Wollongong City Council has rejected a bid to have a community panel set up to offer advice on the future of the historic Gleniffer Brae precinct.
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Councillors voted 6-5 (Jill Merrin was absent) against Ann Martin’s notice of motion at Monday’s meeting seeking to establish the resident and stakeholder panel.
They instead opted to back David Brown’s amendment to defer the matter and reconsider it when they had made a ‘‘substantive’’ decision on the precinct’s future use.
The University of Wollongong put forward a proposal last year to lease the manor house as a function centre and buy an adjoining block of land to build a new arts facility after Wollongong City Council said it could no longer afford the upkeep on the historic precinct. A recent public exhibition of the plans attracted more than 150 submissions.
Council staff have reviewed the submissions and are preparing a report for councillors, which is expected to make recommendations on whether the proposal should proceed, be amended or be rejected.
It is unclear whether councillors will receive the report in time for their December meeting or early in the new year.
Cr Martin told councillors on Monday it was time to get the community involved in deciding Gleniffer Brae’s fate, regardless of when the report came to council or what it recommended.
‘‘If the proposed lease of Gleniffer Brae does go ahead, then the panel could be used to support council in the development of the lease,’’ she said.
‘‘If it doesn’t go ahead, then the panel could help review other opportunities for Gleniffer Brae, and could be used to help develop a new plan of management for the site. My intention is to broaden the process.’’
Michelle Blicavs said she wanted to wait until she had received the recommendation of council staff before considering whether to appoint a community panel.
‘‘I think this is premature,’’ she said of establishing a panel.
‘‘We don’t know what the [staff] report coming back to us will recommend; it may recommend against [UOW’s proposal]. I’m not against community involvement in the process...everything that has been said [in the submissions] will be taken into account and used to make a final recommendation.’’
