Case Studies
The Railway Lands and Rail Trail Walking and Cycling Path

Design Feature

Type of project
Local Government Initiative
State
South Australia
Location
Regional
The Railway Lands and Rail Trail Walking and Cycling Path project enhances Mount Gambier’s central activity spaces. It provides an easily accessible place that encourages active participation and passive recreation, through activities such as cycling, walking and playing.
Supporting active lifestyles
The Railway Lands provides integrated spaces for public gatherings, concerts, markets and celebrations and promotes social inclusion for a growing community. The Rail Trail offers a shared cycling/walking path along a derelict section of rail corridor that runs approximately ten kilometres east-west through the City of Mount Gambier.


It is anticipated the development of the Railway Lands and Rail Trail will have a significant impact on the Mount Gambier community by encouraging the community to become active. The implementation of numerous urban and regional planning, urban design, ecologically sustainable design and water sensitive urban design techniques is evident throughout the project. The Railway Lands precinct provides a vibrant passive recreation space, targeting cultural activities and events. This promotes social inclusion and enhances the mental and physical wellbeing of the Mount Gambier community. The Rail Trail has created a genuine commuter route through the city.
The project reflects several of the Healthy Active by Design design features:

Movement – The Railway Lands and Rail Trail provide an accessible, connected movement network that integrates walking and cycling routes, facilitates safe and convenient travel and encourages the use of destinations. The design focused on the needs of Mount Gambier residents and aimed to improve their wellbeing through public interaction, physical activity and cultural stimulation. The topography of both the Railway Lands and the Rail Trail walk and cycle path is flat and does not have any difficult level changes This allows for the space to be utilised by the whole community, regardless of age, ability and mobility. 



Community facilities - The Railway Lands and Rail Trail provide a safe corridor for users to easily access a wide number of facilities. It also provides vital links between a number of land uses, including: residential areas, sporting facilities, the Mount Gambier Central Business District, open space recreation areas, libraries, art gallery and other cultural facilities and schools.



Destinations - The Railway Lands is a large, four-hectare, centrally located parcel of land that separates the main retail precincts of Mount Gambier city centre from a mix of commercial, light industrial, recreational and residential land uses. The Rail Trail provides a ten kilometre commuter route through the City of Mount Gambier.



Public Open Space – the Railway Lands and Rail Trail provide a range of public open spaces that contribute to the recreational, physical and social needs of all members of the community. The Railway Lands has provided a dynamic, multipurpose public space which includes a range of unique assets like green public open space, walking trails, bike paths, outdoor learning environments and recreation spaces within a culturally significant parcel of land.



Sense of Place – The Railway Lands and Rail Trail have created a true sense of place and ownership for the community. The design and development of the projects drew apon local culture and history while integrating useable green public open space, walking trails, bike paths, outdoor learning environments and recreation spaces which are accessible to the entire community.



Buildings – The built form of The Railway Lands and subsequent Rail Trail were specifically designed to promote increased physical activity, stimulate incidental movement, enhance social and emotional well-being while also facilitating natural surveillance and improving environmental conditions. The Railway Lands retains much of its original character, through the retention and/or refurbishment of key buildings and significant items such as platforms, tracks, fences and telegraph poles. The use of these items collectively ensures that the site continues to be interpreted as a former railyard.


Project team
  • The City of Mount Gambier
  • Government of South Australia
  • Local Community

Project cost
Approximately $5.7 Million
Health value
  • The Railway Lands and Rail Trail offer a shared path through the centre of Mount Gambier. It has become the city’s most popular communal meeting spot, creating a common thread that connects the city both physically and socially.
  • The project provides a multipurpose community space and creates a sense of civic pride.

Economic value
The Railway Lands and Rail Trail are regularly utilised for a number of public events, fundraising activities and civic events and has increased tourism/visitation to the area. Some recent events held on this land include:
  • The Australia Day Breakfast
  • Carols by Candle light
  • Pop up Bar
  • The night ‘open air’ cinema (during summer)
  • Community Group events
  • Privately run fitness training sessions
  • Private functions (i.e. Christmas Celebrations/dinners)

The project has increased patronage and access to the Central Business District and commercial areas.
Environmental value
  • Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) techniques feature heavily in the Railway Lands precinct, providing protection and management of Mount Gambier’s unique underground aquifer system. These techniques include a series of flood mitigation, collection, retention, filtration and nutrient removal strategies.
  • Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD) principles were a key focus of the project, where the effective re-use of materials has minimised the impact on land fill but, more importantly, maintained the strong heritage value of the onsite built fabric. The site contamination required onsite remediation and the Railway Lands site underwent an extensive clean-up process. Remediated soil was re-used as site fill under hard stand areas, to minimise the need for clean fill to enter the site and to minimise contaminated soil going to land fill.

Social value
  • The project enhances social outcomes for the Mount Gambier community by: building community capacity, improving social connections, creating an inclusive public space and improving community infrastructure.
  • This project has created unique solutions to reuse and revitalise the built form of an existing derelict railway yard.
  • The Railway Lands and Rail Trail path offer social value by providing unlimited opportunities for social connection/engagement and increased community safety for walkers and cyclists.

Use value
  • The design ensures the continued interpretation and appreciation of significant buildings and structures of the Railway theme whilst providing pedestrian activity and linkages to nearby retail and recreation precincts within the city centre.
  • Provides the Mount Gambier community with a multi-purpose facility that can host community, cultural or special events.
  • The transformation of the site from a derelict industrial parcel of land to a green linear park with feature landscaping and activities, has had an immeasurable impact on the adjoining streetscapes, the amenity of the inner-city location and the Mount Gambier community.
  • The Railway Lands and Rail Trail provide opportunities/access to engage in healthy behaviours.

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