Councillors have voted in favour of a recission of a motion redevelop Cowra Regional Art Gallery.
Ahead of the meeting on Monday night, councillors expressed concern about both the redevelopment plans and funding conditions. Under the NSW Government's Regional Economic Development and Community Investment Program (REDCIP), the $5m grant could also attract an $800,000 co-payment.
The meeting heard council could make an application for the REDCIP grant and have the co-payment waived, but against more than 300 other applications, had received professional advice from within council that the likelihood of success was low, and therefore too costly for the 'pipedream.'
"Senior council staff have received advice that the grant is very heavily contested,” the motion read.
Deputy Mayor Nikki Kiss thanked outspoken members of the community for their input, but added she needed to "make a decision as a reasonable and informed person," and in the best community interest.
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"I've weighed up the value of spending tens of thousands of community dollars on something that is little more than a pipe dream. As our council staff expertly advised, investing staff time and incurring professional service fees to complete a revised proposal would be uneconomic," she said.
CR Erin Watt said it was possible to "feel two feelings at once" and said that whilst she supported the recission, added "I really believe the proposal that we were presented hasn't had enough work done on it" and questioned the level of detail on the existing plan, "We don't have a shovel ready plan, we'd be submitting a half baked plan."
Councillor Tony Horton said the current grant was not the right vehicle to help the gallery.
"This to me, is just not the right time, the right grant, or the right parameters," he said "So it might not be right now, but it's not a no," he said.
Cr Horton added that he felt the community feedback on the matter was encouraging, with council having had multiple submissions from the residents in the arts community, with Ken Hutchinson speaking to council at the meeting, along with written submissions by Lachlan Horne, Hayley Amos, Inel Date, and Sharon D'Elboux.
Mayor Paul Smith echoed the sentiment of fiscal responsibility amid uncertainty around cost, as well as long term goals that might be more within reach.
"We're not turning our back on the gallery, I want that to be clear," he said, "We have a responsibility to the people of Cowra to manage our funds in a responsible way."
Councillors in favour of the recission motion were Wright, Kiss, Cave, Watt, Horton and Mayor Paul Smith. Cr Cave did not comment during the meeting.
Councillor Cheryl Downing voted against the recission, and reflected on the goals of the Civic Square Master Plan.
"We've already spent money on that [the plan], and there's more to spend. We've said to the community, that with those plans we're going to pass them - but no way of funding them." she said, adding that future grant applications needed mechanisms in place to be more likely to succeed. "We know every level of government is struggling to upgrade facilities and infrastructure," she said. "This council needs to have a way to put in a co-contribution, if it's necessary for a grant, or else we're just not going to be upgrading our facilities here to 2036."
The proposed Cowra Regional Art Gallery upgrade was initially slated as part of a multi-mullion redevelopment of Cowra’s civic square, presented in 2021. The plans include a redevelopment of Darling Street, widening access to the Peace Bell for events and speeches, shared outdoor spaces and redeveloped civic and arts centres.
