Mount Gambier <strong>Railway</strong> Lands precinct to represent SA at national awards The Mount Gambier <strong>Railway</strong> Lands precinct collected three prestigious awards at the Planning Institute Australia (PIA) South Australia Awards for Excellence 2017 in Adelaide in late November 2017. City of Mount Gambier representatives accepted the coveted overall Planning Minister’s Award and also won the Plan to Place and Great Place Awards for the planning and development of the community project. The annual PIA Awards for Planning Excellence demonstrate leading practice, leadership and achievement in planning. The Minister’s Award is given to the overall winner of the South Australian Awards for Planning Excellence, judged by the South Australian Minister for Planning Hon John Rau. “It is an honour to win this award for our community. Minister Rau recognised the initiative, innovation and process involved in the <strong>Railway</strong> Lands project and its contribution to sustainability and the enhancement of the liveability within our community,” City of Mount Gambier Mayor Andrew Lee said. The Plan to Place Award recognises the implementation of a plan into a successful place. It was awarded to the City of Mount Gambier for the evolution of the project and achievement in accomplishing positive changes as a result of planning. “We were commended for engaging with the community throughout the planning, design and implementation phases of the project as well as the ongoing use of the <strong>Railway</strong> Lands,” City of Mount Gambier Planning Officer Jess Porter said. The Great Place award recognises a great place, street or neighbourhood. The City of Mount Gambier was commended for its vision and ambition in tackling a socially, physically, culturally and environmentally-challenged site. “The <strong>Railway</strong> Lands project was deemed an exemplar of the New arrival at the Overland Museum characteristics of a great place, through the quality of its planning, design and construction. Most importantly, it demonstrates how great places help build great communities, providing new settings for new opportunities, that will continue to enhance the local way of life for years to come,” Mayor Lee said. Mayor Lee highlighted the vision of both the current and previous Council in planning the project and for the design and delivery by Council staff including a focus on community engagement. “We are all very proud of this achievement, this project has been recognised as best in class not once, but three times,” he said. The <strong>Railway</strong> Lands project will go on to represent SA in its respective categories at the National PIA Awards for Planning Excellence to be held in Perth on Wednesday 9 May. The city of Mount Gambier is located in the south-eastern corner of South Australia, approximately 450 kilometres from Adelaide (and 435 kilometres from Melbourne). Before conversion of the Adelaide-Wolsley line to standard gauge in 1995 it was connected to Adelaide on the broad gauge network. Limestone Coast <strong>Railway</strong> heritage rail services continued locally following disconnection from the wider state rail network but were discontinued in 2006. Subsequently the Mount Gambier railway precinct became increasingly derelict. Following extensive community consultation, City of Mount Gambier Council commenced reactivation of the rail precinct as a community space, beginning in 2013 with the lifting of track in the rail yard and grassing of the area. The site was officially opened as the <strong>Railway</strong> Lands on 15 November 2015. The Overland Museum in Kaniva, in far western Victoria, received a special delivery on Wednesday 13 December 2017, when a former Overland carriage – the second in the museum’s collection – was delivered by road from the Seymour Rail Heritage Centre. Museum owner Stewart Hicks said “‘Pekina’ was built in 1919 and I’m intending to restore it to 1960s condition. I already own one carriage ‘Normuldi’, which I have restored to its original 1951 condition. The shed was built over ‘Normuldi’ but I will now extend it to cover ‘Pekina’ too.” The museum contains many items of Overland memorabilia, including uniforms, linen, crockery and letterheads. “I started the museum to preserve the history of the Overland Train that has run through this area since 1887 and is still running today” said Mr Hicks. ‘Pekina’, later known as ‘Sleeping Car No.9’, was built at the Victorian <strong>Railway</strong>s Newport Workshops for use on The Overland. After a long and varied career, it was retired in 1990 and, around 1998, found its way to the Seymour Rail Heritage Centre. SA Government offers to purchase Prospect Tram Barn to preserve historic site The South Australian Government has made a $3 million offer to purchase the State-heritage listed Prospect Tram Barn to ensure the historic values of the 1883 site are preserved. Formerly the Johns Road Horse Tram Depot, the 134-year-old building on the corner of Johns Road and Main North Road (Princess Highway), in the inner northern Adelaide suburb of Prospect, is one of only three tram barns remaining from Adelaide’s first public transport network that once included 19 tram depots and a network of trams in Adelaide and surrounding suburbs. The other two remaining tram depots are on Hackney Road, Adelaide and Magill Road in Maylands. “The State Government is acting on behalf of the community who have voiced strong concerns about the sale of this historic site by the City of Prospect”, said South Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation Ian Hunter MLC. “I look forward to hearing the community’s proposals for a way to use this site that preserves its history and allows the public to share the space”. In April 2017 City of Prospect Council voted unanimously to explore sale options for the site, which has been used as a council depot. Despite its State-heritage listing it was suggested that the site could be developed as an arts museum or even a pub. However, the Prospect Local History Group urged the council to resist a sale, with a spokesman telling a public meeting too many “rare old buildings have been lost (to developers) forever”. Kalamunda History Village locomotive set for asbestos removal Kalamunda History Village’s 1897-built 4-6-0 Western Australian Government <strong>Railway</strong> G class steam locomotive G118, a central part of the Kalamunda History Village collection, was fenced off and wrapped following the discovery of boiler lagging asbestos in October 2016. In November 2017 the City of Kalamunda obtained a $180,000 Lotterywest grant for full remediation work on the locomotive and site. Work is due to commence in the first half of <strong>2018</strong>. Kalamunda History Village is on the site of the old Upper Darling Range <strong>Railway</strong> Station and yard built in the 1890s to service the Zig Zag line that transported timber from Canning Mills – near Karragullen to the main line at Midland Junction. The last train ran over the line in 1949 and it was formally closed in 1950. Kalamunda is situated approximately 25 kilometres inland from Perth in the Darling Ranges. The Kalamunda History Village is the largest local history museum in Western Australia. 54 RAILWAY DIGEST
Clyde/EMD unit 42103 passes Lochinvar station on Saturday 9 December 2017 with special train 2494N, hauling four carriages previously at the Canberra <strong>Railway</strong> Museum, to the Rothbury <strong>Railway</strong> Museum at Branxton. Bruce Gehrig Below: On New Year’s Day <strong>2018</strong>, C 17 720 sits forlornly at the ARHS Rosewood railway shed at Kunkala, out of action. This locomotive is not expected to be back in service for approximately two years because of expensive boiler repairs. Mike Martin Preservation & Tourist MAY FEBRUARY 2013 <strong>2018</strong> 55
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