Homeless left out in cold
August 30, 2010
Homelessness service providers have been left in the lurch in Mount Gambier as the Old Gaol has discontinued its emergency accommodation.
City Council advised Housing SA and ac.care last week that the Old Gaol, which has long been a stable source of crisis accommodation, will no longer offer the services space for their clients. Read more
Rail land vision
August 16, 2010
Images representing a possible future plan for the Mount Gambier rail lands have surfaced on the internet while City Council kept the document in confidence, saying it has neither accepted nor rejected the vision.
Council engaged urban design company Hames Sharley to develop options for the disused rail land in the city centre, with the most recently produced images published on the designer’s website.
The redevelopment of the vacant site is one of the three key goals in council’s Vision for 2015, alongside the library and the main corner developments.
Council chief executive Greg Muller said the Hames Sharley plan had been kept in confidence because it was not finalised.
He said not all aspects made sense to council and members struggled to come to grips with the concept.
“Council is not necessarily ready to accept them,” he said.
“Council is well away from finding what is the best option for the site — we need to do a lot more work before reaching a decision we feel comfortable with.”
He said council had been preoccupied with the library and main corner development, but members were able to focus more on the rail lands now that the main corner works had commenced.
The rail lands have been discussed in confidence in council meetings over the past two months, but Hames Sharley project director David Cook said he had not had contact with Mr Muller since around Easter.
Mr Muller said he had no doubt council would go to the community with the plans when they were comfortable with them.
“My feeling is council doesn’t want to put to the community plans which aren’t finalised,” he said.
Council has discussed the “vision” for the rail lands in confidence, but Mr Muller told The Border Watch that councillors felt the site’s future development was contingent on long-term viability and unique design.
“It has to be something quite uniquely special — a unique inner city urban landscape in an urban context,” he said.
“And absolute viability of the site — what’s going to attract people to the site on a regular basis like the library and the main corner — it’s got to be different to a typical garden or park.
“The investment, which will be high, can only be spent once — for ultimate success we were never going to be rushed.”
Mr Muller said council respected the heritage status of the site’s long-standing railway station, but said it was challenge to find a future role for the building.
“It’s been a real struggle for us, but every day that passes we get a bit smarter as to what the best uses for the site are,” he said.
According to the Hames Sharley website, the rail land project involved a two stage consultation process for the precinct to develop a public area to link the shopping and main streets of Mount Gambier.
“The project explored the balance between commercial development and active open space,” according to the website.
“During the master planning process, issues such as water charge into the aquifer, water treatment and reuse were incorporated into the master plan.”
The site was transferred for government-owned land to City Council in 2006.
Meanwhile, works have already begun on the site in recent months with drilling grid holes and testing soil for land contamination.
Hames Sharley’s David Cook said he hoped to continue working with council on the project.
Funding for development on the rail lands has not yet been determined.
Council’s Rail Lands Working party will meet early in September to continue discussions on the site’s future.
Government plans bushfire response
August 12, 2010
South East councils have welcomed the State Government’s pledge to prioritise establishment of “places of last resort and refuge” in rural towns before the coming bushfire season as the nation looks for ways to prevent a repeat of Victoria’s Black Saturday tragedy.
Emergency Services Minister Michael Wright yesterday announced an interim response to Victoria’s Royal Commission into the disaster, which claimed 173 lives. Read more
University hope grows
August 2, 2010
Engineering and education degrees appear to be one step closer for Mount Gambier after a City Council meeting with university leaders on Thursday, July 29.
Members of council’s Lifelong Learning working party met with several of the region’s leaders, including UniSA head of Mount Gambier campus Dr Sarah Mott, Regional Centre for Development’s Guy Robinson and Member for Mount Gambier Don Pegler, to discuss options for bringing the courses to the city. Read more
Traders reclaim streets
August 2, 2010
A boosted security presence on Commercial and Gray streets has made a difference, according to traders, as City Council and police work to clean up the streets.
Action on the issue over recent weeks after The Border Watch reported on store operators and shoppers feeling intimidated by youths loitering on the streets appears to have led to more shops opening on Thursday nights for longer. Read more
New life for Old Gaol
July 29, 2010
Mount Gambier’s Old Gaol could become a restaurant and market hub with City Council selecting an independent applicant to further negotiations for the take-over of the site.
The selected applicant — couple James Stephenson and Melissa Ellis, originally of Mount Gambier — made an independent expression of interest to council at the start of June, which was not included in meetings council held with other potential tenders. Read more
Main corner vision sought
July 26, 2010
City Council has begun a quest to find someone to create a “vision” for the future internal spaces at the Main Corner after making three attempts at the task without reaching a consensus.
Council moved to have chief executive Greg Muller identify a person or firm which could be engaged to develop a vision and theme for the first floor of the $6.4m Main Corner development at Tuesday, July 20’s full meeting. Read more
Proposed road closure frustration
July 26, 2010
State member for MacKillop Mitch Williams has taken a swipe at Wattle Range Council over the proposed closure of part of Balls Road near Tantanoola.
Mr Williams wrote to the council after he received representations from concerned people who use the road regularly for both personal and business reasons. Read more
Health battle looms
July 12, 2010
MEMBER for Mount Gambier Don Pegler has vowed to push for an expansion of the accident and emergency ward of the Mount Gambier Hospital.
“The major problem we have is the standard of one bed per 1000 patients is failing to be met in the Mount Gambier ward, where 17,000 people come through a year with only about six beds available,” he said. Read more
New library adds rates pressure
July 7, 2010
Mount Gambier City Council will continue deliberations tonight after moving to increase its planned rates rise to 6.9pc at the first of its 2010-11 budget meetings last week following advice from former councillor Paul Jenner.
Mr Jenner raised several concerns about council’s expected deficit, which was forecast to be $490,000 with a 6.5pc rates rise before appearing before council. Read more
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