Katoomba Charrette Outcomes Report - Blue Mountains City Council

Katoomba Charrette Report & Town Centre Strategy
Orientation, Existing Street Trees and Grade Change
The northern edge of Main Street is lined by several mature important trees along the footpath.
Main Street meets the accessway to the goods yard at its eastern end and then gradually rises 3
or 4 metres on a shelf above the goods yard. The site receives excellent northern sunshine,
and its being slightly depressed gives the site protection from harsh winds, making it
climatically well-suited as a public open space. However, if the site was fully dedicated as a
park, it would have insufficient daily activity and attraction to make it either safe or busy, or to
optimise benefits to the Main Street businesses across from it.
Stakeholder Input
Many at the Charrette expressed the desire for this space to be come a public square
complemented by the historic rail buildings, while others wanted the buildings removed and
for the space to be devoted to car parking for nearby shops (and possibly commuters). The
SRA wanted to see significant development recommended on the site, to increase its land value
at the time of its sale by SRA.
Use for Car Parking
The Charrette Team tested this irregularly shaped site for car parking capacity, and determined
that its shape in plan is not efficient at all for car parking; its north-south dimension is too
small, especially at its western end as it tapers to only a few metres in width.
9.1.2 Project Design Brief
The Charrette determined that development of the site should comply with the following:
Part of the site should be a small north-facing public open space, where week-end markets
and other possibly train and heritage related events could take place, and where people
could sit and have lunch enjoying the sunshine, and towards which the adjoining cafes to
the east could orient outdoor dining;
Shops and open-air stalls should line the southern edge of the site against its vertical edge
to Main Street, so long as they do not significantly compromise view lines from the station
and the highway to the Main Street historic buildings crescent, or from approximately the
eastern half of Main Street down to the site;
The historic fabric on the site should be retained and possibly re-used for other purposes,
but only the small railway building adjoining the railway needs to stay in its exact original
location. This recommendation should be subject to an assessment of heritage prior to
finalisation of designs for this site;
The design and lighting of the site should support its passive surveillance and safety,
including after dark;
Any development should retain the ability of persons in the station masters building on the
station platform to observe the site around the clock, to improve safety on the site,
especially after dark. To achieve such, no buildings should be positioned any further east
on the site than shown on the Charrette plans.
9.1.3 Proposed Charrette Design
The proposed Charrette design complies with the Project Design Brief above, as follows.
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