ENHANCING Penola and Coonawarra’s reputation as a must-see tourism destination and highlighting the district’s “hidden gems” dominated discussion when WAX Design officials held community development sessions for the Penola Main Street Masterplan and Placemaking plan last week.
The design firm – which has been engaged by Wattle Range Council – met with over 60 community members across Friday and Saturday, including 17 students from Mary MacKillop Memorial School, to gather ideas and discuss the town’s future.
It is the second stage of council’s masterplan and placemaking strategy process, following on from a recent online survey which received over 200 responses.
Changes to community infrastructure – such as improved footpaths, car parking and shelter – were among the practical discussion points, while a number of recreation and cultural projects were also floated.
Council chief executive Ben Gower congratulated the community on its contribution to the masterplan, labelling the weekend’s meetings a success.
“The outcome has been great and we had a good proportion of the community come along,” Mr Gower said.
“The engagement went well and residents provided a lot of probing questions and ideas which were thrown around.
“Now these ideas will get put together with the more ideas in the mix, the better the outcome the plan will have.”
The senior council officer said the biggest challenge elected members would face was how quickly the ideas from the public would be implemented.
“The ideas will be drafted for council to consider and we expect a lot of infrastructure ideas will come out of it,” he said.
“We will most likely have to work over multiple years but these consultation periods are just the beginning of that design element to make sure the money spent in the community is spent wisely.”
Mr Gower said the community response to the consultation was something to be proud of, labelling it a great start to the process.
WAX Design director Warwick Keates praised the community for its continued support and commitment to the project.
“The takeaway message from the workshop was that even in these difficult times, the community support for this project remains strong and attendees provided wonderful interactions on what they want to see within their town,” Mr Keates said.
“It was clear the community wants Penola to remain on the map and make sure visitors get the most out of their visit.”
He said many residents attending the workshops had similar ideas on how to improve the town and understood what was needed to improve the masterplan for the town’s centre.
“Everyone came with lots of opportunities and focused on those opportunities instead of being bogged down with what the issues were,” he said.
“Sometimes it can be difficult for a small town to have an outsider come through and tell them what to do but it was good to have the community tell us what they wanted from the town.”
