New IWC North Burnett Community Centre will be for all people
The proposed IWC North Burnett Health & Wellbeing Community Centre will be for all people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous and from all walks of life.
That was the strong message provided by IWC General Manager Wayne Mulvany when he delivered a public presentation on the $2.43 million project in Gayndah on Tuesday 19 November.
IWC North Burnett team member Clem Shadford, of the Wakka Wakka tribe, provided the Welcome to Country.
The presentation drew a strong turnout, and after Mr Mulvany talked through the plans and the intended purpose of the facility, questions were taken from the floor. Other questions had been submitted prior to the event.
The proposed development is currently before North Burnett Regional Council for Development Approval, after which Building Approval will be sought. If successful, the intention is for the construction to get under way in March or April 2020, with completion scheduled for 2021.
The information provided at the open session included details of the re-opening of the sports stadium, which closed in 2016 when the former YMCA facility closed its doors, and the new gym facility proposed as part of the development.
It was made clear to the meeting that IWC’s plans to create the centre was not about making profits, although sustainable and robust financials underpin all IWC operations.
“If you do something in Gayndah, it’s not something you do as an investment to make money,” Mr Mulvany told the meeting, adding that the proposal fits in with IWC’s philosophy of bringing much-needed services to regions of high disadvantage.
IWC is non-government, Aboriginal community-controlled and a registered charity, offering services to people from all walks of life, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. It works to deliver Reconciliation in Action every day.
The scope of the IWC project is to deliver:
- Reception and patient waiting areas
- Clinical consultation rooms
- Treatment rooms and sterile area
- Ambulance / delivery bay
- Staff office space and lunchroom
- Interview rooms
- Community meeting room
- Community areas / gardens
- Public amenities and disability toilet area with changerooms / showers
- Walkways and linkages with adjoining gymnasium space
- Installation of new lock-up shed
- Driveways, carparking, walkways and landscaping
It will include refurbishment of the Sports Stadium, which can then be re-opened for community use.
IWC employs from the communities it serves, and Mr Mulvany said new jobs would be created by the project.
