Ed,

A potted history of the Treelands Drive Community Centre (TDCC) from its opening in 1999 to the current projected closure for demolition and replacement with a larger footprint and including a much larger library (well that’s what was planned until funding decisions reduced the library size by LOTS in the latest release of the plan) was presented to a public forum at the Wooli St hall on Tuesday 15 Nov 22.

What a fascinating sequence of decisions and discussions was revealed. Those who first commissioned the TDCC must have been like newlyweds looking at it as their first home (a one-bedroom unit which will do until the first child walks) because just three years later in 2002 the first of the rumblings to “improve” the whole venue was tabled with the then Maclean Council.

After the amalgamation of Maclean Council into Clarence Valley Council (CVC) any action on this facility went straight to the back burner – on extremely low heat it would seem.

In 2006 a review of TDCC found it “fulfils an important role however it could serve the community better with * a fulltime coordinating officer and a part time admin officer, * extra parking, and * a larger function room and kitchen”. In 2007/8 a motion to sell the Wooli St precinct was LOST. 2012 saw demolition of TDCC mentioned in redevelopment proposals but any sale of the Wooli St site was not canvassed until after the Health Centre and TAFE buildings were finalised. And now in 2022 we are faced with demolition of TDCC AND the sale of the Wooli St site.

In 2018/19 financial year some 1160 individual bookings were taken for TDCC – falling to 836 in 2021/22 (perhaps because users were advised that demolition would start on 1 July 2022). Where will these groups go during this disruption? And will they come back after completion? One person at the public forum opined that when one remodels one’s kitchen one does NOT demolish the entire house and rebuild around the new kitchen! Why is this being proposed here? – and with just four consultation sessions and no costings nor dimensions for “Option B”.

I wonder if the Councillors have reviewed their duty statements and responsibilities as well as those of Council Staff. Councillors are responsible to represent the needs, desires and wishes of their constituents – the ratepayers. At some time since the amalgamation (2004) the decision making has been delegated to the GM and the staff whose roles are to gather the necessary stats and make advised recommendations to the Elected members of Council NOT to make those transactional decisions.

Paul Keating called the Senate an un-elected swill and while I am not accusing council staff of being a swill, I remind all concerned that they are not our elected representatives. Would our Elected Representatives have picked the TDCC for the expenditure of Bushfire Relief Funds rather than an Evacuation Centre for Woombah or some kind of a community hall for Nymboida – places with REAL need? Maybe TDCC looked like an easy fix.

I exhort CVC Councillors to restore their proper role and to cease this delegation of their responsibility lest it be regarded as dereliction of duty.

Ian Warlters, Yamba