Rail facilities and historical buildings should be preserved within a "working heritage precinct", Strath Taieri Community Board member Robin Thomas said.
Use could be made of the railway station, station master’s house and goods shed and an information centre set up to promote local attractions, he said.
Mr Thomas led a presentation by the community board at a Dunedin City Council civic affairs committee meeting this week.
His comments came after the council had in recent weeks declared it would retain a Taieri Gorge train service and it had acquired the fossil-rich Foulden Maar site near Middlemarch.
Foulden Maar is principally of interest to researchers and at this stage there is no public access to the site, but its importance as a treasure trove of fossils is expected to help present Middlemarch as a notable destination.
Mr Thomas said it was important for the community to have dialogue with the council about both Foulden Maar and the future of the Taieri Gorge railway line.
He advocated for local aspirations and ideas about the train service to be considered and called for a public meeting with the council to discuss options.
Council chief executive Sandy Graham said the council was not yet in a position where it could discuss all aspects of the future of Dunedin rail operations.
Councillors will weigh up options in time for the council’s 2024-34 long-term plan.
Mr Thomas said he hoped the community could be involved in early discussions and consultation.
Parts of a report about Dunedin Railways, discussed by the council in the public-excluded portion of a meeting at the end of January, were released this month.
Two decisions by the council were not disclosed and a section of the report about condition of the Taieri Gorge tracks was redacted.
A 10-year programme of work on the tracks was estimated in 2021 by Dunedin City Holdings Ltd to be $14.8 million.
Parts of the latest report about train services remained commercially sensitive while the council considered potential new operating models, a council spokesman said yesterday.
The future of the Foulden Maar site would be considered "in due course".
