The Yilki Store in Victor Harbor has a rich history, serving locals and tourists since 1869. The store offers a variety of takeaway foods, coffee, lollies, and general store items. 

The name Yilki is an Aboriginal word meaning "place by the sea". 

Store Owners/Operators (To be updated / corrected)

• Mrs Gibson’s (original house)

• Ruby Rumbelow

• Gwen Rumbelow

• Mr & Mrs Greer

• Jack and Rose Crafter

• Mr & Mrs Williamson

• Mr & Mrs Ingram

• Mr & Mrs Dixon

• Mr & Mrs Smith

• Mr Brian Small

• Malen & Merrie Rumbelow

• Kevin and Sally Johnson

Interview with Mrs Anne Boulter

19th December 2013. Interviewer: Rob Linn. 

So Anne, when the holidaymakers were down in Encounter Bay and Victor Harbor  were there sort of festivities going on around the place to make money from  them, if you like, or to entertain them? 

AB: Mrs Ruby Rumbelow—Mrs Charles Rumbelow—had the kiosk at the curve of the road  going up on to The Bluff and she did a roaring trade during the holiday times, and then she  had the shop transferred next to her house. And it’s still there. 

Oh, yes. I know exactly where you mean. Right on the (sound like, front). 

AB: Yes, the shop. 

There is a Yilki store but wasn’t there a fish shop there as well? 

AB: Yes. That was Mrs Gibson’s house that Rumbelow bought and turned it into a fish  shop.

Yes, I thought so. Yilki store, that’s been there - 

AB: For yonks. 

- for all my memory. 

AB: And mine. I just vaguely remember that she used to churn custard icecream. 

Custard icecream? I've never heard of that. 

AB: And she had a dry ice churn or something. A little tiny cone would be a penny, one  larger cone would be threepence, and a double-header was sixpence. (Laughs) 

Yes, this is how you lose your money as a child I guess. 

AB: Well, oddly enough, we’d be playing on the beach in the seaweed and quite often we  would find money. A ten bob note even. Sometimes. And bottles that you could get a  deposit back on, and buy lollies. (Laughs) 

You’ve just tapped my memories, Anne, of the 1960s as a child where I can recall  quite clearly every holidays we would find money down here. It’s one of the  things that you did on the beach, was look for money. 

AB: Yes, of course. Two bob and you were made. 

Units planned for foreshore . . . Yilki shops may go

Concerned resident, Mary Berry outside of the Yilki Store.

Yilki may lose its community 'focal point' if a proposal to build 24 units along Franklin Parade goes ahead, according to some concerned residents.

The proposal, scheduled to go before Victor Harbor council in February, plans to demolish the Yilki Store, Pa's Place fish shop, the caravan park and two houses, including a 100-year old granite cottage. But project applicant Russell Trim said the future of the proposal depended on the economic climate.

"At the moment it's up in the air," he said. "A few people won't like the idea because of the demolishment of the Yilki store." Mr Trim said he had looked into putting in another store, but he was concerned it would not do enough trade in the winter months. Resident Mary Berry said it would be a shame if the area lost its shops. "It is a community centre where people meet and chat as weil as buy their daily needs," she said.

Pa's Place manager Ken Burgess said he hoped there would always be shops at Yilki. The first stage of the project would be the development of eight units from Ridgeway Street to the shops. Land owners with properties adjoining the development site have been sent letters by the council detailing the proposal. They have until January 27 to express any concerns to the council. 

Yilki plan changed

• Times (Victor Harbor, SA : 1987 - 1999) 

•  Tue 14 Mar 1995 

Reprieve for shops ... but cottage in the firing line

All written objections to Victor Harbor Council regarding a proposed unit development at Yilki are now invalid. This follows a new application by developer Russell Trim, to build the units to only stage one of the original proposal. 

The application is for eight, two storey units instead of the original 24. The new application, if approved, would still mean the demolition of the granite cottage 'Yeltanna' on the corner of Franklin Parade and Russell Street. 

But the two shops, the Yilki Store and Pa's Place, would not be affected. District Council of Victor Harbor planning officer, Ms Beate Jansen, said council had received the new application on March 3 and had written to all 48 people who had submitted representations on March 6, informing them of the change. 

Ms Jansen said these people were invited to see the new plans and were told they would have to send in any representations regarding them by tomorrow (March 15). Formal notification was not required under the Planning Act. Petitions objecting to the original development plans already had been tabled at council meetings and were generally worded and would still have relevance. 

Mr Trim said the the decision to submit a new application was due to the economic climate as much as anything else. "We always were looking at doing the development in stages - and if we do get approval for the first stage it doesn't mean we'd be going ahead with it. "People are talking about another two per cent rise in interest rates after the May Federal Budget - if that happens we would definitely put the development on hold. ' ' Mr Trim said he was looking at ways to see if the shops could be viable as a commercial entity. "It has always been my preference to see if they could be viable.

"It would be nice to say they are OK - but for me as a developer it's not smart to put in a tenant only to have him go bankrupt in the winter. "I don't want to see the shops go in some ways - but people who go and stay in the area three times a year and only buy bread and milk and do their major shopping at Woolworths are not going to make the business viable. "This always was to be a three- stage development - and it could happen some time down the track. "Council's decision on stage one will have some bearing on that. "If we can make the shops viable then it would be a different ball game. 

Council's planning, development and policy committee will consider the new Yilki application at its next meeting next Monday evening. The committee's decision will come up for consideration by the full council at its meeting on the following Monday, March 27.

Yilki shops 'saved'

• Times (Victor Harbor, SA : 1987 - 1999) 

•  Mon 23 Dec 1996 

YILKI - The proprietors of the Yilki shops say they've saved their premises from certain demolition through the recent purchase of the properties.

The owners of Pa's Fish Shop, Ken and Salie Burgess, and the owners of Yilki Deli, Mark and Gill Evans, are purchasing their respective business properties. "This is great news for the many concerned locals and also tourists as both shops provide quality and much-needed convenience shopping, seven days a week," Ken said. Yilki was the original settlement in the Victor Harbor area and the "village", including the shops, has much historic appeal and this can now be retained. 

"The shops were doomed to the bull-dozer for townhouse or subdivision development, however this has now been averted," Ken said. "Only the fate of the two house blocks to Ridgeway Street remain in question." Ken said Pa's Fish Shop had immediately started extended its food range to include chicken schnitzels, scoop ice cream and cappuccinos. Safer parking is now being provided out the back of the store in order to facilitate the provision of al fresco-style dining at the front of the store. Other plans for the future include upgrading of the surroundings, a playground, pancake

Ken and Salie Burgess with children Abby and Janie-Marie outside Pa's Place. The family has just purchased the property on which the business is located and has big expansion plans, kitchen, boutique plant nursery with coffee shop and expansion of the Happiness Shop, the local craft store contained within Pa's Place. 

Pa's Family Food Place is celebrating the purchase with three holiday features available from Boxing Day - a $ 5 big breakfast, $3 lunch packs and a chance to win $100 in the Mulloway guess the length of the fish competition. Mark from Yilki Deli thanked all of the customers who had offered support and best wishes during the fight to save the shops. "Special thanks to the people from the Yilki Church for their prayers and support," Mark said. "We're planning to build a paved and pergola area to serve light meals, coffee and donuts."

Franklin Pde decision

• Times (Victor Harbor, SA : 1987 - 1999) 

•  Thu 1 Jul 1999 

Franklin Parade's Yilki precinct will have parallel parking on both sides of the road, the Norfolk Island Pine tree looks set to stay and the encroachment onto the beach will be minimal, if any. 

Meeting on Monday night Victor Harbor council decided on a vote of 6-3 to pursue parallel parking on either side of the road. Those voting in favour of the plan - called Option A - were Councillors Liz Cooper, Keith Loeser, Sue Johnson, Rae Parker, Kaye Ewens and Enid Stilton. Against the move were councillors Tony Gelling, Deane Michelmore. and Brenton Hutchinson. Cr Alan Whittle was absent. 

The director of technical services Mr Peter Bond, with the aid of overheads showed a number of options - some offering as many as 33 car parks, down to the favoured option allowing only 17. Encroachments onto the beach varied from about 350nr up to 1-1 10m-'. 

Cr Keith Loeser successfully moved for the parallel parking option. He cited the council's Development Plan, its Corporate Plan and a Memorandum of Understanding with the state and federal governments as highlighting the need to protect the coastline from development. Given the delays already with the project and the problems of councillors saying they weren't fully aware of the impact of the road when they made their original decision, Cr Hutchinson suggested the council meet on site, close the road for 1-2 hours, invite interested residents and step out the proposals so everyone was fully aware of the physical implications of the various options. 

However, this failed to gain the support of the majority of councillors Cr Tony Gelling described the parallel parking plan as "a recipe for disaster" citing safety risks with people having to maneuver themselves between parked vehicles and cross two lanes of traffic to get to the shops from the beach.

"It's going to look like a bowling alley." Cr Gelling said. Cr Deane Michelmore was also concerned about the safety implications and the loss of parking in the area. "Public safety is the big issue j and encroachment should be the second priority." Cr Michelmore I said. 

He suggested an alternative was to eliminate parking on the shop side and provide 28, 90-degree j parking spaces on the sea side. ! "I wouldn't like to see anyone i being put in a situation where they have to get out of a vehicle and see a child dying on the road through no fault of their own," Cr Michelmore said. 

Cr Enid Sutton continued to lobby for the removal of the Norfolk Island Pine tree opposite the shops saying the tree would not survive if the roots were disturbed during the road reconstruction. As a result Cr Looser successfully sought an assessment of the tree's condition. I "We are under the impression that once we ! remake the road it's going to give it very limited ; life." Cr Loeser said. 

After Cr Looser' s motion was voted on, councillors indicated some confusion about the plan they had voted on given that two plans were on hand showing parallel parking. 

As a result Cr Kay Ewens successfully moved that Option A be carried through to design stage , with a view to maximising parking and minimising the encroachment onto the beach, the tree be assessed for its retention or removal. 

Mr Bond said the council could not expect to achieve any extra parking, beyond the 17 spaces on the current sketch, unless a further encroachment occurred. Work began on stage one of the multi-million dollar upgrade of Franklin Parade in early May but was stopped within 24 hours when residents expressed concern about a proposed encroachment onto the nearby beach. 

The residents' ire was raised after council placed pegs onto the beach marking the route of the road diversion. The council has discussed the matter on a number of occasions over the past month or so putting forward a range of options and seeking sketches from Dare Sutton Clarke, the engineering consultants.

"I wouldn't like to see anyone being put in a situation where they have to get out of a vehicle and see a child dying on the road through no fault of their own." - Cr Deane Michelmore