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ASKED BY COUNCILLOR Tilbury TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER:
1. What
community consultation was undertaken for the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural
Centre project, after the draft plans for the project were prepared and prior
to the resolution for Council to prepare a DA for the project?
2. What
formal heritage assessment has been undertaken, and why has Council’s
Heritage Committee not been formally involved in the consideration of the
current proposal for the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre project?
3. Has
any economic modelling been done on the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre
project, that is estimated to cost $11,000,000?
Response
1. What
community consultation was undertaken for the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural
Centre project, after the draft plans for the project were prepared and prior
to the resolution for Council to prepare a DA for the project?
The draft plans for the Wallarobba Arts Precinct have been
developed through an iterative engagement process that commenced in March
2024 with internal stakeholder consultations involving staff and elected
Councillors to gather feedback that would help inform the project's vision,
design principles and proposed future uses of the site. This early engagement
provided strategic direction for the development of the design brief, which
would subsequently guide broader community and stakeholder consultation.
Following the completion of internal stakeholder
engagement, Council undertook targeted external stakeholder consultation in
May 2024. This included engagement with representatives from arts and
cultural groups currently utilising Wallarobba and nearby facilities, as well
as members of Council's Arts and Cultural Advisory Group to further refine
project requirements and inform the development of the design brief.
To support community aspirations for the site, landscape
architect Fiona Robbé also conducted on-site engagement with local
youth and site users, together with community surveying at Mark Taylor Oval.
This work sought to better understand community interests and preferences
relating to the proposed interactive art playground component of the
Wallarobba precinct.
Project updates were provided to Councillors in June 2024
and subsequently in February, August and November 2025 providing
opportunities to review project progression and provide feedback at key stages
of development, including the design brief, master planning, reference
designs and architectural design phases.
In December 2025, the architectural designs were presented
to external stakeholders, including the Arts and Cultural Advisory Group and
representatives from the visual arts sector. The consultation included
presentations by DunnHillam Architecture + Urban Design and Fiona
Robbé Landscape Architecture, outlining proposed floorplan layouts,
site planning, heritage conservation requirements, and associated design
constraints. Stakeholders were invited to provide feedback on the proposed
facilities, operational opportunities, future programming, and activation of
the precinct.
Since this consultation and leading up to Council's
consideration of the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre project in August
2026, further work has focused on minor refinements and on the preparation of
supporting technical studies, operational considerations, and project
documentation noting that the core architectural design, floorplan layouts
and overall site planning have remained consistent with the feedback obtained
from both internal and external stakeholders throughout the project's
development.
2. What
formal heritage assessment has been undertaken, and why has Council’s
Heritage Committee not been formally involved in the consideration of the
current proposal for the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre project?
Wallarobba House is a heritage listed item and heritage
considerations have been incorporated throughout the planning and design
development of the Wallarobba Arts Precinct project.
As part of the project, DunnHillam Architecture + Urban
Design engaged John Oultram Heritage & Design to undertake heritage
assessment and provide specialist heritage advice regarding Wallarobba House
and Willow Park. This advice has informed the development of the reference
design and consideration of the opportunities and constraints associated with
the site.
In addition to the heritage consultant's input, Council's
Heritage Planner was engaged through the project’s internal stakeholder
discussion in March 2024 and April 2025 and provided heritage policy advice
to be implemented during planning and design development. Feedback provided through
this process was referred to the project consultants for consideration and
incorporated into the designs.
The project has also been the subject of a Pre-DA
Assessment meeting, during which Council’s Heritage Planners provided
formal written heritage advice.
Further heritage assessment will be undertaken as part of
the Development Application process, including preparation of a Statement of
Heritage Impact and any other required heritage documentation.
The proposal will then be assessed in accordance with
relevant planning legislation, heritage controls and Council requirements.
Council’s Heritage Advisory Committee was not in
place during the design stages of the proposal, with the previous Committee
term ending with their last meeting in June 2024, and the new, current
Committee formed and first meeting in November 2025. The Heritage
Advisory Committee do not have a role in the Pre DA or Development Assessment
stages of a proposal as this is outside its responsibilities as established
in the Hornsby Heritage Advisory Committee Charter.
3. Has
any economic modelling been done on the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre
project, that is estimated to cost $11,000,000?
Council’s Community and Cultural Facilities
Strategic Plan identifies the need to regenerate and expand the Wallarobba
precinct with a focus on it as an art making space. This strategic
direction is supported in Council’s s7.11 Development Contributions
Plan that has collected development contributions funds to enable the
progression of both the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre & the Willow
Park Playground Embellishment (which forms part of the project).
Additional funding for the project includes internally restricted Council
funds such as those held for the Wallarobba Project since 2011 arising from
the sale of a former Council property at 208 Pacific Highway, Hornsby
The project has been included in Council’s Long Term
Financial Plan since 2019 and is fully funded within the current 2026/27
Plan.
Council officers will shortly commence a capital
expenditure review to meet the requirements of the Office of Local
Government’s Capital Expenditure Guidelines. This review will
include the preparation of an economic appraisal and consideration of the
project’s projected costs to support future updates to Council’s
Long Term Financial Plan and would be completed prior to any further Council
decision to progress the project to the construction stage.
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