Mr Vogels's call came after the State Government rejected the shire's application for a $20,000 bushfire recovery grant for the railway.

"News that Hepburn Shire has lost its funding bid with the State Government is terribly disappointing," Mr Vogels said.

"It is a ludicrous position Hepburn Shire cannot get funding they need to fix the tourist railway but is being showered with money for bushfire memorials they do not want."

Mr Vogels said many in the community believed "spending $80,000 on bushfire memorials would be a total and utter waste of money".

"The $80,000 would be prudently spent paying for new sleepers and track restoration work on the tourist railway," he said.

"Whilst the mayor (Bill McClenaghan) has suggested the funding could be allocated towards upgrading local CFA equipment I firmly believe the grant should be invested in repairing bushfire damage on an asset which will deliver economic returns as a tourist attraction long into the future.

"The very worthwhile suggestions of extra equipment for local CFA brigades should be funded directly out of government grants to the fire authority or from the CFA budget."

However, Ballarat East State Labor MP Geoff Howard said that he was working with the State Government and the premier's office to gain funding for the damaged track.

Mr Howard said he was "confident" the railway would get the support it needed and there was no need to take funding from the bushfire memorial grants.

"I don't think it helps to mix the two - they are funding from two different areas," he said.

Meanwhile , Mr Vogels said the State Government had also "turned its back on fire prevention across the Hepburn region" after it allocated all additional fuel reduction burning money to Melbourne's outer fringe.

Mr Vogels said the extreme summer fire risk of forested areas in central and western Victoria had been completely overlooked.