Dysart, a purpose built mining town of 3200 people is located 240km northwest of Rockhampton, Queensland. Constructed in 1973 to service Saraji and Norwich Park open cut coal mines. Once a town with a strong and thriving community, the introduction of a drive-in drive-out work force and 12 hour shifts has seen Dysart’s community begin to break down. As a unwanted consequence this is now being reflected in the town’s character. Dysart now faces its biggest challenge: rebuilding the community and social fabric that had made the town so successful and desirable to live.WAX Design, in collaboration with JPE, were engaged by ISACC Regional Council and BMA’s (BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance) community development program to generate a strategic and long term planning direction for the Town of Dysart. The aim of the project is to create an urban design framework to help the community focus on a future for the town by increasing tourism and economic development, attracting new residents and improving the quality of life for the local community.
WAX team members Warwick Keates and Matt Baida, along with JPE’s David Gregory visited Dysart late last year to undertake a planning for real consultation program. The intensive nature of the consultation process involved the establishment of a 4 day studio in Dysart and was designed to enable the team to develop a detailed understanding of Dysart as a place and a community. The consultation approach for the urban design framework focused on engaging the community early in the project process, with the strong intent of building a community ownership of the project and ensuring that the strategic directions of the framework were directly linked to the unique needs of Dysart’s community.