Coober Pedy Drive-In Draft Master Plan—Community Engagement
The District Council of Coober Pedy invites you to “Have Your Say” on draft Master Plans for the re-development of the Coober Pedy Drive-In
The Coober Pedy Drive-in is a key local and tourism asset which is located in the heart of the Coober Pedy township and has served an important social and tourist function since being established in 1965. It has the distinction of being the only existing drive-in in South Australia.
However, over the years the facilities and environs have deteriorated and so in 2023, Council through the Coober Pedy Together Group commissioned Aspect Studios and Mulloway Studio to develop a master plan for the Coober Pedy Drive-In site.
The design for the draft Coober Pedy Drive-In Master Plan (Plan) was prepared in partnership with the Coober Pedy Drive-In Committee, with the aim to refresh and recreate the Drive-In for generations to come, while maintaining the Coober Pedy story and flavour.
At the Council Meeting on 13 December 2023 the Draft Master Plan for the Drive-In property was presented to Council for consideration and Council passed the following the following resolution:
It was intended to release the draft Plan for community engagement in early 2024, however, in November 2023, the Drive-In screen had been badly damaged and it was deemed best to wait until repairs had been undertaken before the community engagement period commenced. Unfortunately, the repairs took a long time to get approval from Council’s insurers due to complications with the deterioration to the Drive-In Screen framework and discussions whether it was covered by Council’s insurance or not. This was finally resolved in late 2024 and work commenced starting with seeking tenders for the required repairs and with the work being finalised in March 2025.
Now, with the fantastic new screen in place, we are inviting you to “Have Your Say” on the draft Plan and where you see the Drive-In facilities and environs in future.
Of course, this draft Plan or the final adopted Plan is only likely to be progressed if external grant funding can be secured, as Council is currently not in a strong enough financial position to fund this type of capital project.
However, for Council to be in a position to apply for grant funding, it must be “shovel ready” meaning that it should have “a construction project that is considered to be at an advanced enough stage of development for building to begin soon”.
Community Engagement concludes on 16 May 2025, and all comments/suggestions received will be presented to the May 2025 Meeting of Council.