Burnie City Council have released a draft report of their vision for Burnie’s ‘new’ cultural precinct and refurbishment of the Burnie Arts and Function Centre. It was prepared by Hirst Projects and Michael Connell & Associates, and can be found here.
The report will form the business case which will then be prepared and presented to the Federal Government to gain approval for the repurposing of a $5 million dollar grant which was originally awarded for the building of the North West Museum and Art Gallery.
Community feedback on the draft report closed on the 31st of July. The information from the submissions will be collated by Burnie City Council staff and a report presented to councillors around mid-August. Amendments may be made to the business plan after councillors have discussed the report. General Manager Simon Overland has provided assurances to the arts community that the report will be made public.
Burnie Arts Council Inc President Lynne Price has made the following statement on behalf of the Burnie Arts Council:
For seventy five years Burnie Arts Council has nurtured, initiated and supported developments in this city and during that period Burnie has developed an enviable Arts Profile within the state. However through this current debate which to date has demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the community I cannot see how a Co-Creation Model imposed by Council could possibly work given the fact that we have seen the destruction of many hard fought achievements. In addition to this our members and other concerned citizens have had their intelligence questioned, generosity abused and vision destroyed.
FEEDBACK IN RESPONSE TO THE DRAFT REPORT - BURNIE CULTURAL CENTRE
The reports below are a very small sample of some of the thoroughly researched documents prepared and submitted for the first round of community consultation.
Burnie Arts Bounce Back Group - Download Submission
Burnie Historical Society - Download Submission
Peter Mercer OAM (founder of the Burnie Regional Museum) - Download Submission
A preliminary document by the Burnie Arts Bounce Back group was released on the 16th July outlining our initial areas of concern about the proposal. The document can be found here. The Burnie Arts Bounce Back group is an alliance of concerned citizens and representatives from Burnie’s cultural, arts, and heritage organisations formed at a public meeting which took place in the days following the council’s shock announcement.
The Advocate 29th July - Council’s ‘vague’ vision slammed by historians, artists - by Meg Powell
Advocate 16th July - Burnie Arts Bounce Back Group response to Cultural Centre Report - by Sean Ford
Advocate 15th July - Report on the First Public Information Session - By Sean Ford
Advocate 12th July - Analysis of Costings of New Centre - by Sean Ford
