Documents prompt questions over hall management

The Illawarra Flame last month met young families keen for Helensburgh's new community centre and library to go ahead as soon as possible.

However, for one longstanding, volunteer-run group, this project has triggered a loss of faith in government and a DIY approach to local matters. 

Over the past year, Neighbourhood Forum 1 (NF1) members have asked Wollongong City Council for new library designs, more consultation and explanations for the old hall’s demise.

When this hasn't been forthcoming, they’ve gone ahead themselves – drafting their own plans, doing their own consultation and spending hundreds of dollars on freedom of information requests. 

“The residents of 2508 don't trust council,” said NF1 convenor Warwick Erwin, who has run the group for a decade. 

“They don't trust council, and the reasons for it are evidenced in the projects or the things that haven't been fixed, haven't been done, like the road into Helensburgh station – excuses that don't hold water.”

Council staff correspondence on the mould-ridden Helensburgh hall has recently come to light after NF1 put in requests via the Government Information Public Access (GIPA) Act 2009. Residents claim these documents show that the old hall could have been fixed, and at a fraction of the cost of a new centre.

Council, however, says the old hall's water issues were "very complex and extensive" and trying to fix it would have been an "irresponsible use of public funds".

GIPA documents to be published online

Interest in the GIPA documents has been so great that the forum now plans to publish them on the website of 2508 Collaborate, a group campaigning to save the old community hall.

Warwick, a community activist awarded for his service across multiple volunteer roles, believes the decision-making process on the old community hall was flawed.

“It's given us some information in detail, and some of it has confirmed suspicions,” Warwick told the Flame after receiving the GIPA files. “Now we've got evidence. In 2021, the executive management committee made a decision to demolish the hall – that's a decision for councillors, not for staff.

“So how have staff made that decision – and they didn't announce it to the community in ’21. It was another nearly two years before they announced it to the community. So how's that transparent?

“The fact that they got a cost to fix it – from, we’re assuming, a builder – and restore the building, which was around half a million, around $500,000 – why didn't they act on it?"

No minutes found

Adding to the forum’s mistrust, the GIPA documents mention staff “workshops” with councillors in 2022, but no record of this discussion has been found.

“That's a secret meeting. None of the briefing sessions they used to have with councils were ever minuted. There might be an agenda, but it's never minuted," Warwick said.

“To me, it tells us that staff have got too much power, and they’re telling councillors what to do.”

Late last year, the NSW Office of Local Government released new rules for councils across the state – titled The model code of meeting practice for local councils in NSW – that effectively ended "briefing sessions”, the practice of holding "closed" meetings out of the eye of the public and the media. 

Asked why the forum thought council had neglected the area, Warwick said there was a perception at council that “Helensburgh’s a bunch of whingers”.

“They don't want to spend money up this way,” he said.

“We've got a demountable temporary building as a library that's been there, I think we worked it out, 48 years.”

Council responds to NF1 concerns

The Illawarra Flame asked Wollongong City Council who made the decision to demolish the old Helensburgh hall and why did this not go to a council meeting for public discussion. 

A spokesperson issued this response: “The decision to permanently close the former Helensburgh Community Centre at 26A and 26B Walker Street was made by Council officers under delegated authority, in consultation with the Councillors, and was shared with the community in May 2022. It was not a decision that was made lightly.

"The decision was reached following extensive technical investigations that identified ongoing health and safety risks. It was also informed by multiple years of assessments, remediation attempts as well as broader strategic planning for community facilities in Helensburgh.

"A resolution of Council to consider the repair options was not required. The officers determined that the repair options did not address the fundamental cause of the building’s closure – namely chronic subfloor water ingress and black mould contamination – and would be an irresponsible use of public funds, considering the long-term plan to replace the stand-alone facility with a new integrated community centre and library. 

"The existing site was considered for the new facility, however, even with repairs to subfloor water ingress, it was expected that there would be a high moisture content which would not be suitable for a combined library and community facility."

Council plans to knock down the old hall but has not set a date.

"While demolition of the old community centre is anticipated in the long term, right now there are no decisions about future use of the land because Council only owns part of the site," the spokesperson said. "Any future usage of the land will be subject to community engagement requirements under the Local Government Act."

The Illawarra Flame also asked why a quote of about $500,000 to repair the hall and centre in late 2021/early 2022 was rejected, and how much the same job might cost today.

The council spokesperson said: "A repair quote was not progressed because it did not address the underlying water ingress issue and therefore could not guarantee the effective or long-term removal. The water issues are very complex and extensive.”

Council 'not listening'

In addition to investigating Helensburgh's old hall, NF1 has size, design and parking concerns over the new community centre, with forum members claiming council is rushing to get works done in this term. 

“Council aren't listening. We want them to do it properly,” Warwick said. “Engage the community to the extent of what the community needs and stop dictating to the community about what they're going to get."

The forum's disillusionment has grown over the years. Council's handling of the upgrade to Helensburgh Pool – which shut last summer, almost three years after grant funding was announced – was widely criticised. However, Warwick said project management was not a one-off problem. 

“There's many projects that can be listed that have never been fully completed. And the very best example is Junction Street between Park Street and Fletcher Street on the way up to the primary school, where they had a project to do a footpath, and only two-thirds of the project got done. The middle section of the footpath has never been completed.”

Warwick describes council’s reasons for the delay, including tree roots and negotiating with the education department, as “hogwash”. 

“It was witnessed that one lady with a disabled child in a wheelchair had to walk up a part of the road on the footpath, then onto the road, into the traffic, then back onto the footpath – and you're going, how's that safe? How's that a safe path to school?"

Helensburgh in draft delivery program

At Wollongong City Council meeting on April 20, Council endorsed the public exhibition of the Draft Delivery Program 2025-2029 and Operational Plan 2026-2027. The new Helensburgh Community Centre and Library is the second largest capital project in Wollongong in 2026-27, with over $2.8 million in the budget.

Have your say on the draft delivery program via the Our Wollongong website. You can also email ourfuture@wollongong.nsw.gov.au, phone (02) 4227 7111 or write to Wollongong City Council, Locked Bag 8821, Wollongong NSW 2500.

Submissions close on Tuesday, May 19.