Built on mining, the township of Pine Creek located 200 kilometres south of Darwin has certainly experienced its ups and downs. Once the largest town in the Territory with the gold rush in the early 1900s, population numbers swelled again with the opening of new generation mines in the 1980s. Their closure in 1993 again placed enormous pressures on the town’s ongoing viability, but this small, robust community was not ready to die.
Located on the Stuart Highway, Pine Creek is ideally located in the top end tourist triangle that links it with Darwin and Kakadu National Park. After cyclone Tracey in 1974, the rail line between Katherine and Darwin was not rebuilt. This made iron ore extraction in the region no longer viable. With the line for the Ghan now completed, the ability to rail ore to the Port of Darwin has provided the impetus for new drilling to commence.
“In the meantime, we are not sitting around hoping this will happen,” said Council President, Ray Wooldridge. “We are looking at a variety of ways to sustain the town including a mix of tourism and other sources of employment.”
Last October, Council ran a workshop that identified a range of opportunities for economic development and to create new jobs. Five areas were identified.
- Rerouting the road to Umbrawarra Gorge so visitors travel through the township of Pine Creek.
- Development of the town’s steamrail heritage.
- Creating a green belt through the town particularly at the entrances off the Stuart Highway.
- Promoting the town’s mining and Chinese heritage.
- Sale of the Government houses currently unoccupied to new families or retired people who can bring new skills into the area.
Council also has entered a partnership with a local mango producer to share the costs of infrastructure to pipe water from the Enterprise Dam. This combined outlay of $280,000 will provide water to the mango plantation and for parks and gardens providing a green wedge to entice travellers to stop and enjoy all the town has to offer.
Pine Creek also raised $122,000, and with local skills in the community, has rebuilt a steam locomotive. Built in England in 1877, the steam train was shipped to South Australia in 1879. In 1915, it was brought to Darwin. One of two sister locomotives on the wharf during the Japanese attack on Darwin in 1942, this loco survived the bombing. It has now been returned to its former glory and will be used as a key tourist attraction in Pine Creek. One kilometre of the old Darwin to Katherine rail line has received accreditation and plans are in place to lay a further three kilometres in a circuit around the town. Sections of derelict track, removed to make way for the new line for the Ghan, were delivered to Pine Creek free charge by the contractors. The town has also acquired a timber coach used by the original Ghan between Alice Springs and Maree.
“There is no other area in Australia where the introduction of steam train rides have not been successful,” said Roy Wooldridge. “We are very positive about this venture, all the result of local skills and many volunteer hours of hard work.”
He said that plans to bring the Umbrawarra Gorge Road through Pine Creek has the potential to bring an additional 20,000 people into the town each year.
Council has also successfully lobbied for the NT Government to transfer government owned houses, previously leased to mining companies, to it for a nominal value. Council will sell these cheaply on the proviso that they are owner occupied and cannot be resold for five years. The aim is for people to put resources into doing up to the houses, and to bring people with additional skills into the area, or young families to boost population numbers.
“There is no point sitting around complaining that the town is dying,” Ray Wooldridge said. “Council is determined to provide leadership and build on the strong ethic of local people to get in and just do it.”
