Leigh Creek has promising future ahead, locals say

A former South Australian mining town which now has a population of just 100 says it has a bright future and wants people to come and visit.

Leigh Creek is open for business.
That’s the message from those living in the former mining town, which sits six hours north of Adelaide on the western side of the Flinders Ranges.

There’s no denying that the town has had it’s share of hardship, with its population plummeting from a peak of about 2500 people in the 1980s to less than 100 today following the closure of its coal mine in 2015.

The state government owns the town and resumed responsibility after a lease to Alinta Energy ended in 2018. After years of debate and demolition of empty houses it will become a tourist town and a gateway to the Flinders where residents will be able to buy their own homes.

Leigh Creek is open again and ready for business. Picture: Simon Cross

While much of Leigh Creek’s population has moved on, there is still a proud community that calls Leigh Creek home and thinks the town has a big future.

One of those people is Ben Lihou, general manager of the Leigh Creek Outback Resort, which provides accommodation, food and a cold beer for travellers on The Outback Highway.

Mr Lihou, a cook by trade, became stranded in the town after hitting a kangaroo. He landed a job at the resort he now runs and, years later, said he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

He thinks there’s plenty of potential for Leigh Creek’s trade to grow significantly, given proximity to iconic outback locations.

“We have 40 bus trips booked in – pending Covid – during our main tourist season which runs from March to the end of October,” Mr Lihou said.

Kimmie Geyer and her daughter Gypsy and Tammy Tarr at the entrance to Leigh Creek. Picture: Simon Cross

“We’re centrally located, and we’re a great base for people who want to explore places like Farina, Marree, Innamincka, the Oodnadatta track.”

He said it was important to let people know that Leigh Creek was far from finished.

“There has been a lot of uncertainty in the news,” he said.

“For the past 12 months people have been saying, ‘What are you going to do when the town closes?’ I have to tell them it’s not closing. We are open for business.”

Kimmie Geyer, 32, grew up in Leigh Creek and remembers it as a thriving town full of young families and good times. Now she’d love to see her toddler Gypsy experience a similar upbringing in the town.

Kimmie Geyer (left) hopes to buy a house in Leigh Creek. Picture: Simon Cross

“I hope this town has a future – it’s just a waiting game really,” Ms Geyer, who is hoping to buy a home in the town, said.

“That (the transfer of properties) was all meant to be done by the end of November, so it’s just a bit of a waiting game at the moment. The paperwork’s all signed.”

Ms Geyer said she’d love to see more families move into the town and inject more life.

“It was a brilliant place to grow up,” she said.

Tammy Tarr owns the Leigh Creek Post Office, and has lived in the town the past 10 years.

She’s an advocate for Leigh Creek, but is frustrated by what she said has been a never-ending maze of paperwork and unmet deadlines that have stopped people from buying their homes and securing the town’s future.

Deputy Premier Dan van Holst Pellekaan says the subdivision of Leigh Creek has taken longer than expected. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

“We were informed of what was happening in June (2015) and the mine actually closed in November,” Ms Tarr said.

“We had four months to get used to the idea that our lives had been turned upside down. It took the government five years to decide what they were going to do with the town – bulldoze it or keep it – and we were in a holding pattern for that time. Then they said they were going to sell it off, and we’re close to the end of that two year process. ”

“It’s been extremely stressful – all we want to do is buy our home. It’s our lives people are messing with.”

Deputy Premier Dan van Holst Pellekaan agreed subdivision of Leigh Creek into individual free hold blocks had “taken longer than hoped, but the high level of interest is a fantastic sign for the future of the town”.