Lismore council gives up on new art gallery - for now

USING smaller RDA grant would mean moving from one inadequate building to another and prevent the council for applying for funds for gallery in future rounds.

LISMORE City Council will not be putting forward the Lismore Regional Gallery relocation as its recommended option for Regional Development Australia's fifth round of funding, gallery director Brett Adlington has revealed.

With the news that Lismore City Council would receive just $437,000 through the funding round, and after careful consideration and close consultation with the gallery, the council has decided not to place the relocation of the gallery as its pick for RDA Round five, Mr Adlington said yesterday.

"While all along we have been very mindful that we are proposing a pragmatic, cost-effective solution to the gallery, we need to be realistic about what we can achieve, rather than move from one unsatisfactory building to another," he said.

"Further, if we did utilise this round, it would also eliminate us from being able to apply for future RDA funding rounds."

"With the support from our community, we will now be progressing the project to better define what we can achieve. We will be working on some ideas around possibilities for the building and site to be, which we look forward to sharing with the community."

Mr Adlington, in his statement, thanked the community for its support and said he remained hopeful that with this "extensive and growing community support", there will be an opportunity to fund a relocated space in the future.