Cooroy Butter Factory

Following the review of the Cooroy Butter Factory through 2015, Noosa Council has formerly handed management of the facility to local community organisation, the Cooroy Future Group, formerly the Lower Mill Board.

The Cooroy Future Group has commenced managing and operating the Butter Factory Arts Centre from January 2016 and will operate under a twelve month trial. At the end of 2016 Council will review operations to determine if the community managed model should be continued.

The Cooroy Future Group has a strong vision for the Butter Factory which will continue to focus on arts-related exhibitions and programming as well extending to other community activities. The Cooroy Future Group will also oversight the pottery.

For more information on the operation of the Cooroy Butter Factory please visit the new website at www.butterfactoryartscentre.com.au

The Project Team have completed their review into the operations of the Cooroy Butter Factory. The Infrastructure & Services Committee Meeting have referred the report to Council's General Committee Meeting this coming Monday 9th March, 2015. The Recommendation contained in the report is:

RECOMMENDATION

That Council note the report by the Director of Community Services to the Infrastructure & Services Committee Meeting dated 3 March 2015 and agree to:

A. Adopt Option 3 as its preferred option and enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Cooroy Lower Mill Board to manage the operations of the Cooroy Butter Factory for an initial period of three years;

B. Include in the MOU that U3A Noosa and the Ceramic Centre of Excellence be anchor tenants in the Butter Factory for this period;

C. Consider as part of the 2015/16 budget process, the allocation of $80,000 to the Cooroy Lower Mill Board to allow them to meet start-up expenses and employ suitably qualified staff to support the operations of the Butter Factory. This amount to be reviewed annually thereafter with a view to the subsidy being reduced to $55,000 in the third year; and

D. Continue to maintain the Butter Factory and Pottery Shed buildings.

The Report and meeting agendas can be located on Council's website at: Council Meetings & Minutes

Noosa Council has completed the first phase of community consultation regarding the future of the Cooroy Butter Factory. This consultation has included a community workshop, online community discussion and meetings with individuals and community organisations. This consultation has confirmed the important role that the Butter Factory plays in the Cooroy and hinterland communities. It also unearthed a broad range of ideas regarding future uses of this facility. The project team undertook a review of these ideas and identified five lead concepts which aim to respond to the aspirations of the community and have individuals or organisations who are prepared to drive them.

On the 25th November, Council hosted a community meeting to provide people with an update on the project and to introduce the lead concepts. The presentation from the meeting is available online and the forum is now encouraging discussion regarding the lead concepts.

Hi everyone,

It’s great to see that the YourSayNoosa site is alive with conversation about the future of the Butter Factory.

I thought I would give you a quick update as to what Kerri Contini and I have been up to since the public meeting and let you know what we are planning to do next.

Since the meeting on 27^th August we have met a number of groups and individuals and discussed with them their ideas. I have really enjoyed these meetings and must commend everyone who I have spoken to on the quality of their thinking and the time and effort that you have put into your suggestions and submissions.

We have received 14 written submissions. We decided to wait until we had met with everyone and then put up all of the submissions at once so we were not seen to be favouring one group’s ideas over another. The YourSayNoosa site includes an overview of the submissions and copies of each individual submission.

What is starting to emerge is a number of lead options which we will be pursuing over the next few weeks to explore their viability. What was clear through the submissions is that, while there are many worthwhile ideas and much passion surrounding the Butter Factory, there are very few people or organisations wanting to take an administrative role.

Concept 1

A single group would take a lease over the Butter Factory: predominantly using it for its own activities and where possible allowing other groups to use the space when it is not using it for its own purposes. U3A Noosa has submitted a proposal which falls into this category. U3A Noosa, a long established organisation with approximately 500 members, is proposing to use the building to establish a Cooroy sub-branch to run U3A programs and facilitating existing activities and other group’s use of the building outside of its class times.

Concept 2

The Lower Mill Board, which is an incorporated community based organisation, with a long history of involvement on the site, would take a lease over the building and take responsibility for administration of the Butter Factory and programming activities in the building in partnership with other groups. This would enable continuation of current visual arts and pottery aspects as well as expand the use of the building to incorporate a number of the ideas which have come through the submissions but where there is not an organisation that wants to undertake responsibility for the governance of the building.

Concept 3

This concept has been proposed by the Noosa Museum where the Butter Factory and the broader precinct would become an interpretative centre for the Biosphere. It would extend the existing arts components by adding new segments of nature, indigenous and heritage tourism through technology and collection based exhibits. This option would require the support of the new Biosphere organisation.

Concept 4

A Ceramic Centre of Excellence would be established. This idea would see an expansion of current activities at the Pottery shed to include master classes and ultimately classes offering diplomas and degrees in ceramics. This option could develop slowly over time and requires further work to establish the Centre and see if there is a University or Registered Training Organisation prepared to enter into a partnership with the Centre. So at this stage the Centre for Ceramic Excellence is unlikely to be viable in the short to medium term.

Concept 5

Finally some people, but by no means a majority, would like to see Council continue to manage and program the Butter Factory albeit with much greater community involvement.

NEXT STEPS

There are still ideas coming forward and we are considering each of these.

Our task over the next few weeks is to examine each submission in further detail, further explore the lead options, particularly seeing if it is possible to combine some of the ideas, and examine the viability of each one. We will be utilizing the skills and expertise of our external consultant, Ellen Vasiliauskas, to assist with this part of the process.

We will be holding a public forum on Tuesday 25^th November to provide an update on the progress of the project and an overview of the lead concepts. We will also continue to provide the community with more information about the concepts through the YourSayNoosa site.

At this stage we are considering that a new management model could be in place from July 1, 2015 so we are developing a program schedule through to June 2015.

Please keep your ideas flowing and we would welcome any feedback that you have on this update or individual submissions.

Ciao,

Fox

Alan (Fox) Rogers

Director Community Services

Wednesday night’s public workshop about the Cooroy Butter Factory was a great success with over 110 people attending, despite the thunder and rain outside. There was enthusiastic discussion, thought-provoking questions and the sharing of ideas and concerns. To stimulate thinking a number of case studies were presented.