2016-05-16 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                          16 MAY 2016


considered worthy of consideration by the State as an interim measure but it does have Noosa
Plan implications and may require impact assessment (depending on the proposed uses).

The State should resolve the preferred long term use with Council’s preference that it continues
as a venue for training and/or education purposes. In the event of the TAFE assessment
indicating no match with training and education demand, an Expressions of Interest should be
formally advertised for the site inviting offers from interested parties.

While some consideration has previously been given to our Council purchasing this site, our
preferred position is that the site is used for training and / or education purposes by relevant
State or non-government education institutions. If this can be achieved without the use of
ratepayer’s funds, that would be our best outcome. If the State is unable to identify any other
training and / or education use of the site via this consultation process, then an EOI process
would determine if there was a market demand for this site and the Council could consider at that
time whether we should consider a site purchase and that of course, would depend upon any
cost/benefit analysis. Our focus at this stage should be “activation” of the site, not ownership.

PROPOSED SUBMISSION

It is proposed that the Council make a submission to the State in relation to this matter along the
following lines:
     The State government has a valuable asset in the Noosa community which has been
       vacant for too long.
     The TAFE asset is deteriorating and the State needs to make a decision sooner rather than
       later in relation to the future of this site.
     In the meantime, our Council would support any proposal which re-activates the site in the
       short term (subject to any town planning considerations) while the longer term future of the
       site is determined.
     Noosa Council is generally supportive of the overall “high level principles” approach
       identified by the State in its consultation paper, namely that the priorities for sites such as
       the Tewantin TAFE site are:
       (i)    training needs;
       (ii) education needs;
       (iii) government needs; and
       (iv) other needs.
     In particular, we are supportive of the Tewantin TAFE site being primarily used for training
       and / or education needs. It is a purpose built training / education facility built by the State
       government for that specific purpose only 12 years ago.
     Noosa Council does not have any specific local government purposes that would require
       the use of this site for our day to day Council operations.
     In the event that the State is unable to identify any training and / or education use of the
       site under its high level principles 1 or 2, the State should call for Expressions of Interest for
       this site noting the land use zoning of the facility. At that stage, our Council may consider
       whether to participate in any EOI process.
     The State government should set a timeframe (ideally within 3 months) within which it
       should make a final determination on the future of this site.

Previous Council Consideration
While informal discussions have occurred at Local Member, Mayor, Councillor and officer level,
Council has not previously formally determined its position in relation to the future of the TAFE
facility.



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