To the Snowy River Shire Council. Dear Mayor, Councillors and General Manager,
RE: SUBMISSION REGARDING JINDABYNE ACTION PLAN
Thanks for the opportunity to participate in the process of developing Jindabyne's Action Plan.

I write this submission in the following capacity:
1. As a property owner in Jindabyne;
2. As a regular visitor;
3. As an events coordinator and Artistic Director of K'Ozzie Fest 09 and formerly Mound & Mt Kosciuszko Festival 07 and 08;
4. As a professional town planner, with experience in town centre improvement and urban renewal;
5. As Vice President of the Puls Polonii Cultural Foundation which represents the Polish Community.

I would like to focus the main part of my submission on suggestions for improvements to the Jindabyne Town Centre:

1.Jindabyne needs a Gateway

There is no real point at which Jindabyne Town Centre officially commences. A landscaped gateway welcoming the visitor is needed.

2.Improved connectivity in the Town Centre between main focal points

One of Jindabyne's main features is the Lake, and Banjo Paterson Park alongside. However, these main assets are divided off from the rest of the Town Centre and hence not taken advantage of, as they could be. The Lake and town Park need to be better-connected to the original shopping centre opposite, via safer and more distinctive pedestrian crossing facilities, and there should also be stronger connections to Nuggets Crossing Shopping Centre and the NPWS Visitors' Centre. The pedestrian walkways between these main components need to be significantly improved in terms of their directness and the quality of their pathways and associated streetscape (trees and street furniture).

3.Jindabyne Hotel

Council might consider entering into a partnership with the Jindabyne Hotel (ie a Planning Agreement under Section 93F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act) to allow some redevelopment in return for the provision of some public facilities such as café, community facility and seating areas (perhaps a museum) adjacent to the Park, and looking over the Lake and special Park features such as the cenotaphs and Statue of the explorer Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki. The Agreement might finance an upgrade of pedestrian walkways through the Park to improve the relationship between the Park and the Civic Precinct (Memorial Hall).

The Landscape Plan for the Park needs to be reviewed, looking at the pattern of pathways and the positioning of steps in relation to the more defined pathways, and how visitors and residents generally use the Park, or would use the Park if facilities such as those mentioned were to be developed there. I believe that a café and deck redevelopment overlooking the Lake and the Park would be a highly attractive redevelopment, and go a long way in activating the Park, and taking advantage of its high value as a civic asset.

The above would assist significantly in enabling more events, including artistic performances, to be staged in the Park, and enabling local businesses to benefit as an outcome.

4.Statue of Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki

This 9m high bronze Statue on a large stone plinth, is a very prominent feature in Jindabyne and it needs to be well-maintained. The Statue was a bicentennial gift from the Polish Nation to the Jindabyne Community and is now 20 years old. The standard of maintenance of the Statue by the Council has been lacking, with the result that the condition of the Statue has been deteriorating. This situation is disappointing to the Polish Community which takes huge pride in the Statue, the history that it represents, and considers it to be worthy of being listed as an item of local heritage.

5.Civic Precinct

The contribution made by Memorial Hall as an iconic civic structure to the original shopping centre and to the town centre generally, needs to be strengthened, through the removal of the unattractive storage building erected in front of the hall (its main façade as one approaches the Town Centre), significant improvements in the external finishes of the hall building and the landscaping treatment around it, and possibly through some interpretative public art and/or paving.

The parking areas behind the original shopping centre need to be improved ie cleaned up and landscaped, as they are used by people walking through the centre. The uses on the western side of Thredbo Terrace such as the Police station, Medical Centre, CWA Hall etc, are important community uses and the fact that the shopping centre turns its backside to them is a poor arrangement. This needs to be rectified to bring the centre together as a well-functioning entity, and to facilitate and encourage a healthy civic respect for these uses.

6.Disability Access

Accessible paths of travel throughout the Town Centre, and as part of improvements undertaken as part of this process, need to be significantly upgraded to the highest possible standard to cater for all persons including of course people with disabilities, but also mothers with prams, and elderly visitors generally. The current standard of accessibility throughout the Town Centre is very poor.

Additional Recommendations (non physical)

It is suggested that the Council might like to embrace more fully, the multicultural history which is indisputably linked to Jindabyne and provide more support to events such as those which over the course of over 40 years have been initiated by the Polish community, and which may not have lost their continuity had they been better supported by the Council. These events, initiated by various organizations, but also the late but fondly-remembered local Catholic priest, Wally Stefanski, have the potential to make a significant contribution to the artistic and cultural experiences of the local community, and help to create harmony between locals and visitors, to the benefit of local businesses.

Should you wish to discuss any of the above ideas with me, please do not hesitate to contact me on my mobile number 0418 265 271.

Yours faithfully
Ursula Lang

Puls Polonii: please feel free to post your comments and proposals in the forum below.