Maggie Maccoll
Federal doesn’t have a township, a pub, a general store or a post office, only a hall, built as a memorial hall to commemorate local soldiers, on land donated by the Otto family, but now Noosa Council wants the prime lease of the hall to be taken over by an independent private school.
Last Sunday the Federal Memorial Hall and Community Centre Committee organised a public meeting to discuss an approach from Noosa Council proposing the hall be leased to the Mary Valley Steiner School, allowing the community only to sub-lease it when available on weekends outside school hours.
According to the 2016 Census there are 300 people in 86 families living in private homes in the farming community of Federal.
About 50 people from those families attended the meeting showing by their numbers, comments and a petition containing more than 950 signatures, the support to retain the hall for the community.
Committee treasurer Mick Jones told the meeting Council notified the committee on 21 February about the hall’s low usage.
“Council want to obtain better utilisation of the hall. Federal Hall has one of the lowest usage rates in the Shire,” he said.
At a meeting with Council the committee heard the Steiner school wanted to hold the prime lease on the hall in order to have a base with which they could move ahead with a development application to get funding for a school. The current lease on the hall is due to expire on 1 July.
“It would mean the current use of the hall would have to be a sublease from Mary Valley Steiner School. We didn’t understand how that would work for the community. The Council didn’t have information on how that would work. Council will provide more information on how that relationship could work at a meeting on 28 April,” Mick said.
He said no formal process had been initiated to date but they were told Council planned to hold an internal workshop on Tuesday 5 April for staff to provide information on the proposal to councillors. Councillors Joe Jurisevic, Karen Finzel and Amelia Lorentson attended the public meeting.
“The committee thought it important to bring this matter to the community to gauge community support for the hall to continue as a community asset to provide for the community,” Mick said. “We want to understand what sort of support there is so we as a committee are acting in the best interests of the community.
“We’ve been asked by Council to provide a plan as to how we’ll better utilise the hall.”
“The committee has been told over two years (during Covid) we need to control events and restrict events. We’re only coming out of that.”
The committee called for the community to put forward ideas, which they would combine with the petition for a formal process of support for the hall.
Residents spoke about the many community events held at the hall including Anzac Day ceremonies, weddings, wakes, birthdays and community dinners – events that couldn’t be held only on available times.
Former committee treasurer Bruce Cameron told the meeting the 90-year-old hall required maintenance but with the community unable to raise money for its maintenance it was handed to Council as trustee in 1989.
Former committee president Jeanette McGuire said she was president at the time the hall was turned over to the Council as trustees.
“The discussion then was that the hall would be for the use of the community,” she said. “Council doesn’t own the hall.
“It’s for the community to decide what they think is the best use of the hall.”
The meeting heard Council contributed $3000-$5000 annually for maintenance while the committee was liable for ongoing operating costs of its security system and a hefty insurance excess and required a lease in order to conduct fundraising activities for the hall.
Mick said financially the committee was very stable. “We don’t make money but we’re not going backwards.”
Another former committee member said the committee’s plans to upgrade a playground next to the hall had been stalled with a development application sitting with Council for the past six months.
Former committee president Rosemary Burrows said her committee had been responsible for obtaining a $30,000 grant for the playground.
Rosemary said prior to Covid the hall was well used with regular activities such as meal nights. “We have a great little community. The hall is for the community not for Council. We don’t agree with it. Hopefully we’ll keep the hall.”
In February this year the State Government acknowledged the importance of its 127 state-government funded community and neighbourhood centres with a funding boosts to each of $20,000.
At the time Minister for Communities Leeanne Enoch described the centres as being on the frontline supporting Queenslanders through the pandemic but had faced challenges in delivering their service and support to the community as well as reduced income from the hire of venues due to the pandemic.
