Let's just imagine you've got some spare cash/won a small lottery kind of thing.... You have the ability to invest into the area. You want to provide something that Jindabyne has always needed - but noone ever seems to have enough $ or will power to get it done. Let assume for arguments sake, the authorities are supportive of the proposed development that you come up with..... There's lots of discussion on the NSW SAP govt survey site about: - more MB trails, link with town - more transport options to resorts (winter and summer ?) - indoor activity centre (skate park, climbing walls, tramps, etc ) - school expansion / split of junior & senior campuses ? - low cost camping/temporary accommodation (primarily aimed at seasonal workers) as well as holiday trippers - a central facility which holds NPWS, Art Gallery, Service NSW offices, but has meeting/functions room for rent etc Other random ideas: - does Jindy need a Service station on the LHS of Kosi Road ? - what kind of business isn't established in Jindabyne that could be and is needed (across all seasons) ? What would you do ? Any ideas ? < Fair dinkum suggestions preferred please > And yes.. it is an investment, so a return is required, but at the same time, setup so that it can also foster further growth and continued support for the local area. *disclaimer - I haven't come into any money .... not yet anyway.. but this whole Covid thing has got me thinking/dreaming about a sea change...
No need to be snarky. Ultimately more facilities means that you need more capacity for the resorts, which all costs money up the line, and means more queues, etc. A link between Jindabyne and the resorts would do well for me personally, but that’s just going to bring more people up. Alleviating rising house prices with the opening up of more land is probably a good idea as well.
A water ramp would be great. There has been talk of it for years. Some decent MTB tracks would be handy for summer. Transport options to the mountain (not ski tube, who wants to waste time going there). Definitely no maccas but to get a meal mid winter is next to impossible without booking so some sort of fast food would be handy.
Decent transport to the resorts from Jindy was needed about 25 years ago. I've used the ski tube once in 25 years as a novelty. We're now so far behind it's not even funny. Personally I'd refresh some of the older accommodation in town, make sure it had a decent outlook, and didn't smell like a moldy basement. Jindy would do well to push itself as a trail town (hiking/mtb) in the off season too.
That's actually what it should be. Since I first visited both places many moons ago, one has advanced a lot (from what I've heard) and the other has almost gone backwards. Queenstown seems to have at least accepted it's lot in the universe, while Jindy is kicking and screaming 'till the very end. Start by simply looking at the variety of activities on offer in Queenstown and you get an idea of how bloody useless we are.
Yeah let's get some tectonic action happening in the KNP. I mean this: Expanding the town basically. More facilities and activities, etc comes naturally with this.
another supermarket. be it IGA , Coles or .... you know that other one that sells ski gear..... and lots of other really usefull shit.
A dryland ramp with bag is currently proposed (stage 1 funded?) So, not any of the 100's of km of touring trails, singletrack and lifted singletrack within 25 mins of Jindy already!?!?!
What do you see as a vision for Jindabyne? Is it a sports mecca, a rural-based regional town, a tree-changer town, a fishing town, a motor-watersports town? What things support that vision?
Vision..hmmmm not sure exactly... i'd suggest a fine balance of some of the items you have listed... Trying to have too much coverage may result in quick fads being developed... need longevity. Focus on a few key important thignvs to allow the area to continue to develop - but not necessarily grow larger.. growth can come in multiples means... Jindabyne overall and, in the 20+ years that I've been visiting, seems 'dated' and is ultimately in need of a facelift/revamp. Some of the key issues seem to be around: affordability for visitors/tourism sector - both ends of the spectrum. providing year round activities is vital - again for tourism (seem to be a flavour as much as some locals do deter it.. without it, it will be the demise of the area) respecting past history of the area, but focus on future in terms of architecture and adaptability to areas accommodation situation - the cost V's quality V's quantity available of it seems to to be a hot topic. resorts definitely need to be partly responsible for a solution to this in terms of the seasonable workers. transport options to and from Jindabyne, as well as to and from resorts Access in and around town is lack luster - so many opportunities along the waterfront - but no safe means of getting there across Kosi Road. food variety - in terms of restaurants etc, should there be more options ? - during winter the problems seem to be about not keeping up with the workload (takes too long to get stuff), quality is still important so people will still pay for it - they just want it quicker (society expectations continue to increase ... i want my food i want it now attitude..... ) noone has mentioned aged care facilities ? - yet it seems to be a VERY concerning factor raised by many in the SAP feedback...
A town with a summer popn of < 3,000 people could never sustain this sort of investment. Queenstown built a $10m+ iFly to add to its reputation as a true sports destination but thinking they get more summer visitors than jindy does. Not sure how profitable it is though. In response to @climberman s comment I didnt realise just how much mtb stuff there was there until recently. It probably just needs to be marketed better! Not sure what can be done to fix the accom situation, but agree this is a common issue for ski towns around the world. I like this thread. Keen to see what ideas get thrown about.
So let me get this right... there is a shortage of land to build houses, flats, shops, tourist attractions and even the caravan park has rationed places that go for a ridiculous amount? If that is true, then it appears that everything is being held back by too much land being zoned for farming. The solution would appear to be to sack the bureaucrats responsible for holding the town back and making things more difficult and more expensive. Then allow more land to be developed for town and tourist uses and everything will become more affordable, more accessible and more "do-able". They did that for the surf resort town of Torquay down in Mexico and the place has boomed ever since. Or have I missed something that is unique to Jindy that stops this from happening?
If you're talking serious $$$, you'd want this investment it to generate further reinvestment - ideally starting a positive feedback loop so that the local economy would be truly thriving. Jindy is currently just a tourism town, and it's extremely winter season dependent (much more than other ski towns overseas). So although it is beautiful and offers a great lifestyle, new opportunities can be a bit limited. How could Jindabyne be broadened beyond tourism? Perhaps it could use the assets that is has (mountains, sports and recreation, the national park, maybe water) as areas where it could become the go-to place for new ideas. It could be a place to study, or start a new business perhaps... This could make it a place where you want to live (or at least visit throughout the year), and you wouldn't need to make a sacrifice to make that happen. So what does it need? A university.
Umm... that didn't work too well for Buller and when the uni closed down after losing big money for years, they were left with a huge, empty, six storey building that has been used for admin, a museum, a cinema and there is still heaps of unused space in it.
The honest truth is if I had enough $$$ to invest and do something meaningful, I wouldn’t be doing it in Jindy. For me though the main defect of Jindy has been the absence of a good reliable transport system up to PB or Ski Tube or Thredbo. I’m not sure why earlier attempts have failed (lack of demand? Services too infrequent? Demand concentrated at peak times and insufficient capacity at that time? Just not economic?) but I’d love to see a regular shuttle service to at least Ski Tube and Thredbo. Maybe that requires part subsidisation from the resorts and national parks? A mixed user pays/resort pays/government subsidises model? Other than that I’m not fussed
In the mid noughties one of the local bus operators put on a staff shuttle from The Station and town to Bullocks, cost a gold coin. Nobody used it. I forget the numbers, but I'm sure it was less than 5 a day. It's all well and good to provide the service but if it isn't used it won't last long.
Maybe it’s just me? But did it loop Jindy or just leave from somewhere central? I hate putting on my boots in a car park, so if I can avoid driving I’d prefer it, even if the trip took 15 or 20 mins more than by direct car. But maybe it’s just me? Customers have already driven by car from somewhere else so I guess by natural extension car becomes the default transport mode
Back in the 80's Guthega used to run a bus for customers (couple of trips a day) from East Jindy, pick-up in Jindy, then up to the resort - and obviously return trips in the afternoon. I used it sometimes and it was great - just drive from Berridale to East Jindy and then leave the car there. It was either free or cheap (I can't remember). Also they had two staff mini-buses which between them got 20-30 staff - a pretty good percentage of all the on-mountain staff really - up and down the hill every day without them needing to drive their cars up.
But what about the "superior people" who don't want such a common food outlet that might appeal to the riff-raff in a town they occasionally drive through? Though there aren't that many of them compared to the unwashed masses who might enjoy a quick and affordable feed, they have a lot of clout and know how to thwart, or at least expensively delay, any planning proposal.
Macca's have wanted into Jindy for years, but on their terms ie only open for the winter months. It was rejected.
I'm not fussed by the brand, so it could be a Red Rooster, Hungry Jacks or a nice affordable and clean independent with plenty of good seats instead. But I reckon Jindy needs better fast food options than it currently has.
A small subway store is a simple, fast food option that would do the job, provide quick breakfast or dinner subs for winter - ramped up during peak season and could be massively scaled back in the off season. It doesnt taste amazing (alhtough i dont mind it occasionally) but it feeds people before they hit the slopes or bars as a change from takeaway pizza, and in peak season provides a reliable option that they know they can get when everyone else will turn them away because too .
there are heaps of takeaway options Mountain Munchies Kebabz Fish and chip shop Burger Biz Serges Pappa tony pizza Trader Joes these are some that are rarely mentioned - i haven't mentioned Bits and pizza and Bacco or sundance
Interesting that quite a few comments are better public transport . After the disaster that was last year with regular weekend fullness of car parks and inevitable “ park full of cars “ sign and turn arounds I wrote to the local member to see if govt and resorts could partner to at least discuss better transport , who then passed me on to the transport minister and I got a “ not our jurisdiction “ reply . I find this incredulous when the state government has been funding buses in Newcastle where I live that are poorly timetabled and run with no proper linkage of the cities business areas and hence no one uses and a bloody expensive 3 km long tram track that destroyed many businesses in the cbd during it and the super car race tracks construction . I remember the guthega bus and it was great . I still think the resorts and govt need to step up when the hordes return in a post covid world
No, but that's an issue between them and the landlord. Suspect maccas wanted to build so the development application was denied.
and all of these are year round ? this is where the difference lies with the importation of a large franchise store... ... If for eg: a small Subway was put in at Old Town Centre/Buggets... i think the difference to these smaller stores would be marginal.. If for eg however: a full size Maccas/Red Rooster/KFC was put in, i have no doubt there would be detrimental/huge effect on the small businesses.. larger scale can hurt smaller ones without a doubt.
