Katoomba Charrette Outcomes Report - Blue Mountains City Council

Katoomba Charrette Report & Town Centre Strategy
5.1 The Structure of Part II of this Report
The Charrette Outcomes, Strategies and Action Plans fall into several categories, and hence sections of
Part II. First, in Section 6, we deal with general proposals for augmenting the overall role and function
of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains and in the state. Then Section 7 deals with strategies and actions
that apply across the entire Town Centre or large areas of it. Section 8 concentrates on specific access
and transport proposals.
Sections 9 - 11 detail indicative development proposals for specific key sites, whose designs were
produced in the Charrette. Appropriate redevelopment of these key sites is crucial to Katoomba’s
revitalisation. The designs proposed and described in these sections are detailed enough for users to
understand and scrutinise in some depth. However, they illustrate usually just one solution to a set of
objectives, which are presented as ‘Project Design Briefs’ for each site. While those who wish to
develop these sites may follow the designs quite literally, they may also propose other designs which
also comply with the Project Design Briefs.
Lastly, Section 12, written by Derek Kemp, ESD’s employment expert, concentrates on employment
and visitors strategies. This section has employment action plans, as well.
Despite their being separated into sections for clarity of organisation, these proposals should be
considered and implemented holistically.
5.2 Implementation and Action Planning
Because we cannot expect simply to achieve all the proposed outcomes right away, we need some way
to move forward through the implementation choices and challenges with some sort of strategy. It is
important for this strategy to identify key actions, who should do them, their timing, and their
approximate costs and funding sources. Because there are so many players in this complex game, the
‘playing field’ will constantly shift. Therefore, the strategy cannot be rigid, it should be adaptable and
opportunistic, as should its implementors.
This strategy will necessarily be only a crude but important beginning, which will surely evolve as
circumstances change and we learn more.
While Section 6 contains general intentions for Katoomba which do not involve actions, the remaining
sections all propose appropriate actions. Therefore, after each action proposed in Sections 7 - 11,
there will generally follow a table which names the appropriate action as a base for implementation.
6. THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE TOWN CENTRE IN THE BLUE
MOUNTAINS
6.1 The Main Tourism Destination for the Blue Mountains, Coupling
with Echo Point
Katoomba clearly needs to ‘couple’ better with Echo Point, where they together become the main
visitor destination in the Blue Mountains. Katoomba should become the urban historic and cultural
‘Mecca’, while Echo Point continues its position as the natural and scenic ‘Mecca’. This will not
happen just by wishing or saying it; many of the actions of this strategy, in subsequent sections, will
need to be implemented before this general goal becomes reality.
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