New Western Downs Regional Council mayor responds to Thomas Jack Park furore

Despite 4000 signatures opposing a cultural centre in Thomas Jack Park, the Western Downs Regional Council will go ahead with the development and are confident it will be a site visitors and locals alike will enjoy. Here’s their response to community backlash.

Thomas Jack Park Dalby. Picture: Sam Turner

Despite community pushback, Western Downs Regional Council will proceed with Thomas Jack Park as the location for their planned cultural centre.

In September last year the council approved Thomas Jack Park as the preferred location for the centre leading to significant community backlash.

A large number of residents expressed their opposition to the site’s proposed location and a petition imploring the council to choose another site garnered more than 4000 signatures.

Thomas Jack Park Dalby. Picture: Sam Turner

Mayor Andrew Smith said despite the pushback they would be going ahead with the plans and would work with the community to create a centre that everyone could be proud of.

“We conducted consultation and the recommendation came back to council that the preferred site, even though we’d considered other locations, was Thomas Jack Park,” he said.

“One of the recommendations we found from the consultation was that it needed to be close to the centre of town and embedded in nature and that’s what drove us to Thomas Jack Park.

“Since the library and gallery were shifted closer to the CBD their numbers have grown significantly, the youth come into the CBD at the end of school and the elderly don’t have to walk as far.

“We are in the process of appointing an architect and we will now talk with the community to create a facility that’s embedded in the park in a way that people don’t feel like they’ve lost greenery, in fact we will also look at how we beautify and upgrade the park.

“Part of council’s resolution was to retain the green space in Thomas Jack Park, council and the community want the same thing. Can I promise we won’t lose a little bit of greenery? No, but the theory is still there, we must maintain the green space and the iconic status of the park.”

Western Downs Regional Council mayor Andrew Smith.

Mr Smith acknowledged the concerns raised but said the community would be consulted on the design of the centre.

“There are people that are concerned and we totally acknowledge that, it just puts pressure on us to get it right and we will,” he said.

“I think those that were pro it are still pro it, there is a silent majority out there that are really excited.

“There’s been a bit of exaggeration about what may happen in Thomas Jack Park, council isn’t going to knock down the park yet that isn’t quite clear in some of the social media posts.

“I think there’s just a bit of scaremongering from people that don’t want it to happen, but that’s OK people are allowed to be concerned, our job is to bring people in and tell them the facts.”

Mr Smith said the centre would have positive implications for the region.

“Dalby doesn’t have a cultural precinct, it is our largest centre and a central hub has been clearly requested since the first day I was on council,” he said.

“It was first raised 40 years ago and this is an opportunity to build something that is needed in Dalby. It is an 80 to 130 year project, so we need to get it right and make something the community is really proud of.

“It will give so many opportunities as well, I can see the centre giving young and old opportunities they probably don’t have now in Dalby.

“If we don’t get it right we won’t do it, we are on the same path as the community we want to maintain Thomas Jack Park to be this beautiful iconic park that people from Longreach stop in, people going west at Easter and Christmas stop in but now they will have a library and other things to visit.”

Mr Smith said they had received push back on plans in the past which the community had ended up enjoying and they had faith the centre would be no different.

“I had my wife in my ear when we proposed the Chinchilla Botanic Gardens and now she loves it,” he said.

“We had another friend who told us they were dead set against the gardens and now they are there all the time.

“Part of our role as the council is to look forward and at times we need to show a bit of strength. We are confident in what we are doing.”

Originally published as New Western Downs Regional Council mayor responds to Thomas Jack Park furore