Pegler pushes rail corridor development
Posted on February 23, 2010, 8:08am
Independent candidate for Mount Gambier Don Pegler has called for a master plan for the vacant rail corridor that could include a central bus depot and possible links with an indoor aquatic centre on Margaret Street.
Unveiling his vision for the rail corridor precinct, Mr Pegler suggested a community-owned hydrotherapy pool could also be incorporated into the aquatic centre.
He said the precinct should also incorporate a skate park for young people, which was much needed because of the ongoing problems with the Dimjalla skate park facility on the edge of the city.
“Young people could gather in a safe, self-policed environment close to the centre of the city,” Mr Pegler said.
“Retail development, carparks and many other developments could also be planned for this area of land.”
Mr Pegler said such developments would add to the city’s vibrancy and provide the community with much-needed facilities such as an indoor aquatic centre that would be highly utilised.
“It would make Mount Gambier an exciting place to live and we would all be very proud,” he said.
“Without proper plans in place it is almost impossible to get government grants and private developers to achieve these developments.
“To be fair to Mount Gambier City Council they are very much hamstrung in any future planning while the rail line has to remain in place.”
He said the city needed to develop long-term plans for its future development.
“The Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan — developed by both councils and Planning SA — was the first step in this process,” Mr Pegler said.
“We must now put in place plans for water, sewer, power, parks and schools within these new development areas.
“The next step I would like to see is the closure of the rail line from White Avenue through to Pick Avenue so that all of this land in the centre of the city could be developed in the future.”
Mr Pegler said for rail to become viable there would need to be many large fast moving trains.
“That is the last thing we want going through the centre of Mount Gambier,” he said.
“To close this line we would have determined an alternative route from Wandilo through to east of the saleyards.
“This land could then be rezoned for the purpose of a railway and in that way you would not have improper developments occurring that would impact on a future rail service.”
Mr Pegler said large freight generating industries should be located near the line, such as the Wandilo pellet plant that would generate 250,000 tonnes of finished product each year.
“You would also leave spur lines intact to the mills east and west of Mount Gambier,” he said.
But Liberal candidate for Mount Gambier Steve Perryman said yesterday that Mr Pegler has “missed the train” as his call for a rail corridor masterplan had already been done.
“An extensive public consultation process has already been held and most of his ideas have already been acted on by the city council,” Mr Perryman said.
For example he said:
A property to link the rail land to the Olympic Park precinct has already been purchased.
A skate park and other active recreation facilities are essential elements and feature prominently in the feedback from the community and subsequent concept plans.
The city council has recently decided to establish a permanent bus depot at the Lady Nelson.
Discussions between council and the highest levels of the Department of Transport commenced some months ago to remove the easement and to request the transfer of parts of the remaining rail corridor in the city limits to council ownership.
“The city council has already progressed a master plan for the former rail land and, as the owner, will develop the land with and for the community,” Mr Perryman said.
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Your printed article is quite different to this, and in it Perryman says the option for a skatepark has already been considered.
When? I’ve never heard anything but rubbish about the vandalism at the skate park which is located on the outskirts of town coming out of any council meeting.
Pegler has said what I’ve been thinking for so long. But never have I heard this concept floated by Perryman.
I like Pegler’s idea of a central bus station.
Why doesn’t Mr Pegler promise to upgrade the police force in the South East?
I am sick of hearing all the empty election rhetoric and would like to hear some realistic promises.
Driving through road construction, for example, speed limit 25kmh, being tailgated and abused for obeying the signs, cars passing in construction zones with no intention of slowing down. Do you know why?
Because they are pretty sure no police will be within yahoo of stopping them! So get real and give us what we need in the South East, not money spent on skateparks, etc.
Oh and one of those cars that passed me in a 25kmh zone had kids in the back seat, good on you mum!
money spent on a decent centralised skate park is needed here, thankyou very much. You’re not speaking for me here deb. Youths leave this town in droves when they’re old enough, because the “city” here has nothing to offer them.
I don’t know that we can blame politicians for police not doing their jobs, but we can blame them for shoving our kids out onto the outskirts of town, on an 80k road, without supervision or decent facilities.
Good on you Don!
In response to Maybe, Jubilee Hwy past the skate park is 60kmh, has been for quite a while.
Meanwhile there’s another skate park in the area between Wireless Rd West and O’Connor Drive.
The idea of another graffiti tagged pile of concrete taking up pride of place in the rail corridor in the city centre just sickens me. I can’t believe the idea is even getting a thought.
There’s a reason skate parks are built on city fringes, that’s where 99% of people live.
Peter P, you sound a like you are prejudging the youth of Mt Gambier? Personally I know little of skate parks, but I am sure it takes a lot of practice and skill for some of those amazing jumps the kids do.
It should be recognised as a sport if it isn’t already. They could maybe have lessons and competitions, etc. Don’t make it sound shameful to take part in an active sport.
deb, I am not “pre judging the youth of Mount Gambier”
I’m judging the idiots that spray graffiti all over the skate parks, and I don’t want that crap to be the focal point of our city.
The skateboarders, inline skaters, bmx’ers, scooter riders, anyone who uses the parks have every right to do so, and good on them, i just think an eyesore like that in the city centre would be just ridiculous.
Peter I’m sure I read that the speed limit was changed to 80km/h
In metro cities the skate parks are in the centre of populated areas deliberately to counteract vandalism.
Have a mural workshop, get the kids themselves to paint it in bright colours and they will take ownership of it and take care of it.
It’s about time we put youths in the spotlight, not in the dim outskirts. And encouraged them to be active, rather than taking away their facilities and bagging them out at every opportunity.
You might not like skate parks. But THEY DO.
Maybe, I agree 100%. Kids are future adults, after all, and we all had to grow(up) somehow.
Positive input, instead of shunning, would be the go. Expression by a mural workshop sounds great. A few adults would benefit too no doubt.
Ok, for the second time, I am not anti-youth.
I just believe our skate parks are ugly, plain and simple. that’s all I said. Twice. That is my opinion, which when I last checked, I was still entitled to have.
If you can drive past either park and say they look great and should be in pride of place, good for you, and that’s your opinion.
It’s great to have proper graffiti murals, they can look awesome, and a lot of true graffiti artists are just brilliant. But I’d give it a few days and some hero will have to paint over it with their own “gangs” tag. It’s just the sad way these few idiots work. They need to ruin peoples property to paint a few letters in scribble. They do it to our signposts, fences, building walls, it just mindlessly happens.
Picking out parts of what I say and making me into some kind of youth hating monster isn’t overly fair. I’m only 30 years old, and I work with teenagers every single day. I hear about their side of life all the time, and I know they need some other forms of entertainment, I just don’t think another, more central, skate park is the answer.
How about an entertainment and convention centre? One with a decent seating capacity so we could host some big name bands and touring acts, as well as bigger conferences. It could even house the Pioneers (in more comfort), and could attract some more national basketball and netball games. Just a thought.
P.S. “Maybe”, the speed limit change was the other way around, it was 70kmh, it’s now 60kmh until about Blue Lake Sports Park.
Why is it when parties want to look youth friendly they want to build another skate park? There is more to young people than skating and I think we have plenty of under utilized parks around the south east. How about coming up with an original idea that will benefit the younger community
What we need in the rail corridor Margaret street precinct is a comprehensive sporting social entertainment precinct.
Bring Basketball , Volleyball, Netball together into one area.
You can then have cafe’s, bars, social clubs altogether to support the sports.
First politician to place this in their platform has my vote.
Peter P, best thing about graffiti is that a roller tray and roller with nice clean paint soon covers up the nasties and gang tags.
I feel kids should have a place to deface or do their artwork. A lot of kids don’t feel they fit in and maybe they don’t need a reason to destroy. Sad but true and we aren’t going to change things by not having skateparks.
I can honestly say both parks are ugly. Their location is all wrong, and the way they are treated is all wrong. That’s the only reason we need a new one. Demolish the other two and have one in a visible central area.
It’s not rocket science. In a visible area there will be less vandalism.
I’m definitely not saying this is the ONLY thing we should be doing for youth, but it’s a logical starting point.
The other thing that needs to be done (well there’s heaps actually), is to keep the Old Gaol as a live music venue for all ages.
I have 2 boys 6 & 9 and they love the skate park but I do not let them at the ones in the mount by themselves due the to many older kids and anti social behaviour.
The proposed skate park in the center of town with cafe ect is a great idea as more parents would be around,closer for when the kids get hurt to emergency services and being close to police station would also help with the problems at the other parks. Go hard Don.
A skate park would be perfect in the railway lands. Same as has already been said, it’s central (yet hardly the main focal point of the town), well-lit and self-policing. They have some very cool, pro graffiti artists in Melbourne; get a couple of those down to run a workshop to decorate the park!
It’s a very valid point that there’s more to youth than skating, however I think a decent skate park has been an important community need for some time now.
Anyway, it’s not like a skate park would take up the whole area! I like the idea of connecting the lands with Olympic Park and turning it into a bit of a sporting precinct. We very desperately need a half-decent aquatic centre, and it would be good to have the Pioneers playing centrally. It’s like moving AFL to the city in Adelaide, it would be very invigorating I think.
That all said, there’s more to youth than sport as well (and I’m biased because I’m sporty lol!). Murals, artwork, a bit of community space, maybe a bit of an outdoor performance venue that would be good for live music and such?? The sporty and the arty aren’t that different, bring them together I say!
All fantastic ideas Jayden!
Cheers! =D