The Baw Baw Shire has voted to call for an environmental effects study (EES) on proposed changes to the Horseshoe Bend Tunnel area on the Thomson River.

The West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority wants to change the water flows through the tunnel to increase fish migration.

The Friends of the Horseshoe Bend tunnel are opposing the plans, saying proposed changes would be bad for the environment and damage the area’s historic and tourism values.

A spokesman for the group, Terry Lowater, says support from the council is a big step forward.

“This is our 15th year of pushing this barrow along the hard rocky road but we feel now that we’ve made a giant leap forward and that … the transparency of some of the testing and results, fish reports and stuff, should become more available to the public,” he said.