Local residents have banded together to reshape the neglected and overgrown Rapahoe Domain, close to the State highway, with a heavy machinery display that
re-creates a coalmining tunnel.
The roof supports, or arch sets, came from the United Kingdom to Huntly and then Spring Creek. Solid Energy walked away from the mine, near Dunollie, just before Christmas after failing to find a buyer.
Dwayne Solly said the project started with clearing gorse off the overgrown domain, "and it ballooned".
Fellow Rapahoe resident John Ewen had just visited a mining museum, and about the same time Solid Energy was selling its West Coast mining assets.
"We wanted to conserve the cultural heritage of the region," Mr Ewen said.
When approached, Solid Energy donated a Joy CMS continuous miner, once used underground at Spring Creek, and Fitzroy Mining, which bought most of the assets from Spring Creek, donated the shuttle car. Allied Concrete did the concreting and G C Smith Contracting picked up and delivered the mining vehicles to Rapahoe free of charge.
The display also has the main ventilation fan from the mine.
The machinery would not have met code in Australia, and would otherwise have been abandoned in the mine, which has been plugged and is now being flooded.
The group pressed ahead with the project, despite being turned down twice by Development West Coast.
It has $10,000 for toilets but needs another $25,000; the nearest public toilets are at Runanga.
However, the group has transformed the once swampy, gorse-covered domain, and the next step is to erect information panels.
Some of the bays of the display 'tunnel' will be covered in to create an information kiosk.
The whole community has been involved in the project, and when it came time to do the concreting, so many turned out to help they ran out of pegs and hammers.
Mr Solly and Mr Ewen said they were pleased to help preserve the area's coal heritage.
"There's been coalmining here since the year dot."
