Ulladulla Civic Centre / Library complex gets an budget increase for the upgrade

It started out on a journey to fix the kitchen and airconditioning.

Then we found that there was more than a million dollars worth of defects to bring the building up to standard.

I thought it would be good to see if we could extend the value of money spent on the Civic Centre and pushed for a further upgrade to the Library and improved community spaces.

Councillors plucked a magic figure of $5.1 million out of the air as the price for the fix up.

After some constructive sessions with architects Brewster Hjorth, community reps, staff and Councillors it was decided that the $8mill model was the one that would satisfy the communities needs without going for the top shelf model.

Last night Council unanimously voted the extra $2.9 mill to get the project up and running.

It was an interesting evening with a lot of back slapping but still a lot of negativity about increasing the library size.
There are national Library standards that give Councils guidance as to how big the space should be for the number of people living in the service area. Ulladulla Library should be 10 times its small 150 sqms, but Councillors have agreed to a compromise of around 600sqm- positively luxurious compared to the current cramped conditions.

Councillors seem to forget that libraries aren't all about books, but great places of respite on cold / hot days to pick up a periodical or a newspaper and catch up on the happenings of the world. A place were babies ans small children take their first steps into the literary world of amazing big picture books, bright colors and phonetics. Were young people can meet with the idea of doing 'homework' but more often work on their relationships and in Ulladulla were a tourist can call in get the latest information on things to do and places to stay.

So now the staff have the task of preparing the plans for final exhibition and comment while also preparing tender documents to get the project underway- sometime in 2012 after the blessing of the fleet.

I look forward to one day soon sitting in the library searching the catalogue for interesting reads and not having to have my chair pulled in so tight that my elbows are on the computer screen. I look forward to the centre redefining its place as the heart of the town, were all people are welcome- not wanting to wish time away but roll on 2012!

Ulladulla Civic Centre /Library / Tourism Centre- what is it that Councillors Just dont get?

Last nights Resources and Reserves Committee tried to address the elephant in the room of the Civic Centre redevelopment budget.

Council recently had a meeting with community reps and the architect to discuss further plans for the space and what seemed to be emerging is that if Council took the cheap option i.e. $5.1 million we would be getting a far inferior product than if actually lashing out and doing the job properly for around $8million.

So the committee asked the architect to go away and bring us back costings on the $5mill model and the $8 mill model to facilitate better decision making.

Councillors have a habit of plucking unrelated figures out of the air and saying that's what we will spend on the project rather than having a project fully scoped and knowing what the real spend should be.

Examples;

Ullaldulla Harbour Walkway $1 million- well what will that get us- know body knows even today!

Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre $24 million- needed a $2.4 million renovation for toilets within the first 5 years plus additional funding to finish of the landscaping.

There are lots of cost effective reasons why we should look at improving the civic centre /library/ tourism centre all in one go-but one of the main reasons that I brought it up on the first place was that council gets contributions for the library from developers- and the library money could be leveraged to make a better project overall!.

I think there is room for compromise in this project that will have excellent outcomes for all three areas (I'm not including the senior citzs area as is it is pretty good) lets face it Ulladulla and surrounding areas which the library services has grown immensely since the library was first created. Modern libraries are not just about dusty books, they are places for people to meet, places for children to learn a passion for learning, researching for family history, Internet hot spots for small business people or travellers, a place to share skills not just a place where people are always whispering and the library shushing you.

Here are some of the comments made by Councillors;

Councillor Proudfoot, I don't support spending any more money than what is already in the budget- this project was never about new library space but about air conditioning and a kitchen. I warned everyone that this project would get bigger once the community are involved

Councillor Brumerskyji: Books are a thing of the past, everyone will have kindles and ipads just look at how that technology has exploded.

Councillor Watson: We should make it $8 million and pare back on the library- this project has been hi jacked by the library lobbyists and the extra space is a luxury that is not needed.

It seems to me that these Councillors are blinded by their own circumstances and just because they don't use the facilities doesn't mean that others don't. Just ask the mums with pre schoolers who enjoy the big book corner. The older people who can access magazines that aren't affordable in their weekly budget. The researchers of family history who support one another learning about computers and history in one go. or the school kid who needs help with a school report or assignment.

As a community we can stand by and watch our public buildings and services be run into the ground and create the very destiny that some councillors see( which then would give them a good business case to sell the land for private development).

Or

We can redevelop our building well and have something for everyone a real community hub in the centre of town a vibrant place where people want to be, get information, be entertained, enjoy an exhibition the options are endless and there is a classic example at Albury which boasts an award winning Library Museum which is always a hive of activity when I have visited.

Albury's award wining Library Museum pic by John Gollings