Ourimbah Region Residents Association (ORRA) has welcomed news that Central Coast Council is to buy back the site of the former Nissen Hut at Ourimbah from the University of Newcastle for the nominal amount of $1.
The future of the land, at 1A Jaques St, has been under a cloud since the heritage-listed Nissen Hut, once home to the Ourimbah School of Arts, was demolished earlier this year.
Donated to The University of Newcastle (UON) in the 1994 by the Ourimbah School of Arts, the hut was originally to be dismantled and re-erected on an alternative site at the Ourimbah campus, but the university deemed the building unsalvageable after dismantling began in April.
Having failed in an attempt to save the hut from demolition, ORRA launched a campaign to see the site returned to public ownership.
Following a decision at the July 25 Council meeting, the site will be included in the Council community land Plan of Management at its next review, with a recommendation for categorisation as general community use.
Amendments to the adopted Ourimbah Land Use Strategy and Masterplan to accommodate the site will then be prepared in consultation with the community.
Council Administrator Rik Hart said he looked forward to future discussions with the Ourimbah community as to the future use of the site.
“We know there has been strong anticipation in the community about the future of the site, and so this announcement is an excellent outcome,” he said.
Hart said the public amenities on the site, which Council returned to operational use earlier this year, will continue to be open and maintained by Council.
University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky said the university has had a long-established partnership with the Ourimbah community for more than 30 years through its Ourimbah campus.
“We understand the importance placed on this site by residents, so I’m pleased to have worked with Central Coast Council and residents to help return the Jaques St site back to the community,” he said.
ORRA President Di Willard said the hall was built in1950 and up until it was donated to UON in the early 1990s was used for a variety of community events such as dances, plays and movies.
“While we believe it is appropriate for the land to be returned to the Ourimbah community, we recognise that UON has been extremely generous to make this offer,” she said.
“This means that the public toilets located on this site will be retained.
“We campaigned strongly for this to occur as these are the only public toilets close to the Ourimbah shopping village.
“ORRA wishes to place on record the support received from Ourimbah residents who signed our petition and completed our survey for the land to be returned to the community.
“We would also like to thank Member for The Entrance David Mehan, who was very pro-active in liaising with both UON and Central Coast Council to make this happen.
“A large thank you also to Central Coast Council for negotiating and agreeing to purchase this site on behalf of the Ourimbah Community.
“We look forward to Council consulting with local residents on how best to utilise this site going forward with ORRA being actively involved in this process.”
A report to Council said the risks of the land transfer are considered minimal, with the site cleared and re-turfed and no contamination risks identified.
“Any significant site improvements will be the subject of separate budgetary deliberations at a future time,” the report said.
“The budgetary implications will be dependent on the preferred community use identified for the site.”
Terry Collins