2015-03-03 Infrastructure & Services Committee Agenda

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  3 MARCH 2015


Option 1.      Council to hire out the facility as a venue and primarily act as a bookings
               manager
The proposal to operate the Butter Factory as a hire-only venue would see Council act as a
bookings agent for community groups or individuals seeking to hire a venue. In practice, staff at
the Library would hold the keys for the facility and take bookings. The events or exhibitions at
the site would then be managed and manned by the community. Currently, there is a
requirement for any exhibitors to “man” the exhibition for at least one day.
This model provides the least cost to Council, but arguably does not meet the expectations
expressed by residents during the consultation process. Under this model, the venue would be
closed except when being rented for an event or exhibition.
The Butter Factory is currently available for hire however there are very few bookings given the
constraints of the building and the availability of other facilities in the hinterland.
Inevitably there would be demand for the facility to be used outside of traditional working hours,
particularly on weekends. This may present security issues, otherwise the fee structure would
need to accommodate security staff or some other arrangement put in place to handle access
outside normal working hours..
The Community Services zoning may result in restrictions on commercial hiring depending on the
intended use.
Council would still be required to maintain the building. With the building being less active than at
present, there is also an attendant higher risk of vandalism and break-ins.
The Council-managed hire-only option would have a net cost of approximately $45,000 in
2015/16 as the only costs would be depreciation and building maintenance assuming that venue
hire covers other costs such as cleaning, rates and security which would be approximately
$36,000.

Option 2.      Council to continue to operate and manage the facility as an art centre

Programming of exhibitions and events would continue to be managed by Council staff with
additional support provided by volunteers. While the arts focus would continue there would be no
significant increase in community engagement or ownership. In addition, this option provides the
most cost burden to Council.

For Council to operate the Butter Factory as an arts centre commensurate with recent years
budget funding would need to be re-instated to approximately $207,000 in 2015/16. The staffing
and programming budgets were reduced considerably across the past three years from a net
cost of $264,000 in 2012/13 to $186,500 in 2013/14 and then down to $157,385 in 2014/15 in
anticipation of a transfer to a community managed model. The current budget is unsustainable as
it relies on significant cross-departmental support which is only temporary.

Option 3.      The Butter Factory be established as a community managed facility with
               Council providing financial support to a community organisation to manage
               and activate the facility.
After consultation with the parties the Review Team considered a hybrid community management
model incorporating three of the strongest community proposals and those which have the
greatest potential to be co-located and complement each other while at the same time delivering
the best community outcome.

The proposed community management model identifies the Cooroy Lower Mill Board (CLM
Board) as the facility manager, with the U3A and Ceramics Centre for Excellence as anchor
tenants.



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