The association believes that the residents of Kiah & Wandella must be delighted by the reported announcement by the Member for Bega, Andrew Constance, that the State Government will allocate $3M from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund for the rebuilding of three Community Halls destroyed in NSW in the recent bushfires, including the Community Halls at Kiah & Wandella.
Now some residents & ratepayers might wonder about the arrangements surrounding the projects, in particular their financial aspects.
While no figures have been forthcoming as to the actual cost of rebuilding each of the halls, the $3M grant from the State Government would suggest that the cost of each hall should be around $1M.
At its
Ordinary Meeting on August 26th, 2020,
council considered a staff recommendation to acquire a one acre block of land next to the half-acre site formerly occupied by the
Kiah Community Hall for $88K, on the basis that it will be $65K cheaper to build the new hall on the flat area of the enlarged site, than it would be to rebuild on the smaller, topographically less “
friendly” existing site.
At the same time, council was advised that The Friends of the Kiah Community Hall were engaging in community fundraising activities & were able to contribute $23K towards the cost of the new hall, effectively meaning that the cost of the adjacent parcel land would be offset by the estimated saving in building costs, together with funds raised by the community.
The announcement by Mr Constance appears to suggest that the cost of rebuilding the Kiah Community Hall would be fully funded by the State Government grant.
However, at its August 26th meeting, council was also advised that it had already received an Insurance Payout of $620K for the loss of Kiah Hall & $15K for the loss of its Contents.
While information available on council’s website regarding its
Building Insurance arrangements is less than scant, the BVSRRA assumes that logically buildings owned by council would be insured for their replacement cost. Otherwise, why bother Insuring?
And accepting that the insurance payout of $620K received by council for the loss of Kiah Community Hall was based on its estimated replacement cost, the association believes that it is reasonable to assume that the replacement cost of the Wandella Community Hall should be similar, meaning that the replacement cost of both halls should be around $1.24M, plus around $30K for contents.
If the grant announced by Mr Constance is intended to fund only the “gap” between the cost of rebuilding the Kiah & Wandella Community Halls & the proceeds of the Insurance payouts, then again based on the above numbers, the actual cost to the State Government should be no more than $1.27M & not the $2M implied in his announced.
Of course, if the estimated full cost of replacing the Kiah & Wandella halls is to be met by the State Government through Bushfire Recovery Funds, that would mean that council will pocket the proceeds of the Insurance Payouts, estimated to be $1.27M based on the above numbers.
The latter would certainly be a major & very convenient windfall for the cash-strapped council.
While some in our community might be comfortable with the notion that taxpayers more broadly should be comfortable with the idea that they should directly fund the full replacement cost of the community halls, regardless of any indirect financial benefit that might be pocketed by council, others might be offended that taxpayers are being asked to fund what appears to be a cash gift to help-out an incompetent council.
In all the circumstances, the association believes that council & Mr Constance should clarify the exact financial arrangements surrounding the proposed replacement of the Kiah & Wandella Community Halls.
And finally, the association believes that regardless of the detail of those financial arrangements, council should relinquish any expectation it has in respect of the $23K raised by the Kiah community.
For further comment on this issue, please contact Fraser Buchanan on 0429 881 836.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au