2015-03-03 Infrastructure & Services Committee Agenda

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  3 MARCH 2015


In terms of usage and access respondents believed the Butter Factory should:
 be open to the broader community, not just a select few;
 be more dynamic and have more energy; and
 aim for better levels of use, with access and opening hours extended to include evenings and
    weekends.

Respondents also identified:
 the importance of the building as part of Cooroy’s history, heritage and community;
 a number of building limitations which should be addressed in order to facilitate more
   effective and efficient use of discrete and overall areas within the Butter Factory. For
   example: poor acoustics prevent use for concurrent activities and access issues constrain co-
   location of organisations;
 opportunities to incorporate old and new ideas relevant to Cooroy and broader Noosa. For
   example: ceramics, heritage, environment, the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Accreditation,
   training and creative community-working spaces; and
 the building should be used to meet identified needs in the local area. For example: a place
   for lifelong learning and helping young people.

5.    Community Proposals

A broad range of ideas were proposed through the consultation from informal notions to detailed
submissions. The first phase of analysis determined four of these as having significant merit and
members of the Review Team assisted the groups in developing these initial concepts into
comprehensive proposals. These four proposals were:
 U3A Noosa operating a Cooroy U3A sub-branch and hiring out the facility to other users;
 the Cooroy Lower Mill Board managing and programming the Butter Factory;
 a Centre for Ceramic Excellence being established providing a cultural and training hub
   focussed on ceramics; and
 a Biosphere Interpretation Centre being established providing interpretative arts, environment
   and heritage exhibitions.
In addition to these four community proposals the review team flagged to the community that it
would also consider the option of Council retaining management of the Butter Factory
A brief summary of each of the community proposals is provided below.

U3A Noosa Proposal

Under this proposal U3A Noosa would lease the Butter Factory predominantly using it to
establish U3A activities in the hinterland. In addition, U3A would facilitate other uses of the
building by working with community organisations and hiring out spaces.
U3A is a “self-help; self- managed, lifelong learning co-operative for over fifties who are no longer
in full-time work. They provide opportunities for members to share learning experiences in a wide
range of interest groups and to pursue learning not for qualifications, but for fun.”1 Weekday
classes and weekend social activities are offered.
U3A Noosa (www.u3anoosa.org.au) – is an established organisation with approximately 720
members in Noosa. A Cooroy sub-branch of U3A would be established to run U3A programs.
This proposal would require Council to maintain, insure and provide security for the Butter
Factory building but otherwise minimal Council subsidy.




1 See www.u3anoosa.org.au



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