Sound advice: ‘Use the TAFE site as music/education hub’

A Noosa musician has designs on TAFE’s best use as the State Government calls on expressions of interest.

Noosa's Oz Bayldon – puts forward his idea on how best to use the Tewantin TAFE.

The organiser behind the Noosa Come Together community celebration, Oz Bayldon, is advocating the critical former Tewantin TAFE be rebooted as an affordable entertainment and education hub.

This local musician has publicly reposted his proposal as the State Government calls on expressions of interest for the site’s reuse until the end of January.

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This is after negotiations with Noosa Council to acquire the site fell over.

Council in July this year instead adopted an advocacy role to find a suitable lessee or purchaser “possibly from the education or training sectors”.

Mr Bayldon’s concept is for a sustainable, family friendly centre for art, culture, food and entertainment for locals and visitors designed to tackle youth unemployment and wellbeing.

Other public suggestions in response include an aged care centre, special education needs centre and affordable housing for the homeless and disadvantaged.

The State Government is calling for expressions of interest for reusing the Tewantin TAFE site.

Noosa Chamber of Commerce president Rob Neely said while his group does not have a view on the TAFE site’s future direction this is “potentially a wonderful community asset”.

“We have heard many proposed uses over the past couple of years, everything from an education facility for tourism and hospitality training to an agricultural college,” Mr Neely said.

“I am looking forward to seeing the outcome of current EOI and will support a use that provides an economic or community benefit or hopefully both.”

Member for Noosa Sandy Bolton said the EOI process was interrupted by the October state election, but had already identified a number of “entities waiting in the wings”.

She said this included some fantastic organisations whose ideas were in keeping with site’s zoning of education and community.

“With the quality of those that have come through previously and are obviously in that process, I think we’ll be looking to an outcome that the community will be really, really happy with,” Ms Bolton said.

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