Council plans to upgrade small towns as residents notice tourism changing communities

Peterborough is one of three towns that Moyne Shire Council has approved a new plan for, and among the few with an increasing population.

Other council plans are for Macarthur and Woorndoo that could see streetscapes and facilities renewed in coming years.

Peterborough's plan would see upgrades to the town's Irvine Reserve and give the community a recreational space away from the foreshore, popular among tourists.

This week, the town even gained its first boutique coffee shop to support its permanent community and the thousands of part-time holidaymakers who live there in summer.

The owner of the store, Maree O'Connor, a former Ellerslie dairy farmer who holidayed at Peterborough for decades before she moved there year-round, said many residents shared similar backgrounds.

"The majority of new permanent residents are former holidaymakers," Ms O'Connor said.

"Many people from Terang holiday here. When one family comes here, the extended family starts coming here. And the next generation are also buying houses."

The town grew by 55 dwellings in five years between 2011 and 2016, census data showed, and in past decades asbestos shacks have gradually made way for steel-framed modern homes. Some are rental properties, others are holiday homes or retirement retreats.

Graeme Murfett, who grew up in Terang and retired to Peterborough after a career in Melbourne, recalled holidaying half a century ago in the same street as an "unassuming" holiday home occupied by the then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

"There are a lot more houses now, particularly on the outskirts, there are double-storey places. In the central village, we want to keep the village atmosphere," Mr Murfett said.

"We don't want to become a Port Fairy or a Port Campbell."

The council last summer installed a new walking track along Old Peterborough Road and in 2017 opened a new community hall.

The council's latest plan includes transformed tennis courts at the Irvine Reserve for multi-use, a bigger playing field, improved access to a wetland area and a new walking trail.

Ms O'Connor said the number of tourists using the foreshore had grown and the town needed space for its permanent and part-time community.

"The reason that plan was done is the town needs connecting. It creates a walking circuit around town and a lot of people come down here and walk," Ms O'Connor said.

The upgrades will cost up to $440,000 and have not attracted council funds. The council plans for the money to come in stages targeting grants from various sources.

Ronald Irvine's family first came to Peterborough in the 19^th century and he has lived on a dairy farm on the Curdies River his whole life. The reserve is named after his uncle.

Mr Irvine said the community led the plan and he was pleased the council wanted to invest in small towns.

"We're not doing it for tourism we are just doing it for the village," he said.

Tucked away off the Great Ocean Road the town's main street has no parking for large buses, which Ms O'Connor said offered some seclusion from streams of tourists visiting the Bay of Islands.

She opened her main street business Peterborough Antiques and Art in the 2015-16 summer, a mix of her and late husband Denis' passions.

"We didn't intend to have a coffee shop because we thought that would be too busy for Peterborough," Ms O'Connor said.

"But the locals really wanted the coffee, and said it would be good in here.

"It's now a meeting point for the locals and somewhere different for the tourists. It is different for many people with the antiques and art on the inside, they are often surprised."

ONE hundred kilometres away change is also in the air at Macarthur, now an eastern gateway to a world heritage site.

Some in the town tip that tourists will stopover on their way to the newly inscribed Budj Bim site, which features Indigenous aquaculture systems created 6600 years ago.

Macarthur Advancement and Development Association president John Bragg said it was "too soon" to know if there would be an influx of tourists, but a camping area co-managed by the association had seen an increase in inquiry.

"To me it seems like a logical extension of the Great Ocean Road, you come from the Great Ocean Road to Budj Bim and then onto the Grampians," he said.

"We have been having an increase in overnight stays but the heritage listing hasn't been in long enough for us to measure it."

Moyne Shire Council has also prepared a plan for Macarthur's Market Street precinct that could see $1.6 million in projects completed.

Macarthur's population had experienced "moderate decline", according to a report to the council that also forecasts an increase of about 70 residents by 2041.

The plans include upgrades to the bowls club, a new splash-pad and toddler pool, new barbecue areas, and changes to the tennis courts where a single-multi-use court will be used for basketball, netball and tennis.

Mr Bragg said he hoped the upgrades, once funded and completed, would attract more permanent residents.

"Our Market Street precinct is going to help, Budj Bim is going to help, it's just a nice little town in the middle of everywhere," he said.

But Macaurthur Tennis Club president Mark Todd said the club was unhappy the plan would re-purpose the town's two tennis courts.

"The courts are still in good condition, they were rejuvenated in March in this year," Mr Todd said.

"There are benefits, any money that is coming from the shire to improve recreational facilities we are happy with, the only problem is we don't want to lose the tennis courts."

He said clubs and community groups were the lifeblood of the town.

"Because it's a small community people need to do more volunteering and participate more than what you do in the larger communities, otherwise these facilities no longer exist," Mr Todd said.

SOUTH-west towns collectively earmarked for millions of dollars in council upgrades are also calling for renewed investment in their roads.

Macarthur Advancement and Development Association president John Bragg said the town anticipated an increase in visitors to World Heritage site Budj Bim, but the roads needed to be upgraded first.

"The roads are shocking, that is all going to need to be improved before you put serious money into promotion," Mr Bragg said.

"Country roads have been ignored but the shire roads are definitely better than VicRoads' roads."

Peterborough residents' group treasurer Graeme Murfett said the town was calling for safer pedestrian crossings at the Great Ocean Road to link with new and existing paths.

"Everyone is trying to get to the beach. There are parents who have banned their children from crossing that road," he said.

"We have been trying to get a pedestrian refuge in the middle."

A Moyne Shire spokeswoman said the council had also advocated for the crossings.

"Options to possibly connect to new and existing footpaths at the southern end of the Great Ocean Road are now being explored further by VicRoads," she said.

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