READ MORE: Purchase of school site under scrutiny...click here

READ MORE: Forster to get new library as part of civic precinct...click here

READ MORE: Forster civic precinct a step closer...click here

Undergoing a radical change before it has even begun, the Great Lakes dream - underway since 2008 - of a civic precinct site, where a light and airy library overlooks the water, tourists drop into a visitors centre before admiring works in a regional gallery, and community groups gather in public meeting spaces has lost its community zoned waterfront. 

Financial pragmatism has stepped in and moved the idea for the precinct further uphill, and Great Lakes Council’s current search for a development manager aims to look at the best ways of capitalising on the old school block on the corner of Lake St and West St, currently approved for a 120 unit development application up to seven levels high.

“Local Government has been encouraging councils since the early 90s to think creatively and invest the money that they hold, to be more entrepreneurial. But there are very few options for generating an income,” Council’s general manager Glen Handford said.

“Regional councils today cannot afford to live off rates and fees alone... and the days of government grants are coming to an end.”

The problem with the original site arose after the precinct’s master plan was costed. Belatedly identifying the underground parking as an expensive drawback, the financial reality risked the precinct never being more than an expensive long-term dream.

“Oh, we would have eventually got there. But it would have taken a very long time, saving money here and there over years to pay for it,” Council’s director of corporate and community services Steve Embry said.

Mr Handford admits that as a former town planner he is not risk averse. Seizing what he saw as an opportunistic moment last year, he proposed council acquire the Old School site for non-identified “strategic purposes” during a closed council meeting. Aligning it along the same premise that brings them an estimated $1 million annually from Woolworths’ lease of council’s site in Tuncurry, he says the purchase was a good investment opportunity. Subsequently Council has moved the precinct up to the flatter new site, purchased for $3 million last year. 

“There are several options for using the land,” Mr Handford said, admitting ideas were still quite fluid and plans for the site have changed.

 “We already know what the community wants. Let’s not develop a whole new master plan. We did that already... Let the master plan inform the new plan... But we need to review the site to get the best economic return.”

But resident Paul Van Drunen is questioning how Council could purchase a site using such a large amount of public money in the first place without a clearly defined idea of what it was for. 

“It just happened... What business board would approve a purchase of that amount without first knowing exactly why they were buying it?” Mr van Drunen asked.

Mr Embry said that council assessed the site as being of value to council and the community. Mr Handford further stated that council was not required to run every decision through a consultative process, and that the master plan was not wasted because it enabled council to be clear about what the community wanted. 

“The council is the community representative. It is quite clear what they [the residents] will and won’t accept,” he said, adding that council would have a fair bit of negotiating power with any developer.  According to Mr Handford, private - public partnerships are becoming increasingly common to help fund public infrastructure so the incoming development manager would put the site out to market theoretically to gauge interest in a partnership with council.

“We want to test the market to see who can build it and what else they can offer us,” he said, adding the partnership would deliver what’s needed earlier than if council had to deliver it on its own.

“We have three options. One – there is no interest at all, the market’s not ready, and we just build our library for $6 million and wait for the rest; two, a developer comes along and gets ‘air’ rights’ for residential units above the public infrastructure on ground level; three, someone just buys the site itself,” he said, adding the last option was the least preferred.

The development manager is expected to be appointed in November. Steve Embry said that extensive community engagement would be undertaken to inform everyone of the new plan.