Region readers seem to prefer a weekly rubbish collection to the fortnightly ‘red bin’ cycle. Photo: Wagga City Council.
For last week’s poll, we were talking rubbish and asked how residents were coping with the Wagga Wagga City Council’s award-winning environmental approach.
As we said, the FOGO bins are a winner in keeping organic rubbish out of landfill but we wondered if the smaller “red lid” bin and fortnightly collection of general rubbish were enough.
The question we asked was, ‘How often should the residential 140L red lid general waste bin be collected?’
It seems the majority of our readers would like to see a return to weekly collection, with a solid 63 per cent indicating that they find the fortnightly collection a challenge.
North Wagga Public Hall. Photo: VirtualSteve.
This week, we’re looking at an often overlooked aspect of community infrastructure – the good old community hall.
CWA, Scouts, Guides, Lions, Apex, city council and church halls have been the beating heart of Australian communities for generations, places where people come together for information, public events, celebrations and support.
During times of emergency, they provide a focal point for updates, support and even shelter.
In the good times, halls are booked for milestone celebrations and grassroots gatherings and they also encourage local community enterprise, playing host to dance classes, yoga and martial arts.
So why don’t we build them anymore?
As the populations of regional centres continue to grow and sprawl into shiny new brick and colourbond suburbs, community halls seem to be a low priority for developers.
Wagga’s rapidly growing northern suburbs of Estella, Boorooma and Gobbagombalin have a combined population of about five thousand.
They are 10 to 15 minutes’ drive from the CBD and the only public facility capable of hosting a gathering is the new Estella Public School, which remains closed to the community due to lingering COVID-19 concerns.
Part of the problem is that most community halls are the legacy of past investments from established community and religious organisations, and none seem equipped or included to build new ones.
They also require ongoing maintenance and investment.
Wagga City Council’s extensive Cultural Plan 2020 – 2030 highlights the importance of community halls but focuses on upgrading existing facilities.
This is highlighted in DevCore’s proposed Rowan Village development of more than two thousand dwellings to Wagga’s south.
While the plans include green space and a neighbourhood centre, the section on ‘regional social infrastructure’ suggests that this will not include a community hall.
In the plan, the developers concede that there will be growing demand for one but suggest that the size of the population will not “trigger demand for an entire facility”.
“Council’s Cultural Plan indicates a preference for upgrading existing facilities,” it reads, suggesting that upgrades to the Lake Albert Hall will be adequate.
Churches have traditionally played host to many community initiatives, gatherings and micro businesses.
Today, however, the larger denominations seem less inclined to invest in purpose-built meeting halls in new suburbs, preferring to invest in schools, daycare centres and retirement villages.
The Catholic Church’s Diocese of Wagga Wagga is one of the region’s biggest developers and is behind the expansion into Lloyd, Boorooma and Gobbagombalin.
While the church is in the process of finalising the new Boorooma shopping centre, there is no indication that it invests in any new publicly accessible community buildings.
So this week, we’re asking whether you think community halls are important and whether new ones should be included in future developments.
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