Supplementary Agenda of General Meeting

Director's Report No. EH6/20

Community and Environment Division

Date of Meeting: 8/07/2020

11 HORNSBY CONNECT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

· Hornsby Connect is an independent not-for-profit organisation helping the local community by providing access to affordable groceries for those in need. They have been operating from the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre since mid-2017 during limited hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

· Demand for Hornsby Connect’s service is expected to increase as Government support packages such as JobKeeper are scheduled to be phased out in coming months.

· Hornsby Connect have made representations to Council that exclusive access to the Hornsby Youth and Cultural Centre from 8am Tuesday through to 3pm Wednesday each week would enable them to continue supporting the community in a COVID‑19 affected environment and provide capacity to scale their service to meet demand. In discussions, Hornsby Connect have indicated that they have the financial capacity to pay for this level of use at Council’s adopted not-for-profit fees for the centre.

· This requires varying arrangements with other existing hirers of the Hornsby Youth and Cultural Centre, namely the Aknoon Cultural Centre and a Japanese Playgroup. Council officers have liaised with these groups and suitable alternative arrangements have been discussed that can be accommodated within existing budget allocations.

· The goodwill extended by the Aknoon Cultural Centre and the Japanese Playgroup in reaching these arrangements mid-year to accommodate the operational needs of Hornsby Connect is greatly appreciated.

· It is recommended that Council endorse the arrangements as outlined in this Report to enable Hornsby Connect to continue their work in supporting the local community and ensuring that other important community groups’ needs are also accommodated.

RECOMMENDATION

THAT:

1. Council receive and note the Report.

2. Council provide Hornsby Connect with exclusive access to the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre from 8am Tuesdays through to 3pm Wednesdays each week to enable them to continue their work in supporting those most in need in our local community.

3. Hornsby Connect be levied Council’s adopted hourly, not-for-profit fee for their hours of use at the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre.

4. Council formally thank the community groups that have altered their hire arrangements at the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre in 2020 in order to facilitate Hornsby Connect’s service delivery to the community.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this Report is to enable Council to consider a way to support Hornsby Connect to continue to provide affordable groceries to those most in need in our local community.

BACKGROUND

Hornsby Connect is an independent Not-for-Profit organisation helping the local community by providing access to affordable groceries for those in need and have been operating out of the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre since mid-2017 during specified hours on Tuesday and Wednesdays. The Hornsby Youth and Family Centre operates as a multi-purpose hireable community space that is shared by a range of hirers including Hornsby Connect.

Following representations from Hornsby Connect in 2018 about operational challenges posed by functioning in a shared space (namely receiving food deliveries, and setting up and packing down), Council brokered an arrangement where another user group was reaccommodated in different venue, an operable wall was installed, and an additional storage area was constructed.

These works enabled continued shared use by Hornsby Connect and other users on Tuesdays and Wednesdays that had continued until the advent of COVID-19 earlier this year.

DISCUSSION

With the advent of COVID-19, Hornsby Connect have had to adjust their operating model from a supermarket style experience to a pre-packaged essentials style hamper. This approach has enabled Hornsby Connect to maintain social distancing for both volunteers and users of the service, whilst expanding the service to meet community demand.

When community centres were closed to normal use in accordance with NSW Public Health Orders, Council provided Hornsby Connect with 7-day access to the Youth Centre on the basis that existing hire arrangements would revert once community centres were able to be reopened for normal use. Whilst other community centres reopened to hirers at the beginning of July, the reopening of the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre was delayed until the beginning of August to provide Hornsby Connect with sufficient lead time to transition their services back to their previous arrangements.

Hornsby Connect have recently approached Council with concerns that transitioning back to the previous arrangements on a Tuesday and Wednesday where the space was shared with other hirers would mean that the support they otherwise could provide would be severely limited – at a time where demand for their service is expected to increase as Government support packages such as JobKeeper are scheduled to be phased out in coming months.

Hornsby Connect have advised that exclusive access to the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays would enable them to continue supporting the community and provide capacity to scale their service to meet demand.

Providing Hornsby Connect with exclusive access to the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays would impact existing regular hirers including a Japanese playgroup, and the Aknoon Cultural Centre (an Iranian cultural group). The Japanese Playgroup use the Youth Centre from 10am-12pm on Tuesday mornings, and the Aknoon Cultural Centre use the Youth Centre from 7:30-10pm on Tuesday evenings.

Council officers have liaised with both of these groups regarding Hornsby Connect’s needs and their willingness to accommodate these needs. This has resulted in the following outcomes being discussed as being acceptable to the groups should Council seek to provide Hornsby Connect with exclusive access to the Hornsby Youth and Cultural Centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays:

· Aknoon Cultural Centre will vacate their Tuesday evening timeslot at the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre and consolidate their activities on a Thursday evening. Council would not charge Aknoon for their Thursday use of the Hornsby Youth and Family Centre for the remainder of 2020 and throughout 2021. Council would also subsidise the Aknoon Cultural Centre for their Public Liability Insurance for a period of three years.

· The Japanese Playgroup would relocate to the Storey Park Community Centre. Council would not charge the Japanese Playgroup for their use of Storey Park for the remainder of 2020 and throughout 2021. Public Liability Insurance for the Japanese Playgroup is provided by Playgroups NSW and therefore was not relevant to the negotiations.

These arrangements would provide Hornsby Connect with exclusive access to the Hornsby Youth and Cultural Centre from 8am Tuesday to 3pm on Wednesday, which equates to 22 hireable hours per week. Hornsby Connect have indicated that they have the financial capacity to pay for this level of use at Council’s adopted not-for-profit fee for the centre.

Council is very appreciative of the goodwill extended by the Aknoon Cultural Centre and the Japanese Playgroup in reaching these arrangements mid-year in order to accommodate the operational needs of Hornsby Connect.

CONSULTATION

In the preparation of this Report there was consultation with Hornsby Connect, Aknoon Cultural Centre and the Japanese Playgroup.

BUDGET

There are no budgetary implications associated with this Report as Hornsby Connect’s hire fees for use of Hornsby Youth and Family Centre would offset the limited subsidy provided to Aknoon Cultural Centre and the Japanese Playgroup.

POLICY

There are no policy implications associated with this Report.

CONCLUSION

Hornsby Connect provide a valuable service to the local community by providing access to affordable groceries for those in need. Demand for their service is expected to increase as Government support packages such as JobKeeper are scheduled to be phased out in coming months.

Exclusive access to the Hornsby Youth and Cultural Centre from 8am Tuesday through to 3pm Wednesday would enable Hornsby Connect to continue supporting the community in a COVID‑19 affected environment and provide capacity to scale their service to meet demand.

This requires varying arrangements with other existing hirers of the Hornsby Youth and Cultural Centre and mutually suitable alternative arrangements have been discussed that can be accommodated within existing budget allocations.

RESPONSIBLE OFFICER

The officer responsible for the preparation of this Report is the Manger, Library and Community Services – Cheryl Etheridge who can be contacted on 9847 6801.

Cheryl Etheridge

Manager - Library and Community Services

Community and Environment Division

Stephen Fedorow

Director - Community and Environment

Community and Environment Division

Attachments:

There are no attachments for this report.

File Reference: F2004/09189-005

Document Number: D07949884