Civic centre demolition excites councillor

By Tim Howard

The news that demolition of the Maclean Civic Centre is about to begin is a prayer answered says  at least one Clarence Valley councillor.

“All I can say is, hallelujah, this is happening,” said Cr Debrah Novak at the last ordinary council meeting.

“It’s been on the books for about 30 years, and a part of the community desire for even longer to have an extraordinary new building down in Maclean.

“So this is going to be a really, really important place for performing arts and culture in the lower Clarence, and it brings us up with what happens here in Grafton.”

Cr Debrah Novak

Cr Novak said the community shared her excitement at the start of work and frustration with the delays.

“And I’m just so excited that our community will actually get to see this, because they keep saying to me, ‘it’s never going to happen’.

“It is going to happen. So well done, Team Clarence for getting this onto the table and being demolished.

“And I’m very, very excited to be a part of the project when it’s completed, and being there on opening night.”

The report to council said the new Maclean Community Precinct would include a 290-seat auditorium and box office, a function room overlooking the Clarence River, multipurpose meeting rooms, a commercial kitchen as well as outdoor landscaped meeting places and a new carpark.

An artist’s impression of the Maclean Civic Centre which is due to begin construction early next year. Demolition of the existing building begins this month.

Mayor Ray Smith said he’s looking forward to the Maclean Community Precinct bringing more performing arts opportunities to the Clarence Valley.

“It’s great we are moving forward on this project, with demolition in the works. The new facility will replace the existing run-down facility, that is poorly functioning and does not comply with disability access standards,” he said.

“Strategic review indicated a lack of local performing arts spaces that were appropriate to host contemporary events.

“With 48 River Street, Maclean chosen as the ideal site for a facility to meet this need, the sky is the limit for performing arts in the Clarence Valley.”

Community consultation has been undertaken in the planning of this new facility, with Clarence Valley Council communicating with user groups and residents throughout the design stage.

Demolition of the Maclean Civic Centre will begin this month with construction to commence in 2025.

The Maclean Community Precinct is jointly funded by the Australian and NSW Government’s Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund in association with Clarence Valley Council.

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Little Stray opens in Woodburn

By Samantha Elley

If you have tasted the coffee from Stray café in Evans Head and loved it, you are going to be delighted to hear that owners, Damo Robertson and Jessica Grace, have opened Little Stray in Woodburn.

In the premises of the old Rich River Café, they have set up their espresso bar where people can grab a coffee and bagel or any of the dessert delights with gluten free options on offer.

“I started in the coffee business 15 years ago in West End Brisbane as a way of getting out of being a bartender,” he said.

“(I was) sick of the night life.

“When I moved back down to this area, I started the coffee cart in a converted horse trailer at Evans Head Fish Co-op.”

Damo had the cart for 18 months before the flood damaged the co-op, so then he found the old Evans to Betsy site, where he had worked as a barista before starting the cart.

“The owners asked me if I’d like to take on the coffee shop,” he said.

“I didn’t have anything at all, I put the coffee machine from the cart at the front door as the shop was empty.”

With Stray now established as an eat-in café and thriving with a good local following, the couple and their family of two young girls bought a house in Woodburn.

“This opportunity came up to open here (in Woodburn),” he said.

“I always wanted to own a couple of coffee shops that supports us.

“I now have 10 staff (at Evans Head) and I’ve employed someone for Woodburn but I am looking for more staff.”

Little Stray opened on Saturday, November 16 and despite there being a number of coffee shops on River Street, he hopes that he will bring more people to Woodburn.

“We will offer freshly squeezed cold pressed juice, toasted bagels and gluten free pastries,” he said.

“We use Old Quarter coffee, all hand-picked, nothing mass produced.”

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Council meetings switch to new time

By Tim Howard

For the first time in 20 years Clarence Valley Council ordinary meetings have moved from Tuesday afternoons to Thursday mornings.

From the time of the first meeting of the amalgamated council on April 27, Tuesday afternoon on the third and then fourth Tuesday of the month was meeting day.

But the council elected on September 14 has put an end to that, moving the meeting date to Thursday and going a step further moving the meeting time forward to 11.30am.

The second step might be short lived as anonymously a couple of councillors have said the late morning start would create issues if meetings extended into the afternoon beyond lunch time.

Councillors might be asked to consider moving the start time to 1pm to get avoid hunger pangs mid debate.

Thursday’s meeting has a meaty agenda with more than 30 items up for resolution.

The first item of ordinary business, after Mayoral Minutes and Notices of Motion, of which there are one each, is the selection of the council-appointed member of the general manager’s performance review panel.

The current general manager, Laura Black was installed in October 2022, although she had been acting general manager from late 2021.

The newly elected council in 2022 decided to stick with her and earlier this year controversially awarded her a 2% pay increase after a glowing review of her performance.

But it was a controversial decision which split the council and the decision was made during a highly charged extraordinary meeting which split the council 5-4 in favour of the pay rise.

It also revealed some strongly held views about the general manager, which included allegations from Cr Karen Toms that there was a group of councillors “out to get the general manager”.

The general manager has also been involved in other controversial matters including allegations of legal action taken against Yamba community group Yamba CAN.

The make up of the review panel must conform to equal opportunity employment principles.

The newly elected Clarence Valley Council has decided to move its meeting day to the third Thursday of each month. The council is, from left: Karen Toms, Debrah Novak, Lynne Cairns, Shane Causley, deputy mayor Greg Clancy, Peter Johnstone, Alison Whaites, Cristie Yager and Mayor Ray Smith.

As well as the mayor and deputy, the policy suggests gender balance must be a consideration.

The mayor, Ray Smith and deputy Greg Clancy are automatic selections with the council and general manager to select one each.

Current councillors Debrah Novak and Karen Toms have been council and general manager picks on the panel in the past.

Once the council has resolved who will be appointed, Ms Black will announce her pick for the panel.

The panels decision was scheduled for October, but due to the elections has been tentatively set for December.

Other items include a proposal to endorse the hat Council Endorse the Audit Risk and Improvement Committee terms of reference, internal audit charger, four-year Strategic Internal Audit Plan 2024-2028 and Annual Internal Audit Plan 2024-2025.

Council will also be asked to note the Audit, Risk and Improvement meeting minutes for August 8 2024 and note the ARIC’s Annual Report 2023-2024.

Later in the meeting, councillors will learn November’s big wet has delayed the opening of the controversial Clarence Valley Regional Aquatic Centre.

From October 1 to November 12024, Grafton recorded 164.2mm of rainfall, which has resulted in delays to critical construction delays to concrete pours, clockwork construction and electrical work.

Even with allocation of additional resources it has not been enough to meet the original opening deadline of December 2024 for the opening of the centre.

But council’s contractor, Hines Construction believes a partial opening in December of the Grafton Olympic Pool and surrounds.

The company said the Grafton Cub Scout Memorial Indoor Pool and splashpad was expected to be open in early 2025.

It was anticipated that the construction team will finalise works before Christmas and resume in January, so the revised expected completion for the aquatic centre in its entirety is February, 2025.

This will delay the official opening of the centre to February 2025, which also allows time for the event to be planned and arrangements made for the attendance of dignitaries, in accordance with grant agreements.

A workshop with councillors will be held in early December to gather ideas for the opening.

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