This is probaly one of the more irresponsible posts that I will ever do, and it won't be the usual scathing dissection of City Council's incompetence and/or selfishness that is the 'irresponsibility' of it, rather the false hope I might give by describing that which should already be but is unlikely to ever happen; My Plan For Mt Gambier.
Unfortunately, I genuinely believe that the malfeasance and incompetence of successive Councils, particularly those constants like CEO Greg Muller, Mayor Steve Perryman, Cr Tony Pasin, Cr Merv White, Cr Kyrimis, et al, have irretrievably broken Mt Gambier financially and development wise with their outrageous and self-focused conduct relative to the Main Corner* and Rail Lands*.
However, I do believe that there is still much to gain by starting toward my 'vision' with the cheapest and most immediately achievable goals, eg, planting major trees and shrubs, etc, according to a blueprint that will allow future expansion/improvements toward the overall plan.
Careful and considered re-use of current facilities is not just fiscally prudent but time efficient, eg, renovate the Old Rail station, just cover the current pool, etc; there is no need for costly replications or replacements like a brand new library; the Main Corner Project should never have happened; at all; its a disaster.
Rail Lands - Gifted to the City in 2005, and currently a barren wasteland.
Should already be an 8 year old well established Parkland, studded with mature trees and garden beds, large art works, benches, ponds, etc, with a bike track right the length of the Easement (leave the sleepers down) which also acts to protect the Easement for the possible but unlikely return of rail.
This Easement issue is a massive furphy, red herring, whatever, that City Council has repeatedly used to excuse their grossly self-involved behaviour and abject failure with the Rail Lands.*
The money lost into the black holes of the Library and Main Corner Project should have been spent on creating a large public space with a covered plaza, and a semi covered amphitheatre which is backed onto the Margaret St properties, and opening to the North so that the curved roof would protect from Southerlies but allow for winter light, and in summer would offer good shade.
By building these structures at approx 15-20 feet high, the whole space would be open but relatively sheltered, from the back of Centro through to Margaret St where 3(?) walkways lead through to the Covered Pool and Tennis/Netball facility.
It is easy to align these relatively minor structures so that they do not encroach at all on the precious bloody Easement, and yet offer maximum protection from the elements (which Council has completely ignored at the Lady Nelson bus shelter site, until suddenly saying it is a problem).
It is so simple; every project in Mt Gambier should be designed and built to minimise summer sun entering buildings and/or provide shade, but still maximise winter light, whilst providing a strong shelter against raging southerly storms; these are very basic and well understood principles.
The Old Rail Station should already be renovated and operating as a bus terminal accessed via Railway Tce and Eleanor St, with a tourism kiosk (a cafe?), etc; that immediately provides all the services and all weather protection of the adjacent shopping centre.
Angled parking for campers, caravans, etc, along Railway Tce from where the easement crosses Bay Rd, utilising that wide space to provide tourists with a place to stop and access the plaza, shopping centre, etc.(there is currently no official 'long' parking anywhere in Mt Gambier, although Council does encourage people to park on the Rail Lands, somewhere.)
Margaret St businesses would open onto this plaza/parkland and blank walls would be used as multiple screens for art, projections, light shows, etc.
The Pool and Tennis Courts
As I understand it, the pool is structurally sound, so there is no need to replace it; what it does need is all-weather protection and winter heating.
A mildly modified 'aircraft hangar' style shed would adequately accommodate the main pool, and a smaller annex would cover the smaller pools. Much of the walling would incorporate roller doors and/or glass sliding doors to allow immediate climate control across all seasons; lock it down in a gale, open it up on a summer evening.
The pool roof area would be used to provide hot water in summer that gets cycled off the roof into a single pipe underground along the side of the pool to heat the ground during summer (and cool it in winter) using the same principles as houses with earth roofs, namely, the cold winter water cools the ground and therefore the pool during summer, slowly heating up across summer to be warm in winter and therefore warm the pool, etc. There is then no need for a costly, polluting biomass boiler.
The tennis courts could also be partly covered using a combination of the above strategies, ie, a large shed structure, fully roofed and closed at the Southern end but completely open to the North to allow all weather public access, and the courts fully renovated with an allowance for multiple use, eg, basketball, netball, volleyball, etc. This would provide all weather protection at the Southern end for important games, but still allow full public free access.
I remind readers that Mt Gambier recently lost its only International event, the Tennis, because Council failed to do even basic maintenance; they were too busy spending ratepayers money at the Main Corner and on their free lunches in said venue.
To close; there should already be a vibrant, covered public plaza focussed on a renovated Old Rail Station transport hub (with 5kph limit) and bike track, continuing out into the Rail Lands parklands and flowing across on through Margaret St to the All Weather Recreation precinct and associated renovated park areas; in short, a world class, all weather public precinct that will fulfill all of Mt Gambier's social, civic, and tourism requirements; chuck in a small skate park for good measure...maybe a bocce/petanque sandpit , etc.
Imagination is the limit...
Ah, well...it's a pity... this is unlikely to happen given Council's obsession with Retail Development for the Old Rail Lands site and the massive debt that they have deliberately accrued over the Library and Main Corner Projects to force the sale of that land....oh, and watch your rates continue to skyrocket whilst Council refuses to Audit the malfeasance that has caused it.
Other development issues next blog.
*please see previous posts
Tomorrow: IGAP II - It Is Not Too Late...Probaly...
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