Finniss Springs Management Plan Community Workshop

On Sunday October 12, the AAC held a workshop in Port Augusta to discuss the development of a Finniss Springs Management Plan. The Plan will outline the development priorities for the Finniss Springs Station lease area over the next ten years, with a focus on infrastructure development at the Homestead area.

During the well attended workshop, community members provided input into how they would like to use Finniss Springs, and what infrastructure is required. Some key outcomes were ideas about the future use of the stone house, tin house, and elders building; clarification around the construction of personal blocks; the development of an accommodation hub; power and water supply; community safety and risk management; facilitation of community events; recording of historical knowledge and plaques remembering places and people; and the potential for tourism operations.

The development of the Finniss Springs Management Plan is an important step in the AAC's future management of the station, building on the handback of the lease during the Arabana Native Title victory in 2012. The Plan's development will take significant time (12+ months). Further, Plan implementation will be limited by budget, with the only existing funding currently available being the non-renewable Finniss Trust Fund. However, some shorter term actions may be feasible while the Plan is developed and funding sought. This may include construction of one or two new shower blocks (on the 'shearing shed' and 'north' side of the creek); an enclosed kitchen in the large existing shed; additional storage spaces; an interim solution to power supply; and the emptying and structural assessment of the stone, tin, and elders house to ascertain their potential for future use for various purposes. You can see many of these ideas in the stick-it notes in the photos.

In addition to infrastructure development, a high community priority was to record historical knowledge about Finniss Springs and put up plaques with key information. The AAC hopes to move quickly to record community knowledge about the past location of houses and infrastructure at Finniss when it operated as a station to develop a 'town plan'. We hope to run fieldtrips to Finniss involving elder and younger Arabana to record and share this information as soon as the cooler weather returns in 2026.

The construction of personal blocks was also a high priority for community members. The Plan will have guidelines for the establishment of personal blocks at Finniss. However, if you do not want to wait for completion of the Plan, please contact Project Officer Neil Brougham using the details below to register your interest in building a block.

The development of Finniss Springs will be a long and expensive process. The current reality is that Plan development and implementation is currently significantly constrained by AAC staffing levels and available budget. The workshop on Sunday was the first step, and the AAC will be sure to keep the community updated. If you have comments, questions, or input into the use of Finniss Springs, please contact Neil Brougham at n.brougham@arabana.com.au or call 0436 305 890. If you would like to inquire about use of the elders house for accommodation, email admin@arabana.com.au or call the AAC office.