2022-10-11 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                 11 OCTOBER 2022


REPORT
The purpose of this report is to provide Council with an update on the previous three years of
operation of the Cooroy Butter Factory Arts Centre (BFAC) by the Cooroy Future Group Inc
(CFG) under a community-managed model, and to recommend Council enter an agreement
with the CFG for a further five years.
1.      Background
The Butter Factory at Cooroy is a heritage building built in 1930 and purchased by Noosa
Council in the early 1990s. Since then, the Butter Factory has fulfilled a variety of community
functions as a creative hub, an art gallery, a workshop space, an education provider, a
performing arts venue and an office space for Council’s creative and heritage staff. Groups and
organisations that have used the Butter Factory include Noosa Council, Qld TAFE, Permaculture
Noosa, the Butter Factory Arts Inc., the Queensland Museum Regional Development Officer,
Creative Noosa, Tourism Noosa and the National Trust of Australia.
Now functioning as an art gallery and performing arts venue, the facility is an important
community and cultural venue, meeting numerous goals outlined in the Noosa Cultural Plan
2019 – 2023. While the Noosa Regional Arts Gallery hosts national and state touring
exhibitions, museum-standard displays and hosts professional artists, the Butter Factory
supports initiatives that showcase local emerging and amateur artists. It provides a space for
local creatives to share knowledge, connect with each other and collaborate and importantly,
acts as a pathway for emerging artists as they seek a career in higher tier regional galleries.
The Butter Factory plays an increasing role in the economic health of the local region by
highlighting the creative and cultural opportunities in the hinterland and extending the tourism
experience beyond the coastal strip.
Cooroy Butter Factory History 2004 - 2022
 2004                Qld TAFE vacated the site and the ceramics studio it built was utilised by
                     local ceramic artists as a workshop space and pottery studio

 2006-2015           The Butter Factory was operated as a council-run gallery, exhibition and
                     workshop space under both the Noosa and Sunshine Coast Regional
                     Councils

 2008-2010           The Lower Mill Site was redeveloped to the north of the Butter Factory
                     incorporating the new Cooroy Library, further expanding the community
                     facilities on the precinct

 2014                A service review of the Noosa Regional Gallery and the BFAC was
                     undertaken. It recommended that a further review of the operations of the
                     BFAC be conducted to explore other facility uses, consider more sustainable
                     management models, and provide greater community participation in the
                     facility.

 2015                The additional review of the BFAC included extensive community
                     engagement and considered a range of options for the future of the facility.
                     These included:
                      Council operating the BFAC as a fully programmed space in line with
                         previous Council operations;
                      Council facilitating a community-managed model
                      Council operating the BFAC under a ‘caretaker’ model with limited
                         programming, essentially a venue for hire;
                      Council investigating other uses for the BFAC such as leasing it out
                     The community consultation was overwhelmingly in favour of retaining the
                     cultural and community focus of the Butter Factory and increasing community
                     participation in the management. The outcome of the review was to trial the
                     operation of the Butter Factory under a community managed model and an



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