million.  The Council is now working on the beautification of the trail and recently gained $95K from DPCD - Creating Better Places to make the trail an interesting, safe and visually appealing environment to encourage physical activity.

Seated Front Row – Cr Adam Tyson Deputy Mayor, Cr Ruth McGowan Mayor, Debbie Saliba, Kathy Bell, CEO Heart Foundation, Gabrielle McBain, Kerry Irwin, Cr Tony Wolfe
Standing behind – David Powell, Ross Anderson, Ian de Bruyne and Lukas Nott