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$1.5M youth centre at risk |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 16 November 2006 |
MALENY risks losing a $1.5 million Community Youth and Arts Development Centre unless a new location can be found for Barung Landcare.
Deputy Premier Anna Bligh promised $1.5 million funding for the centre just before the recent state election. But it relies on Council allocating a site near town and the Barung site has been earmarked.
Division One Cr Dick Newman was instrumental in obtaining the funding and is desperate to find a spot for Barung to leave the way clear for the centre. He says the Barung site is the obvious and possibly only choice in town. In January this year, Cr Newman attempted to start the move for Barung to the Armstrongs farm land, which was acquired by Council for effluent disposal 12 years ago. Armstrongs farm and Porters farm land are to form the proposed Community Precinct. “Barung need some certainty so that they can start seeking funding for the move,” he said.
Meanwhile, some Community Precinct Taskforce members accuse Cr Newman of fasttracking Barung on to precinct land with one hand while holding back everyone else with the other.
Cr Newman denies being the cause of any delay with the Community Precinct project. “The delay has been caused by irregularities in the contract which have taken over two years to fix. The contract is now fine, but this does not mean that Council has acquired the land yet. Councillors have been maintaining pressure on staff to finalise the land dealings but the original work was just not up to scratch and needs a lot of fixing.”
Cr Newman said Barung Landcare’s relocation to the Community Precinct land is appropriate and undisputed and they should be allowed to proceed.
“It is apparent to me that due to a whole lot of factors, this community is at risk of losing Barung,” said Cr Newman. “ … the State has agreed to fund a new Neighbourhood Centre for our young people subject to Council locating land in town. There is only one site emerging as a candidate and that is the Barung site.
Obviously Council and Community will need to sign off on that but it certainly looks like that site or kiss goodbye to a $1.5m facility.” Cr Newman is particularly frustrated by opposition to the move from Maleny Golf Club. Its president, Max Whitten wrote a letter to councillors critical of Cr Newman’s lack of community consultation over his proposal to relocate Barung “by stealth”.
Dr Whitten notes Cr Newman withdrew a similar motion on 16 February after Task Force members and eight community groups, including Barung’s then-president, raised concerns with Council. “These groups recognised Barung’s value and the merits of relocation to the Precinct. They argued then, and still do, that no group should relocate to the Precinct outside a coordinated Master Plan developed and adopted following community consultation.”
Dr Whitten said no one knew in February that Cr Newman’s agenda was resumption of the Barung site for a Neighbourhood Centre. He believes that Cr Newman was allowed to withdraw his repeat Barung motion at Council’s 9 November meeting following advice to him from Council officers that the relocation would not sit comfortably with the LGMS consultative process. “Cr Newman might be frustrated by this turn of events, but he should not try to blame others for a predicament of his own making,” says Dr Whitten.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 16 November 2006 )
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Range News 2005 - ON 
