Meeting reveals costly option to save community centre

A letter disclosed at public meeting reveals the pricey ultimatum to secure the future of South Grafton community centre.

A costly ultimatum has been presented in order to save Camellia Cottage.

An ultimatum has been presented by the Land and Housing Corporation for the Clarence Valley community to secure the future of Camellia Cottage.

At a community meeting held at Ngerrie Aboriginal Land Council on Thursday, economic development officer for the Land Council member Terry Wall disclosed a letter he received from the Corporation dated April 15, 2021. The letter requested that, in order for the Land Council to secure Camellia Cottage, they must either enter into a rental agreement on top of $70,000 in maintenance costs or consider purchasing the property.

“In order for this to progress further, LAHC may consider a rental arrangement for the premises. LAHC therefore requests a business plan be submitted which addresses the proposed use of the premises,” the letter states.

“LAHC requests that your organisation provide a response within four weeks from the date of this letter for consideration. In the meantime, LAHC will put the sale of the premises on hold while it awaits your feedback and considers your request.”

Meeting attendees aired their frustration with the letter, pointing out years of neglect to the building while under the previous management with NSW Government services.

“The solar panels on the roof have been smashed... That should have been replaced by Housing commission three or four years ago when it first happened,” a member of the audience said.

Mr Wall responded to these concerns by explain that the Land Council will do a full audit of the property with a plan to negotiate on the costs of the repair.

In the meantime, a steering committee will be formed by members of the community to organise relevant paperwork from various groups and organisations that use the cottage, as well as a letterbox drop to alert the rest of the community about the current situation.

Mr Wall also addressed rumours that the Land Council had not been proactive in securing Camellia Cottage prior to it being listed for sale.

“We communicated with Community Services and put in an expression to say that the Land Council would be willing to take over the auspice for Camellia Cottage,” he told the crowd.

“Community Services contacted Land and Housing Corporation and they said that they’d look into doing a new lease. That was the last we heard, and over the next few months, I’d made a number of phone calls to Community Services only to be told that Land and Housing Corp were going to reassess the property, and once they’d reassessed it, they’d give us a new tenancy, a new lease.

“The next thing we heard was, about a month ago, that it was up for sale. So, there was no communication at all back to us.”

Given the large number of groups, organisations and programs that use Camellia Cottage, Mr Hall said a request for an extension to respond to Land and Housing Corporation’s letter will be sought.

It’s understood another meeting will be held in three weeks, however dates and times have yet to be decided.