Council says ‘this is the cheapest option' on the proposed new city centre project

DESPITE the touting of its significant community benefit, the development of the new Hervey Bay City Centre project has come under intense scrutiny since the announcement in the middle of last year.

The project is funded through a combination of Australian Government funding ($40 million), Council’s general revenue, land sales and borrowings, and is estimated to cost almost 
$100 million.

To evaluate this bold project, an understanding of the background is vital.

Council has garnished significant government funding to build a new library and administration centre incorporating a disaster resilience centre in Pialba. The new building will overcome the significant deficiencies and constraints of the existing library in Pialba and the existing administration centre in Hervey Bay.

It will also provide a central facility for disaster resilience agencies to come together to plan and respond to disaster events in the region. It is worth noting that Council has undertaken an extensive assessment to determine the case for constructing the new library and administration centre against other potential options available to Council.

What has potentially been lost in the tirade of discussion over this project is the need for the community. This isn’t just a council administration building; more than three quarters of the development will be community space.

The current Pialba library does not meet the existing or future needs of the community and should be more than double its current size to meet the needs of our current and growing population over the next decade. Importantly, the existing library also does not appropriately cater for disabled and elderly users and, in some instances, is non-compliant, with the building also requiring significant investment to overcome significant defects.

The current Hervey Bay Council administration centre is too small to meet the organisational operational needs of the region’s largest business. At present, teams are being located across many buildings and locations.

Equally, Council does not currently have a disaster resilience facility to house a call centre and operations room with sufficient space for key agencies to come together to plan and respond to disasters and emergency events effectively.

Due to the significant issues with the current Pialba library space and the current Hervey Bay Council Administration centre, Council must act to do something or face a substantial risk of failing to meet the community’s needs.

For Fraser Coast Regional Council CEO Ken Diehm, the answer is not only a simple one, but a matter of pure economics.

“There are basically two options, and doing nothing isn’t one of them,” Ken said.

“Option one would be to terminate the University of Sunshine Coast’s (USC) lease of part of the current Pialba library building to free up space for major refurbishment and expansion and then refurbish, extend or demolish and replace the current Hervey Bay Administration Centre to incorporate a disaster resilience centre.”

“Option two is the current vision to exit and sell the current Hervey Bay Administration Centre, exit the current Pialba library site and building and offer it to the USC to expand its offering to local students, and construct a new Pialba library and administration centre, incorporating a disaster resilience centre.”

“There is an overwhelming need to expand the library facilities. We have less than half the space identified by the Public Libraries Board and State for a community of our size. The State makes a substantial funding contribution to the operations of our library and there is an expectation that we will comply with their guidelines and provide contemporary library facilities. We have not been doing that and our community deserves better.”

“The proposed new Council Administration Centre, library and community spaces is a significantly cheaper option than refurbishing the current ones we have. That is a simple economic fact.”

When asked about the ongoing cost to the community, the message was a simple one.

“We are getting the benefit of a $40M contribution from the Australian Government. That is not transferable. It is for the City Centre activation. If we don’t move ahead with this project, the loss of this funding would make any other scenario far more costly.”

“Not only that, we are talking in the hundreds of millions of dollars when I refer to new development enquiries, in and around the Hervey Bay City Centre project, that is waiting for this project to get up and running.”

“As a community, we need to do this, and it is simply the cheapest option long term. Period.”