Council Reduces Fees to Boost Community Facility Use in Inglewood and
Published on 14 October 2024
Goondiwindi Regional Council is making it more affordable for local businesses, organisations, and community groups to use community facilities in Inglewood and Texas by significantly reducing hire fees for the 2024-25 financial year.
Following community consultation in Inglewood, Council has lowered fees at the Inglewood MacIntyre Sports Complex, Inglewood Civic Centre, Texas Memorial Hall, and Texas Sports Complex. These changes aim to encourage increased patronage and better utilisation of these valuable community assets.
Councillor Susie Kelly, portfolio holder for Community Facilities, said these fee changes reflect Council’s commitment to supporting community engagement and local vibrancy.
“During the community consultation, it was suggested that fees were the impediment to attracting dance and other classes for children and so during our recent ordinary Council meeting we passed a motion to extend a period of lower fees to enable the opportunity for such usage”
For workshops or classes that offer a community benefit, Council has reduced the seasonal hire fee (for weekly use) to just $200. In addition, the hourly hire rate for all four facilities has been dropped to just $20 per hour.
“As a small regional council, we’re focused on delivering functional community assets and making them as accessible as possible, but keeping in mind there are costs in maintaining our facilities. While we don’t intend to always cover these costs, we do need to be mindful. These changes aim to encourage more organisations and businesses to use our community facilities to help drive increased activity and connection in our local communities,” Cr Kelly said.
The changes came after a community forum was held to discuss the future of the Inglewood Recreation Centre, which is currently the subject of an Expression of Interest process. Feedback from the community forum indicated that repairing and restoring the Recreation Centre as a general-purpose facility was not viable. Instead, participants agreed that the focus should be on encouraging greater investment in and use of existing facilities such as the Inglewood Sports Complex and Civic Centre.
Recent data revealed the need for this initiative, with only 16 bookings at the Inglewood Civic Centre and three casual bookings at the MacIntyre Sports Complex indoor area during the last financial year.
“These facilities are important hubs for our communities, and we hope these fee reductions will make them more accessible and well-used,” Cr Kelly added.
Council encourages businesses, organisations, and community groups to take advantage of these new rates and help contribute to the vibrancy and vitality of the Inglewood and Texas areas.