Our grant application to Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SCRC)  for $50,000.00  has been approved.

Below is part of the letter received from SCRC.  Several administrative processes have to be followed before the grant funds gain final approval and then transferred to the Association. The required information has been sent to SCRC and we eagerly wait for the day when; the money is in our bank account.

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This application was complied by the Management Committee without external help apart from the support for the renovation of the hall shown by our increased membership and the letters of support and expressions of interest received.

Below is  part of the on-line grant application to SCRC

7. Project description

Project Title*

Obi Obi Hall Renovation

Where will your project take place?*

One locality within the Sunshine Coast

Please specify the suburb/s where your project will take place*

Obi Obi

What Sunshine Coast town/s will gain the most benefit?

Describe your project and what it will achieve*

The project is to develop the currently unusable Obi Obi Hall to a publicly usable community center, meeting all modern requirements of access, safety and health. This will involve refurbishment of the existing structure, extension to the rear to provide toilet facilities, an access ramp and kitchen, and site development to assist all weather access and parking.

It is planned to set the site up for a wide variety of use, suitable for activities ranging from musical performances to country markets, from meeting venue for community groups to an activity center for local children and parents, from community celebration venue to evacuation center.

Obi Obi has about 300 residents, who share a very strong “sense of place” and local identification. Despite this, there are no useable assets serving and identifying the local community (apart from a public toilet near the creek side camping area, mostly used by tourists).

Engaging in any community activity that needs a built venue means holding it out of our district. Having such a venue available locally will mean more face to face community interaction, reducing social isolation and will help make our community more cohesive and engaged.

How will your project meet your long term aims?*

Our long term aim is to make our valley a more enjoyable place for our community to live in and to provide support our young and elderly.
This would be achieved by fostering improved communication and interaction between the members of our community via the networking of our 65 members and our Association’s internet presence (blog site and facebook) and introducing activities such as a writers workshop, play-group and land-care group along with a farmers market and an annual themed event.

8. Project timeline

Project start date*

Builder will start ASAP after successfull grant application

Project end date*

Builder estimates project completion 5 months after start date

Attach your own project plan/ timeline if relevant

9. Grant category

1. Does your project bring benefit to, or effectively link with any of the following groups of people:

Families

Young people

Seniors

2. Does your project enhance community wellbeing by increasing community safety?

Yes

Explain how your project will achieve one or both of the Community Development category priorities above.*

Community: restoration of the Obi Obi School of Arts will provide visible proof of the continuing existence of a community in this area. Presently both Obi Obi and Kidaman districts (originally each with their own community hall and school established about 100 years ago), have a strong sense of identity, pride, place and history but no focal point.
The Obi and Kidaman Creek District Community Hall Association Inc. has spent the last 10 years working towards the re-establishment of a functioning hall, which will allow the Association to expand activities via its Business Plan leading to increased community participation therefore extending links between neighbours.
Social isolation, frequently leading to depression, is an identified problem in rural communities, particularly with no central settlement such as ours. Having a venue available for the many possible planned uses will encourage social interaction, reducing this sense of isolation and improving community mental health.
Safety: a renovated hall will provide vital support to emergency management in our district. Currently the local Obi Obi Rural Fire Brigade is without a base; the Association has planned a shared site with them and has leased a portion of land at the rear of the hall property to them. The Brigade is currently perusing a development application with Sunshine Coast Regional Council for a Fire Station to be built on this site. Being in a fire safe area and above any recorded flood level, the hall will serve as an emergency evacuation center supporting the brigade in most types of natural disaster. With both community organizations located at the same premises it is expected that there will be greater interaction leading to a better understanding of the roles of each and the possibility of increased membership in both groups.

10. Community need & benefit

Provide evidence of genuine community need for this project*

The need for the re-establishment of a Community hall in our valley was evidenced by the ongoing support for many years from our community, for our Association and its objective, “Maintaining a local Community Hall”, and the many requests for public and private use of the building which have had to be refused.

Provide evidence of the benefit this program will bring to the Sunshine Coast community*

The Obi Obi valley is part of a popular tourist drive from Mapleton, Montville, Maleny, Conondale, Kenilworth, and Obi Obi then back to Mapleton. Our Association’s Business Plan includes fund raising proposals such as a regular farmers market and an annual themed event both of which will be an inducement for visitors to stop in the Obi Obi valley. An envisaged writer workshop will attract interest from the broader coast community and introduce new learning opportunities to our community.

Attach documents that support the need for, and benefit of, your project (optional)

• Kureellpa spinners and weavers support letter.jpg97.3 kB
• Obi hall expression of interest P Ashford.pdf536.9 kB

Support letters/emails (optional)

• expression of interest conondale range com.jpg125.1 kB
• Expression of interest T McLaren.jpg303.1 kB
• expression of interest blackall rangers motorcycle club.pdf73.7 kB

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A meeting with our Builder.

On the 12.11.2011, the Management and Building Committees met with Builder Murray Pearson to discuss the re-stumping and the proposal to start the renovation in January regardless of obtaining extra funding. The re-stumping involves foundations under the existing building and part of the new addition, which requires the Builder and the Re-stumper Mick Bielby to work together to complete this initial stage of the renovation. With this complication the Management Committee decided to make Murray Pearson responsible for both the re-stumping and the renovation also reducing complications regarding responsibility that may occur with warranty problems after completion of the renovation. Murray Pearson responded that he was willing to be responsible for the re-stumping and would organize a contract for the re-stumping with Mick Bielby with the anticipation of a start later this year and would also proceed to prepare a renovation contract for the hall prior to a proposed start in late January.