August 16, 2022
A public meeting held at Tingoora State School’s meeting hall on Monday night debated three possible futures for Tingoora Hall.
The meeting was called by the South Burnett Regional Council and attended by about 25 people, including Mayor Brett Otto; councillors Kathy Duff, Scott Henschen and Kirstie Schumacher; and Council staff. It was facilitated by Verda Zammitaro from the Otium Planning Group.
The meeting heard that Tingoora Hall has sat unused for almost 17 years.
A lack of maintenance during that time and changes to building codes mean it cannot open its doors again without major repairs which included asbestos removal, roof replacement, partial or full restumping and major plumbing work on the building’s toilets and kitchen.
Mayor Brett Otto said Council did not own the Hall but oversaw it under a Trust Agreement that was drawn up by the community group which built the hall in 1933.
The Trust Agreement specified the Hall’s committee were the building operators, but that group had dissolved many years ago.
This left the community with three options about how to proceed:
- Do nothing and allow the Hall to continue to deteriorate.
- Re-form the Hall’s committee, which would burden its volunteers with the task of raising the $500,000 to $800,000 believed necessary to restore the Hall to working order, as well as finding ways to fund its ongoing maintenance and insurance.
- Sell the Hall building – and perhaps the two blocks of land it stands on – and reinvest any proceeds into creating facilities the Tingoora community actually wants.
Some residents at the meeting were in favour of reforming a hall committee and reopening the building as a community centre.
But just as many others said they did not believe the community had the resources to raise the necessary funds.
Cr Henschen told the meeting that as president of the Ironpot Hall Association, he had first-hand experience about how hard it was to raise the necessary funds to keep a local hall operating in good order in a small community.
He said that over many years – with the Ironpot community’s support – his committee had carried out many improvements to Ironpot Hall, but despite this, they still found it a great challenge to cover costs and keep the doors open.
Cr Schumacher asked the meeting to consider that if they had access to $800,000 tomorrow, was renovating and reopening the Hall the best use of that funding? Or were there other things – a modern community centre, perhaps? – where the money could be better spent to give the community a bigger return.
After roughly 90 minutes of polite debate where most people expressed their views, Mayor Otto said what he took from the discussions was that Tingoora lacked a community plan to guide its future development.
He said community plans had been developed in some of the region’s other villages such as Maidenwell, Kumbia and Proston, and these had proven very successful in guiding the development of facilities those town’s residents really wanted.
He suggested residents complete forms that were given out at that night’s meeting or email Council to outline their views about the Hall’s future.
Another meeting would be held once this feedback and indicative costs for the Hall’s refurbishment had been obtained.
This would allow the community to discuss the Hall’s future in a broader context that took account of other uses funds could be put towards.
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