Butter plan is slippery

CONCERNS have been raised about the review process of the Cooroy Butter Factory, causing council to delay any decisions on the new management model until the review is investigated.
At council’s Infrastructure and Services Committee meeting on Tuesday, Council CEO Brett de Chastel said he had received an email from Bruce Cresswell, who had submitted a proposal for the use of the butter factory facilities.
Mr de Chastel said the email raised concerns about the review process including a conflict of interest with the consultant and questioned whether the review was fair and transparent in regards to how the assessment was undertaken.
The email was received on Monday prior to the meeting and Mr de Chastel said he planned to have the council executive manager review the process and provide more information to council on Monday at the general committee meeting.
Mr Creswell’s complaints were in regards to the management model recommended to council by director of community services Alan Rogers.
In a report presented to council in the Tuesday meeting, authored by Mr Rogers, four options for the use of the butter factory were outlined; U3A to use as an education facility, the Cooroy Lower Mill Board to act as manager, a centre for ceramic excellence to be established or a biosphere interpretation centre to be created.
The report stated, following detailed analysis of all proposals, none of the options made optimum use of the facility and none of the proposers had the necessary resources to operate the CBF without some council support.
Instead, the report suggested a “hybrid community-management model” take place where a trial period would see the Cooroy Lower Mill board, U3A and Centre for Ceramic Excellence join forces to utilise the facility.
Not included in the proposed management model was the community driven interpretation centre, despite support from community members.
According to the proposal, the biosphere interpretation centre would include cultural and artistic displays, plus informative displays of Noosa and the biosphere, while increasing tourism to the region and acting as an event centre.
The report to council listed a number of reasons for the biosphere interpretation centre being excluded from the final recommendation, including the “significant” cost of establishing the facility, the need for a full business plan and feasibility study, plus the ongoing costs associated with managing and maintaining the centre.
“Compared with other proposals, this option is less well aligned with local community values and with community preferences for a community and arts focus for the building,” the report said.
“Other proposals are more strongly positioned for immediate implementation and demonstration of on the ground programming outcomes.”
Deputy Mayor Bob Abbot described the council staff recommendation of a “hybrid community-management model” as the “obvious answer”, but Cr Pardon and Mayor Playford both said they didn’t agree with the proposed management model.