An open letter to the Maleny Arts and Crafts Group
and others concerned about the fate of buildings at the showgrounds
March 10 2007
Council, by resolution, agreed that it would like to deliver a 25 metre
pool to the Maleny community. The report to Council indicated that the
best location for a pool would be at the Maleny Showgrounds. Community,
however, also suggested that other sites be investigated. Those sites
were the two schools, Bryce Lane and the Maleny Community Precinct.
Community also requested that Council investigate the possibility to
provide 5,000 square metres for the site instead of the usual 3,500
square metres. The reason for this was that community wanted additional
land to accommodate a community funded hydrotherapy pool and a community
funded gymnasium. Council engaged a consultant to examine the various
locations to determine whether or not there was one location that would
be so suitable as to allow the construction of a pool to progress.
The second consultant agreed that the best location would be the
showgrounds, but also considered that the high school would be an
appropriate location. The Maleny Community Precinct land was not
particularly considered and is subject to separate planning studies. The
location of a pool at the Maleny Community Precinct will be considered.
During this planning study, a Council Officer provided two maps to the
consultant to indicate a 5,000 square metre footprint at the showgrounds
and the high school. The map of the showground site put part of your
building within the footprint. A community member subsequently requested
all working documents via the Freedom of Information Act. That community
member may have determined that the map meant that Council intended to
demolish your building. This thought, to me is nothing short of
ludicrous and should be abandoned by all members of the Maleny Arts and
Crafts group. Council WILL NOT demolish your premises to deliver a pool
to the Maleny community.
The proposal to deliver a pool to Maleny has been 'rushed' through by
Council - that is we have only taken 3 years to get close to determining
a location. This 'rush' job was caused by two factors which indicated
that a new pool would be required by 2007/08. Those two factors have now
substantially changed and delivery of a new pool is some years away.
In the meantime, the very good news is that the Show Committee have
agreed that they will complete a Master Plan for the showgrounds. The
Master Plan will not indicate a pool at the showgrounds. I would urge
Maleny Arts and Crafts to forget about the silly ideas put about in our
community and participate in the finalisation of the Master Plan.
Some may think that Council owes you an apology for not communicating
with you. With all due respect, I consider that Council has acted
appropriately - it provided a map to a consultant to show that a 5,000
square metre footprint at the showgrounds would not work. Council senior
staff and I attended the last Show Committee meeting to provide factual
information to the committee. Council has not acted inappropriately in
this matter. At a personal level, it is not possible for me to respond
to all manner of gossip, rumour and innuendo that unfortunately exists
in our community. My contact details are provided each week in the Range
News and I am always happy to respond to any community member who may be
distressed by a rumour. Council staff are similarly keen to provide
factual information upon request.
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