{"id":321745,"date":"2022-07-21T22:46:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T12:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=321745"},"modified":"2022-07-21T22:46:30","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T12:46:30","slug":"action-at-last-on-ringsfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/07\/21\/action-at-last-on-ringsfield\/","title":{"rendered":"Action (At Last) On Ringsfield"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ringsfield House has been a centre for community activities in Nanango for decades, but has been closed for more than two years while the SBRC examined the best path forward for the property (Photo: Clive Lowe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 20, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a year of unexpected delays, the South Burnett Regional Council will issue a call for volunteers in the next few weeks to fill positions on its newly formed Ringsfield House Advisory Committee (RHAC).<\/p>\n

Councillors unanimously adopted terms of reference for the new committee at Wednesday’s monthly general meeting.<\/p>\n

The RHAC will be responsible for developing a comprehensive business plan to reactivate the historic Nanango property for community use.<\/p>\n

Ringsfield House was formerly run for several decades by the now-defunct Nanango Historical Society which operated the building as a combined museum, coffee shop and function centre.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The group reluctantly relinquished its lease on the property in 2017 when its members became unable to continue routine maintenance of the complex’s grounds and gardens.<\/p>\n

The SBRC then leased the building to commercial operators who ran it as a restaurant until early 2020 when they were forced to close due to the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n

Since that time, Ringsfield has sat largely unused while council officers investigated how other councils operate their community facilities.<\/p>\n

In June 2021, officers reported there were several different business models in use by neighbouring councils.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They suggested the best way forward would be to form a volunteer committee to develop a local long-term management plan for Ringsfield.<\/p>\n

The Council accepted this recommendation and had originally planned to put it into action soon afterwards.<\/p>\n

But the pandemic, staff shortages, floods and the need to attend to other projects meant further action on the proposal was deferred.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday’s meeting, Councillors agreed the matter had laid on the table long enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Council will now call for expressions of interest from volunteers who would like to get involved in the project, with advertisements expected to appear later this month.<\/p>\n

Applications will close towards the end of August, and the matter will return to Council for review at its September Liveability Standing Committee meeting.<\/p>\n

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