CALLS are growing for infrastructure investment in Loddon districts are part of the Goldfields bid for UNESCO World Heritage  listing.
The Australian tentative list for the bid includes the Great Nuggets Landscape area from around Tarnagulla, Moliagul and Dunolly.
But Newbridge Hotel owner Matthew Mizzi said: “Hope our shire finally gets noticed by these politicians. How embarrassing will it be to have people come from all over the world to see some communities that still have the same infrastructure from the 1850s,” he said.
Bid proponents are predicting 2.2 million more people will visit the area within a decade if UNESCO listing is given the stamp.
And Loddon resident Catherine Dowden Gunston has backed up the call, saying “I hope they fix the roads around there first”.
Loddon Shire Council has already put Newbridge forward for Federal Government funding in the latest round of the mobile blackspot program.
“Residents of Newbridge and the surrounding areas are facing significant challenges with mobile connectivity, including blackspots, dropouts and unreliable data services,” council has told the Government. Concerns have been raised about the inability to contact authorities during emergencies, delays in emergency response times and issues with receiving emergency phone alerts, especially in an area prone to natural disasters.
“The very limited availability of telecommunications is frustrating for residents, businesses and visitors alike, highlighting the critical need for reliable telecommunications. These challenges not only deter residential growth, limit business development but also deter tourism, a key economic driver for the region.”
Local, state and federal governments have been asked to “identify potential projects or locations that are impacted by, or are at risk of, a natural disaster and would benefit from improved mobile connectivity” ahead of blackspot grants being announced.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Pliberseck ducked making a commitment to local infrastructure investment this month when launching Australia’s bid for tentative sites. 
Meanwhile, calls were made last week for Beechworth and Chiltern to be part of the final bid sites put to UNESCO.