December 8th, 2021Your Say…

At the council meeting of November 23, 2021 council was presented with an alternate motion to recommending awarding of the contract for the Hepburn Hub at The Rex – Stage 2 Building Works.

The alternate motion, to not proceed with The Rex project, was not supported with facts, options, or consequences of its adoption.
Further, for a council elected on the platform of community engagement, the motion was silent on community input into a decision so significant in the shire’s history that it will likely result in ratepayers forfeiting some $6M+ – manifest by way of serious lost opportunity over the next decade.
Councillors Jen Bray and Brian Hood provided reasoned support for their intention to vote, respectively, against and for, the alternate motion.
Cr Bray took the position of completing the project to provide the much needed and long overdue staff accommodation, new library, community cinema and community space – and reopen the building as council’s central administration precinct.
Councillor Hood took a financial-based position based on the cost-to-valuation gap, and to quit the building that has been fraught with structural, financial, and other problems since its initial construction.
There was no discussion on how both outcomes could be reached.
There are two options. Sell as is, a drastic move, the history of the project is public and will be taken advantage of by any prospective purchaser, resulting in a savage discount. Complete and sell on a long-term lease back to council, an orderly exit.
The latter option provides council with full construction integrity to completion and presents an attractive investment proposition.
A completed and fully functioning prime centrally located property in Daylesford offering an attractive commercial return on investment.

• John Cottrell, Glenlyon