Council approves ambitious strategic plan for Coal Creek

THE Coal Creek Community Park and Museum Strategic Plan for 2024-2034 was presented for council approval at the August meeting. The plan aims to capitalise on Coal Creek’s strengths to create a vibrant and sustainable community asset for South Gippsland. 

Coal Creek Community Park and Museum opened in South Gippsland in 1974 and since the pandemic its operation has seen a significant decline in visitor numbers; therefore, the South Gippsland Shire Council initiated a major review, recruiting the Coal Creek Community Assembly (CCCA) who reflects the community’s aspirations to preserve the heritage whilst seeking to provide value to the shire. 

The initiative was long awaited and reflects the council’s desire to guide Coal Creek’s future. The consultation included 60 submissions, with 42 written submissions during community engagement.

This plan underlines the importance of a new vision for Coal Creek, with Cr Jenni Keerie moving the motion and speaking to the recommendation, expressing excitement about reaching this point and stating that the plan is seen as an opportunity to maximise South Gippsland’s economic footprint and create a significant asset. 

“I think we all wanted to make sure it happened during this term,” said Cr Keerie. 

“Having the strategic plan gives us the opportunity to be able to explore many of the different potentials for Coal Creek. I understand that Cr Sarah Gilligan wants to see the business case, and so do

I, but everything has to start with a plan.”

Cr Gilligan spoke to the motion, sharing the need for business modelling to ensure financial sustainability, whilst Cr Adrian Darakai critiqued the consultation as flawed, predicting the long-term financial damage. 

Despite these concerns, councillors supported the renewal of Coal Creek, citing it’s potential as a tourism gateway, hoping the new direction would reduce costs and make Coal Creek viable. 

The support to the ten-year strategic plan passed with Cr Darakai clarifying, “It’s not my intention to close Coal Creek. That’s not my position. My position is that it has been a fundamentally flawed process, so we therefore cannot trust the data, and I think that’s important to note,” he said. 

The approval sets the stage for a new chapter for Coal Creek, and the CCCA invite the community to embrace the vision and work with them to help make it a reality.

Celebrations for Coal Creek

By Roger Powell, President, Friends of Coal Creek Inc

THE people of South Gippsland should be celebrating as the South Gippsland Shire Council has adopted the Strategic Plan and secured the future of our unique historical village Coal Creek for the foreseeable future. The Friends of Coal Creek support the strategic plan and look forward to the implementation process and turning words into action. 

When the park reopened after the COVID closure two and half years ago it was in an extremely poor state, with buildings requiring extensive maintenance, vegetation out of control, all activities suspended, volunteers not existent and the community concerned about potential closure. However, in the past two years, the Park has seen a revitalisation, and work carried out by dedicated

Council staff and volunteers has seen the park commence the process of returning to the wonderfully historic facility we all knew decades ago. 

Activities and events have returned – Easter, Carols, Halloween, and music festivals. The community has been re-engaged with volunteers returning, stores opening, tours commencing, and school groups attending to learn about the past and the importance of the coal fields of South Gippsland. Work has commenced on the maintenance of buildings and park facilities. The tramway is being reconstructed to run again, the dam and waterways cleaned, the rotunda rebuilt, and the front building turned into an exhibition and art space. Donations from the public are eagerly accepted on the

“FOCC tap and go” device and funds have been secured from the Tiny Towns Grants to assist with the repairs required on the three large train carriages. So much has been done, but there is so much more to do.
The strategic plan that has been developed over the past year is needed to provide that direction. It has involved extensive community engagement and fortunately, the community has spoken about how important Coal Creek is to them and our region. The Friends of Coal Creek actively participated in providing input as to how the park can move forward to becoming financially sustainable and a gateway to South Gippsland. We want to thank everyone who has been involved in this process, our members, supporters, local businesses, community representatives, Council management and Counsellors. 

There is still an enormous amount of work to be done as the words and proposed activities that are contained in the strategic document must be put into action. The Friends of Coal Creek are ready to assist and work with Park Management to restore our historical park for the enjoyment of our community and visitors to our Region. 

Congratulations everyone, this is truly a momentous and wonderful occasion for Coal Creek.