AS STREETSCAPE works continue in Korumburra’s Commercial and Radovick Streets, lots of other projects in the town are moving closer to fruition.
South Gippsland Shire Council’s plan to demolish the former newsagency building and create a laneway linking the Community Hub precinct with the centre of town has advanced.
Council’s manager of infrastructure delivery, Jareth Goss, said designs are currently being worked on and there are discussions taking place with structural engineers on the best process for dismantling the newsagency building, due to its proximity to other buildings.
The planned skatepark to be built in the railway precinct, a larger and more advanced version than originally intended, has moved closer to reality.
“We have a planning permit, heritage permit and archaeological consent, so we’ve got all those main approvals that we need for this site, with conditions that we must meet,” Jareth said of the area that includes the intended skate park.
Those conditions include the need to create photographic archival records reflecting the precinct’s rail heritage, which are to be provided to the State Library before any removal of railway tracks can occur.
The skate park will be located further out than the more basic version that was to replace the existing swing and nearby tree, but will still be near the goods shed, and will be about 50 per cent bigger, suiting both entry-level and more advanced skaters.
That change was driven by community feedback that the original design catered only to entry-level users.
The skate park project is likely to go out to tender late this year or early in 2025.
The approvals now granted open the way for future improvements in the railway precinct such as lighting, drainage and resurfacing of the section of rail trail running through that area.
It also clears the way to implement plans to create a garden within the walls of the former railway turntable site.
Retention of the turntable shell will further acknowledge the area’s past, with the possibility of a raised walkway over the garden area, resembling the appearance of the now-removed turntable.
Railway tracks running alongside the Korumburra Railway Station are likely to remain as an illustration of the town’s rail history, with interpretive displays also probable.
Heritage Victoria views Korumburra’s railway precinct as having played a highly significant role in the Great Southern Railway and the town’s development.
Increased carparking availability and replacement of the current picnic shelter and public toilet are other improvements planned for the railway precinct, the replacements already being fabricated offsite.
Accessibility to the railway area will also be improved through resurfacing of the pathway running past Melanie Caple’s mural and through the connecting railway underpass, using concrete comparable to that in present streetscape works.
Improved drainage and accessibility measures such as ramps are also planned in that area.
The unsightly and roofless ‘shelter’ that once covered the now departed red hen trains used on the tourist railway will be removed, a tender process having recently been conducted for that work.
Current streetscape works have replaced old pavers with light-coloured concrete surfaces that will provide better grip and eliminate tripping hazards, Jareth saying council has long heard from community members keen to see the pavers removed.
Small garden areas are being created where outstands occur, places where the kerb juts into the road.
Changed conditions in Commercial Street will reduce the number of through traffic lanes to one in each direction.
The intent is to create a buffer zone between through traffic and those entering and exiting parked vehicles, with an expectation it will become easier to turn right from Radovick Street onto Commercial Street.
Current streetscape works are expected to be completed during the first half of next year, depending on the timing of finishing touches such as planting garden areas.
