Action will be taken to seal the road leading to one of Mudgee’s biggest tourism draws, with Mid-Western Regional Council approving the Quarry Lane submission and request from Robert Stein Vineyards.

This approval also comes with an allocation of $90,000 – funded from unrestricted cash – that is included in the 2017/18 Operational Plan that was passed as a motion at the June 21 meeting.

The move to improve roads that were described as “nearly unusable” by Drew and Jacob Stein at the council open day comes alongside a statement by council that they are focusing on the tourism of the region.

Jacob himself is pleased that the request had been resolved so quickly, and is predicting the work to be started in the next few months.

“We are one of the flagship wineries and tourism destinations, based on my research, and numbers that we are seeing through the cellar door and the restaurant, so I feel the need is there to maintain the level of service to the tourism industry,” Jacob said.

“Six months ago I thought we better start working towards some of those bigger items, and the dirt road was at the top of the list.”

Jacob also thought that this was a great step forward for support of tourism in the region.

“The council has done so much for the region and they always have tourism at the front of their mind, so they really help,” he said.

“They’re great supporters of the Mudgee wine industry, and the Mudgee Wine Grape Growers Association. They’ve really helped fund promotion for our industry so they were there at the beginning for everything the industry has been involved in.

“The council really helps us, like now, and the collaboration has been really good. Regarding infrastructure, I think we’re very lucky and we’re much better off than other towns of similar size with similar industries.”