Leigh Creek: From Coal Mine Town to Outback Oasis

The dust might have settled on the disused coal mine at Leigh Creek, but the winds of change are stirring as the town, once reserved for miners and their families, redefines itself.

In many ways, Leigh Creek has all the hallmarks of a typical remote outback town in South Australia — a pub where nearby station workers gather to put away pints and exchange gossip, a post office staffed by a local with knowledge of all the goings-on, and a quirky entrance sign referencing an obscure element of the town's history.

But there's also something notably different about this town located in an arid patch of eastern South Australia.

And it's that something that piqued the interest of Punjabi immigrant Baljit Singh Bajwa.

At its heart, Leigh Creek has an extraordinary multi-storey complex boasting a 230-seat cinema with vintage film projectors, indoor basketball and squash courts, a sports bar, conference facilities and more.

These are the vestiges of the town's former glory when it and its impressive suite of facilities were purpose-built in the early 1980s to service the Leigh Creek Coal Mine, operated by Alinta Energy.

The first commercial mining started at Leigh Creek in 1943, but it was after the new infrastructure was built that the town's population soared to 2,800.

When the mine closed in November 2015, it prompted a mass exodus.

The population dwindled to about 100 residents, and the facilities lay disused as the years passed.

In 2022, about 200 homes were demolished in a bid to keep the town's size sustainable, despite pleas from some residents to keep more structures to allow the town to grow.

Two years later, Mr Bajwa and his business partners saw the potential in Leigh Creek and bought most of the infrastructure and major buildings.

Now, while his family remains in Melbourne, Mr Bajwa is not just the town's publican in charge of the hotel and restaurant, he and his business partners own the caravan park, the resort with nearly 100 rooms and cabins, the service station, five homes, and the complex with the cinema and sports facilities.

Leigh Creek is now at a tricky crossroads, where the 100-odd residents left have to use it, or lose it.

Mr Bajwa, affectionately known in the community as Bali, is concerned that without patronage from tourists and financial investment, the infrastructure could deteriorate beyond repair.

"You cannot build a town from scratch because most of the new mines, they don't build towns anymore, there is fly-in, fly-out," Mr Bajwa said.

Mr Bajwa would like to see arts events, school camps and conferences held in the town to keep the facilities in use.

"I don't think there is any other private business which has those sorts of facilities in Australia," he said.

Pitching an outback oasis

Most of the population deserted Leigh Creek after the closure of the mine. But those who stayed began to envision a new purpose for the town.

Nestled a stone's throw from the northern Flinders Ranges, west of the Gammon Ranges National Park, south of the country's largest salt lake, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, and located on a key route between Queensland and SA, locals started to market Leigh Creek as an outback tourism hub.

That dream remains alive for residents today, who want to harness the town's unusually well-equipped infrastructure as a unique selling point.

Mr Bajwa agrees with them wholeheartedly.

"People expect that, because the mine is gone, the town will be dead. No, town is not dead. We have everything," Mr Bajwa said.

An unexpected gem

Dale McPeake woke in the early hours of the morning one day and felt an overwhelming urge to travel north.

When he stumbled across Leigh Creek, he knew he had found his new home.

"Something just anchored me in a very good way," he said.

" And then we fell in love with the people up here."

Mr McPeake and his partner James opened up The Sassy Emu Tea Room & Collectables, a cafe and antiques shop filled to the brim with treasures from another time.

Although currently closed, it has served as a daytime meeting place for nearby station owners, along with tourists passing through.

"Most people say, 'Wow, this is an incredible township, this is incredible infrastructure," Mr McPeake said.

The community also capitalises on the intrigue that the town's mining history has created.

"We have travellers that want to now come into Leigh Creek to see what it's all about … because previously, being a closed town, people have still had the thought that it is a closed town," Mr McPeake said.

"Our whole process now is about making sure that people come to Leigh Creek, not necessarily for us, but to know Leigh Creek for the future of the younger generation."

From serviced city to service town

When the government sold off its assets in Leigh Creek, the town transitioned to the jurisdiction of the Outback Communities Authority — a body providing support to remote areas of SA without a council.

Presiding member Jan Ferguson said Leigh Creek had "a great future".

Ms Ferguson said it was now up to the community to shape the town's role and steer it to its future.

"That's one of the things about Leigh Creek, it's got the physical infrastructure," she said.

"Its social infrastructure needs to evolve from a town that used to have everything done to it, to a town that's now needing to do some things for itself."

Sandra Edwards and her partner moved to Leigh Creek in early 2025 after they fell in love with the beauty of the area.

Ms Edwards believes Leigh Creek will continue to expand.

"More and more people are coming out here; they love the area," she said.