Iris IWANICKI
During the early post-war period between 1945 and 1960 a number of remote planned towns were built in the outback for specific Cold War purposes. Their historic significance is linked with post war recovery, international, national and state alliances in a nuclear age, modernist design and the emergence of a town planning profession as it developed in the post- World War II period. Two South Australian examples are discussed and contrasted: Radium Hill township, established by the South Australian government to service a uranium mining venture in the north eastern part of South Australia and Woomera Village, the Commonwealth planned and established settlement to service the Woomera Rocket Range as part of a Joint United Kingdom/Australian Long Range Weapons project. Their respective genesis and fortunes are outlined as separate ventures but distinctly associated with the Cold War.
The paper will discuss the historic context of both settlements, their differences and similarities within a typology of typical remote planned towns of the era, how they contribute to international and national historic themes and how the cultural heritage of the more recent past in an outback setting can be assessed for heritage significance. The difficulties of valuing the more recent past in conditions of the outback environment and transience of existence will be discussed, as well as how best their stories can be retained in public memory.
This paper is based on full time PhD research associated with an ARC Industry research grant project topic :"The role of cultural heritage in the sustainability of remote planned communities with Woomera as a case study" and picks up on some of the themes of the previous ICOMOS conference: Unloved Modern in order to place the period in an outback setting.