GREAT Lakes Council has voted to begin works on stage one of Forster’s new civic precinct - a $6 million new library that could be opened within 18 months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The area owned by council includes the former School of Arts building on Little Street and the old school site on the corner of Lake and West streets. According to the plan, the library will be built on the old school site, with the area closest to the water to be developed as residential housing to help pay for future civic precinct developments.
The community was sold this idea of a civic precinct – a town square – on the School of Arts site. No one knows that they are not going to build it there now, that they’re putting apartments there instead.
- Paul Van Drunen
Stage two of the project will include a local performance and meeting space to replace the School of Arts, which will also be built on the old school site.
Forster man Paul Van Drunen spoke out against the move at Great Lakes Council’s meeting on April 28. He said the proposal for stage one approved by council was significantly different from that developed in the master plan for the area that was put out for public consultation in 2008.
“That master plan was based around the idea of having a town square, a civic precinct that would have the benefits of rejuvenating the image of the town, and that was a valid reason to have it there,” he said.
“Prime water-front land can’t be re-created, it’s precious. We can expand Forster to the south and Tuncurry to the north but we can’t create more water-front.
“This is a completely new plan that changes the location of the library to an entirely new block of land (across the road from the former School of Arts building).
“Council has thrown a plan out the window that has been eight years in development, and committed to spending $6 million on something that doesn’t have a master plan, doesn’t have a design, and doesn’t have a budget.”
As part of its way forward, council’s director of corporate and community development Steve Embry said there would be substantial community consultation.
In his report to the council meeting, Mr Embry states that detailed estimates will not be available for stage one until the design work is undertaken.
“There is a body of knowledge on library developments and they are not overly complex to build,” the report states.
“The site is also very level. Based on a 1400 square metre building it is likely the library could be constructed in the range of $4 to $6 million. This could be funded as follows: Land Development Reserve $2 million; Loan $3 million; Section 94 $750k; Library grant $250k.”
The report stated that the terrain of the School of Arts site would pose a problem in the building of a library, as it would need to be built over several levels. Mr Embry estimated that the cost of an underground carpark for that site would have been at least $2 million.
At the time that the master plan was put out for public comment, Mr Embry said council did not own the old school site. It was only purchased in 2014.
He said the site was more suitable for the library development, as it was flat and provided ample parking. Council envisioned setting the library within a large landscaped garden area.
“In light of our aged population, this will be a better functioning library for the community,” he said.
Council has been planning to replace the current library building for some time due to flooding concerns and a lack of floor space and car parking. The proposed library would be 1400 square metres, almost double its existing space. It is envisioned that the current library space could be used to extend and supplement the existing council chambers, which also have structural problems.
Firm Projects + Infrastructure was brought in to evaluate the potential of the site in 2014, including library and retail opportunities and to formulate development concepts. The report has not been made public due to issues of commercial confidence, Mr Embry said.
The evaluation suggested the optimum location for a library was at the eastern portion of the site and “concluded a mix of residential/apartment development on the balance of the site would provide the best return to council”.
Mr Embry said, if the Little Street land was to be developed for residential purposes, it would have to be rezoned from its current community use to an operational use, a process that required an extensive community consultation process and negotiations that could take as long as 18 months to complete.
West Street could be closed to consolidate the two blocks, the report to the council meeting stated.
Mr Van Drunen said, in the interest of transparency, a new master plan should be created and put out for public comment before any move was made to develop either of the sites.
“The community was sold this idea of a civic precinct – a town square – on the School of Arts site. No one knows that they are not going to build it there now, that they’re putting apartments there instead,” he said.
“Changing the plan and not consulting the community... It screams of arrogance.”