By Jeremy Sollars
Swanfels and surrounding residents are being urged to complete a Southern Downs Regional Council survey by the end of March on the replacement of shelter sheds the council demolished in January at the Swanfels Pioneer Memorial Park.
A meeting of the new RANGE resident’s action group in Warwick on Monday night discussed the demolition, which continues to cause ire in the rural community east of Warwick and was the catalyst for the formation of the RANGE group.
As reported in the Free Times, current and former local residents and former students of Swanfels State School were furious when the council razed the shelter sheds to the ground on Friday 20 January, less than 72 hours after announcing the sheds – which the council said were infested with termites – were to go.
The larger of the two sheds was originally the playshed at the former Swanfels SS, while the smaller structure was formerly the school’s tennis shelter.
Many have been blasting the council for a lack of notice and pre-consultation and are adamant the sheds – each more than a century old – could have been repaired as a community project.
The council has since opened a survey asking for community feedback on three options – “no replacement”, “replacement with a simple shed structure” and “reconstruction of a structure similar to the previous building”.
Monday night’s RANGE meeting – attended by around 50 people – voted unanimously to write to the council supporting the third option of a ‘like for like’ reconstruction and urging return of individual surveys.
A similar sentiment was expressed by around 70 people who attended a public meeting at the Swanfels Pioneer Park on Sunday 12 March.
The council has also installed a traffic counter at the entrance to the park to gauge public usage.
A council report – a copy of which was obtained by the Free Times – made it clear that termite damage to the sheds was not insurmountable, leaving many to question why the demolition was ever carried out.
The report by Osborn Consulting says that while “the building does not meet the current regulatory standards framework … it is generally in good structural condition (and) damaged and missing elements … could be remediated and/or replaced which may increase the life expectancy of the structure”.
The council in its 2015-2016 Budget set aside $20,000 for the works referred to in the Osborn Consulting report.
The decision to demolish the sheds is understood to have been made at officer-level within council and was never put as a resolution by councillors at a general meeting.
The Free Times previously asked the council for details of the cost of the Osborn report and the cost of the demolition itself and were refused, although council did confirm the demolition work was done by Stanthorpe firm Rob Wilkinson Building.
For a copy of the survey, visit the Warwick council office or call the council on 1300 697 372.
The surveys must be returned to the council by close of business on Friday 31 March.
