Council Endorses Joint Use Facility Project Deed

Hilltops Council endorsed the signing of the Joint Use Facility Project Deed and lease for the Young High School and Hilltops Council library and community facility last week.

Hilltops Council’s General Manager has been delegated the authority to execute the Joint Use Facility Project Deed and lease between the NSW Department of Education and Council.

Mayor Brian Ingram is pleased with the outcome, “It has been a long road to get to this point. A lot of time has been spent negotiating the best outcome for the Hilltops community and I am pleased that we can now move to the next phases of the project.”

The next phases of the project involve submitting an Environmental Impact Statement and technical studies as part of the State Significant Development Application with the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and calling for construction tenders.

Hilltops Council endorsed the schematic building and landscape designs at this year’s June Council meeting and they were then signed off on by the Department in September. The dedicated community library area will be over 1000 square metres with approximately 300 square metres of shared space. The school area will be approximately 1400 square metres with the community also able to access some of this area.

The Joint Use Facility Project Deed outlines each party’s role and contribution in the project, whilst the lease defines the arrangement once the facility is operational. These agreements adequately secure the needs of the community for both the design, construction and ongoing operation and aligns with Councils Long Term Financial Plan.

Council will contribute $6.5 million to the project with the support of $2 million from the Building Stronger Communities Fund, $3 million from the State Cultural Fund and a $1.5 million contribution from Hilltops Council.

The Department will manage the procurement and construction of the facility and a Project Control Group will be established to keep Council regularly informed throughout this process.

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• Local Council