Kiewa River land masterplan (completed 2021)

Project typeLand redevelopment
Project valueN/A
Project scheduleComplete

The Consultation Process

In March 2021 Council staff held two community drop in sessions onsite in Kiewa to talk to the community about their ideas and vision for the Kiewa River access site at the ‘Old NECMA depot’. Approximately 50 people attended these two sessions.

There was also an opportunity for residents to provide input through Social Pinpoint, an online ideas board where community members can leave feedback on each other’s ideas. There were five discussions held in this forum.

Additionally, there was a short questionnaire on the Council website, which asked two main questions:

What is your vision for the site?
What activities would you like to participate in on site?

27 responses were received through the online questionnaire.

Why did we consult?

Connection to the Kiewa River has long been a high priority for the community of Kiewa and Tangambalanga with both Council and the community trying to secure public access to the river for many years.

Council committed to providing community access to the river as part of the 2018 Kiewa Tangambalanga Placemaking Strategy.

When the opportunity arose, Council purchased the former North East Catchment Management Authority (NECMA) depot, the parcel of land located at 37 Kiewa East Road, Kiewa. With its river frontage and large open space, it was identified as the ideal place to develop a community space.

We are committed to working in partnership with the community to develop a plan for the site with access to the river for swimming and fishing as well as other informal recreation activities.

What did we find out?

The main theme from the community consultation is the desire for a safe swimming area suitable for families. Some community members identified the Crown Land to the left of the site (which has been discussed in the past) would be an ideal location for swimming with a car park at the NECMA site and a walking track/ board walk to this area. Access to swim in the river is the most important aspect the community want developed before any other major work commences on the site. There was also a strong desire by some to have a safety fence along the river to separate the community space.

The idea of a Men’s Shed was discussed with multiple community members and seemed very well supported.

The most debated idea was overnight camping and caravanning and a dump point. This was strongly supported by some while others strongly disagreed and believed it should be a community space not a tourist space.

What happened and when?

We established a Working Party consisting of 12 members from the Kiewa Tangambalanga Community and engaged Fiona Slade Landscape Architects to develop a Masterplan for the site. A Masterplan is an important step in the process as it will assist Council and the community to seek grant funding to help develop the site.

Fiona and her team presented the draft Masterplan to the Working Party at a meeting on Thursday 21 October 2021. A copy of the draft Masterplan can be found here(PDF, 2MB)

Early December 2021 Update

In exciting news works are currently underway to create public pedestrian river access at the former NECMA site and we are pleased to be working towards this in time for summer.

Weather permitting, the works should be completed shortly and we’ll keep you updated on progress.

We would like to thank Parklands Albury Wodonga, NECAM and the community working party for their advice and support regarding river access.

During this time, please do not enter the construction site or the remainder of the site.

The Masterplan will be presented to Council at their December meeting. We will provide an update on the outcome following the meeting.

December 23 2021 Update

On Tuesday 14 December, Council adopted the Kiewa River Community Site Masterplan.

Additionally, the public pedestrian access point is now open with the following rules in place:

Please keep to the designated path and don’t enter any private property.
Please be aware that conditions in and around the river are constantly changing and that hazards may be hidden.
Please supervise children around the water at all times and don’t dive or jump into the river.
There are no bins on site so please take your rubbish with you.
In an emergency please call 000