SA Budget 2020: $30m town overhaul for Leigh Creek
The former coal mining town Leigh Creek has a population of about 120 people. But it just received a $30m boost in the State Budget. Michelle Etheridge Regional Editor November 11, 2020 - 2:16PM The Advertiser
Investment in the former coal mining town of Leigh Creek will be made easier, and vacant homes and buildings will be demolished under a projected $30m plan for the area.The State Budget sets out $2m for the town this year, and $28.6m over the next three financial years to remove dilapidated and unused homes and maintain “critical infrastructure” including health and ambulance services, and the local aerodrome.Budget papers reveal money will also go towards “titling services” to allow the sale of residential and commercial properties.Breyten Ward, who runs the Leigh Creek Outback Resort, as well as the town’s caravan park and service station, welcomed the funding, saying more than half of the local housing was vacant.“When you drive into town it looks beautiful. (But) when you drive around the backstreets it looks horrible because the homes haven’t been lived in,” he said.“It can only be a good thing to get rid of those places."
The State Government owns the area and land leases for residents and business operators are due to expire in June 2021, which has led to locals questioning the Far North town’s future.Mr Ward said allowing people to buy properties would help shore up Leigh Creek’s future, and encourage business investment.“I’m not going to spend $50,000 updating rooms and in 2021 miss out on a lease – if it comes up for sale, I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
The Leigh Creek Coalfields closed in 2015, and since then, the population has dropped to about 120 people.
n its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, it was home to about 3500 people, Leigh Creek Community Progress Association chairman Darryl Bowshire said.“It’s about time we had some good news,” he said of the Government’s plans.He said property sales might attract investment in holiday homes, or more long-term residents, and a $135m plan to seal the Strzelecki Track was also positive for tourism in the region.However, property demolition must happen in a measured way, he said, to avoid missing out on the potential opportunities brought by an in-situ gasification project Leigh Creek Energy is planning.The company wants to revive the resources in the defunct coalfields using a process involving heating coal and capturing the synthetic gas produced.“My biggest fear is if you demolish too many houses and Leigh Creek Energy takes off and there’s not enough houses they’ll build a camp out there and Leigh Creek will miss out – it will be all fly in and fly out (workers),” Mr Bowshire said.State Budget papers show the $30.6m plan supports “the Government’s commitment to transforming the Leigh Creek Township into a sustainable and open regional government service centre for government workers, surrounding communities and tourist visitation”.
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