South Gippsland Shire Council

19 Korumburra Town Centre Framework Plan | Context Report
9 Urban structure and land use
The Korumburra Town Centre is a rural service centre with a sub-regional catchment in
South Gippsland. It is the main focus of urban activity within the township, and for
surrounding small settlements and rural areas. The Town Centre will continue to serve
the primary retail, servicing and community needs of Korumburra. The urban structure
and land use analysis map overleaf identifies key aspects of land use activity and the
type of development generated in different parts of the Town Centre.
The Town Centre has developed over time along Commercial Street and Bridge
Street. These streets comprise the retail and commercial core of the Town
Centre, and provide a traditional strip-shopping centre experience.
The urban structure of the Town Centre is primarily informed by the existing grid
street network, the South Gippsland Highway and the associated ‘dog leg’ at the
‘top of the town’ and the railway line, which runs parallel to the highway.
Commercial attractions and activities within the Town Centre are fragmented.
Mine Road, in particular, is only sparsely occupied with economic activities.
South Railway Crescent is the supermarket precinct, comprising the IGA
supermarket, associated shops and car parking. This location is slightly out-ofcentre
and disconnected from other core retail activities. It effectively splits the
functions of the Town Centre between comparison retail and service precinct
(Commercial Street/Bridge St) and a convenience retail precinct (the IGA
supermarket in South Railway Crescent).
The south side of Commercial Street provides the primary retail experience of the
Centre and the traditional Main Street experience. There are a variety of shops,
offices, banks cafes and restaurants located on the south side of Commercial
Street.
The north side of Commercial Street comprises a number of light industry /
services uses, including two petrol stations, which dilutes the retailing activities of
the Centre. Notably the Post Office and Bendigo Bank are located on this side of
Commercial Street
Mine Road provides a less active business precinct comprising secondary
retailing, services and small scale manufacturing.
A range of community services are provided behind Commercial Street, principally
within the block between Little Commercial and Victoria Streets. This includes the
Korumburra library, gallery and community meeting room, which despite having a
main road frontage to Commercial Street, present an inactive interface to the
street with access to each facility located either down the side of the building or
King Street.
There is a civic precinct at the southern end of Bridge Street, which includes the
Police Station, Courthouse and Uniting Church. h. A
number of restaurants and
cafes are also located in Bridge Street (on the west side).
The Korumburra Railway Station is a focal point within the
Town Centre and
currently functions on weekends as part of the South Gippsland Tourist Rail.
Tourism opportunities associated with the historic station are not being maximised
primarily because it is visually and physically disconnected from the main street.
Draft
A number of underutilised / undeveloped of parcels of land are scattered
throughout the Centre. Key sites include land on the east side of the Library,
undeveloped land at the rear of properties fronting Commercial Street.
There is an abundance of off street surface car parking areas within the Town
Centre. Surface car parking areas in Little Commercial Street are poorly
configured and underutilised. Combined within this, ‘back of house’ functions such
as waste storage associated with the retail core are the primary interfaces with
Little Commercial Street.
Residential properties are located within the Business Zone behind Commercial
Street on the corner of King and Victoria Streets.
The western Town Centre Gateway is addressed by a terraced park on the side of
the railway embankment.
Other land use activities within the Town Centre are often of a temporary nature.
This includes a number of events and festivals such as the Korumburra Buskers
Festival and the Swap meet, as well as a small number of outdoor dining areas.
Within the immediate vicinity of the study area are a number of recreation, open
space and education facilities including Coleman Park, the recreation precinct to
the west incorporating the Indoor Leisure Centre, Bowls Club and Tennis Courts.