Nhill Townscape and Lake Concept plan endorsed by Hindmarsh Shire

The plan, which has a cost summary of $5,436,000, would see four key tourism sites; Goldsworthy Park, Centenary Park, Jaypex Park and Nhill Lake, linked together in a broader tourism vision for the town.

This would include the establishment of pedestrian paths between the locations, signage, amenity tree planting and general beautification.

In March 2021, Wimmera Mallee Tourism engaged with Ballarat-based architects Thompson and Hay to develop the 10-year detailed masterplan.

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At its meeting on Wednesday, councillors voted unanimously to endorse the plan, and will now look to conduct further community consultation.

As part of the same motion, council also resolved to allocate $20,000 from the 2021-2022 Nhill Streetscape ledger to construct a new pedestrian bridge linking Jaypex Park to the Nhill Caravan Park.

Hindmarsh mayor Melanie Albrecht called the project "exciting" and said the masterplan would be a long-term development.

"It is very exciting for Nhill. This is a 10-year vision for Nhill, so it is not going to happen overnight.

"For those who visit or live in Nhill we can be very excited for what the future decade holds.

"We can be as supportive as possible with council staff as they advocate and apply for grants to be able to fund these projects, because they are projects that will need to be substantially funded out of additional funds."

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At the meeting, council noted significant feedback from the Nhill community in regards to the perceived removal of a large slide at Jaypex Park as part of the new streetscape.

However it was stated the plans recommended to "Carry out an audit of existing play equipment and consolidate suitable equipment within a central play space", with no specific plan to remove the existing slide.

Councillor Wendy Bywaters commended the move to potentially keep the slide.

"There still needs to be some work done on Jaypex Park, and I heard with my own ears today that no one is planning on doing anything with our slide yet," he said.

"It might be bigger and grander, who knows, but nothing is planned to take the slide away.

"I think what is really important with all this is the fact that we are allocating the funding from the 2021-22 Nhil streetscape ledger to construct a pedestrian bridge between Jaypex and Nhill Caravan Park.

"At the moment, people who are staying at the Nhill Caravan Park have to walk out and go around to get to Jaypex Park. I am really excited to see that is going to be the first thing that happens."

Councillor Rob Gersch said significant community consultation would occur before and work begins on the project, especially for Jaypex Park.

"We need to make the public aware that before any of these works are carried out that there will be further consultation with the community, in particular the Jaypex Park area," he said.

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