Healing the ‘scar’ of the landscape: post-mining landscape in Anglesea

The nexus between environmental bio-remediation and environmental design, as it pertains to disused coal mining sites in Australia, is little investigated. Increasingly, many of these open cut extraction holes around south-eastern Australia, are becoming redundant as their resources are exhausted or non-economic viability creeps into the industry or are becoming management ’nightmares’. The recently announced March 2017 cessation of the Yallourn Power Station and associated brown coal Open Cut, and the recent fires and insurance liability legal determinations of the Yallourn Open Cut are exemplar of the former and latter respectively. This paper surveys the deeper bio-remediation and ecological transformative issues directly associated with the Anglesea brown coal Open Cut, and offers an ecological design lens insight as to possible treatments and scenarios that can be offered to guide the future use and management of the site. The lens demonstrates the richness that interdisciplinary design and applied research offers in assisting the healing and mediation of sites. The extraordinary nature and scope of the Anglesea coal mine site provides an opportunity to create a range of cultural attractions, natural succession treatments, natural bio-remediation strategies and educational opportunities. One scenario, for an Anglesea Lake Eco-Resort, proposes to incorporate an integrated Aboriginal cultural destination, performance centre, art installations and recreational venues, engaging the Anglesea community, visitors, researchers and students towards creating a vibrant and unique environment.