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Delays, cost blow-outs, hope still for Cultural project
Recent rejection of tenders for the long-awaited Wiradjuri Cultural Tourism Centre doesn’t mean the proposal is dead in the water, a number of councillors have suggested.
With the cost of building the architecturally-designed facility blowing out past the $12 million of state and federal money approved for the project way back in 2019, Council said they were left with “little choice but to decline all tenders as each submission well exceeded the available budget allocation”.
Ever the optimist, mayor Josh Black, however, told Dubbo Photo News that a scaled-down version of the facility is definitely on the cards.
“This project will be rescoped and realigned, it’s still going to be delivered,” Cr Black said.
“This is not a stop, this is only a change of direction. All councillors are committed to delivering it in a financially-sustainable way within the funding envelope.”
The lesson, he added, is that when you get grant money for dedicated projects, get your skates on and “build, build, build!”
“We got $7.2 million from the Feds, and $5 million from the state, that was way back in 2019.
“This has been a learning experience for all involved. This project shows that when you get grant funding, it’s best to get on the project right away,” he concluded.
Cr Shibli Chowdhury agreed that too much time had passed.
“The proposal was first made in 2018 with the money coming soon after that; and it should have been sorted out well before now,” Cr Chowdhury said.
“Between working parties and looking for more and more funding, council took too long to make it happen, too long to sort it out,” he added.
One solution offered is that council could look at completing the project in a series of developments to keep costs manageable and avoid having to hand the grant money back, Cr Mathew Dickerson proposed.
“We could have a conversation with funding bodies to stage the development. I hate the idea that we work hard to get grants, about $14.4 million in total for this project, and then we have to hand it back,” Cr Dickerson said.
“I think we should talk to the funding bodies to get the go-ahead to proceed on a phased project in stages,” he added.
Moving the proposed site of the Wiradjuri Centre from Coronation Drive is another way that the prolonged project could be salvaged, Cr Richard Ivey believes.
“Looking at some of the other options, we could integrate the project near the Western Plains Cultural Centre where Council has a bit of spare land, then we could also look at the scale of the whole thing,” Cr Ivey said.
“Part of the cost blowout could have been the delays. It was a great idea, people got excited about it. It was designed to high specifications but – post-COVID – building costs have simply gone through the roof!” he added.
“To be honest I don’t know the full story, it was just a series of unfortunate events,” Cr Adam Ryan commented.
“There was just a number of unforeseen delays, that’s the gist of what I got. I don’t think it was purposely stalled,” he added.
The project, he firmly believes, however, is still a goer despite the current setbacks.
“One hundred per cent, I think it will definitely go ahead. The cost is just more than the budget we’ve got at the moment,” Cr Ryan said.
“I think once we decide on that everyone wants, it’s just the scope of the budget and getting the money to get it built within that budget,” he concluded.
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Light up for the living, councillor's “bright” idea
Global warming, they say, is a grave issue threatening future generations, with one councillor having the “bright” idea of using past generations to combat the problem.
Solar panels in our cemeteries is the concept in a nutshell, and it’s the brainchild of committed environmentalist, Cr Mathew Dickerson.
The advantages of the proposal, he believes, would also help savie our farms from despoliation by renewable projects.
“You hear a lot of people saying that we shouldn’t be sacrificing prime agricultural land for solar farms, and instead looking at alternative locations for panels,” Cr Dickerson observed.
“We’ve recently decided on putting solar panels on shade structures at the airport, why not do the same with our cemeteries?” he asked.
The proposal would not involve lighting-up individual headstones, he assured Dubbo Photo News, but instead sun shelters with panels atop that would also make our gravesides more pleasant for mourners and visitors.
“I’m talking about shade structures nice and high above the graves, we’re making our cemeteries better places to be with toilet blocks and the like,” Cr Dickerson said.
“It has been done overseas; it’s a good alternative to using farmland and would make the shade panels more functional,” he concluded.
To be raised at Tuesday’s council meeting for discussion and investigation, other councillors interviewed were politely neutral in their views on the proposal.
Finding ways to harness the power generated from such isolated locations is one issue for discussion, Cr Richard Ivey pointed out.
“I am aware of that motion and, apart from any other thing, how practical is it? How are you going to get the power generated on the grid?” Cr Ivey asked.
“Anyway, I think it is something that at least should be investigated,” he concluded.
Other councillors were less enthusiastic.
“I’m going to give it a fair hearing, but I make no promises,” Cr Adam Ryan said.
“As I do with every single item on the agenda, I’ll approach it with an open mind,” mayor Black said.
Cr Dickerson was not surprised, admitting: “Frankly, I expect it to be shot down in flames, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea,” he concluded.
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Regand Park North Picnic Area works
There’s nothing more annoying than wanting to use one of our outdoor facilities, and finding that it's unavailable. Alas, that’s the price for maintaining infrastructure to an acceptable standard, with Council recently working on the Regand Park North Picnic Area.
During the works, Tamworth Street, between Macquarie and South Streets, was closed to traffic, impacting resident access to local streets. Further works were undertaken around the new toilet block, including the concreting of an existing unsealed pathway.
Council has said that “total completion” of the upgrade will occur later this year.